DeWine: A ‘picture emerged’ as Pike County murder investigation progressed

The final piece of evidence that led to the arrests of six members of the Wagner family related to the 2016 Pike County murders was collected in October, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Wednesday morning.

DeWine spoke with Miami Valley’s Morning News host Larry Hansgen on AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO about the arrests on Tuesday.

“You start looking around at potential suspects and there’s a whole bunch of people that could be included,” DeWine said.

DeWine said his office collaborated with the Pike County Sheriff’s Office immediately and one investigator in the sheriff’s office had been focused on the case from the day of the April 2016 murders.

“I think of it like a puzzle, a 500-piece puzzle and you start putting the pieces in and that is what we did and a picture emerged,” DeWine said.

DeWine said investigators continued to gather evidence with a focus on preparing for future court proceedings instead of making arrests prematurely.

The final piece of evidence came in at the end of October, and the results of evidence testing were ready about Nov. 7.

Officials met with the Rhoden family before Tuesday's news conference to let them know what was going on.

MORE: Who are the Wagners? Pike County murders investigators want to know

“We kept telling them, we will solve this case; this case will be solved,” DeWine said. “I can’t tell you when, but it will be solved. We are not leaving Pike County till we have this resolved.”

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