Family named in Ohio massacre

© Provided The Wagner family was the subject of three searches on farms in Pike and Adams counties in May 2017 tied to the Rhoden family massacre. The family photo was taken during a recent trip to Alaska. Pictured from left to right are: Bovine, 3, Angela…

Brad Conklin was glad to see folks finally moving into the rental house just down the gravel road from him in rural Kenai, Alaska, last Friday.

As the 55-year-old has with each new tenant, Conklin decided to stop and welcome them to the heavily wooded little neighborhood with a view of the mountains in the distance. He also wanted to give them a warning after he noticed children's play items scattered in the yard.
"We got bears up here. I told them they better have a gun loaded and handy and to keep an eye on those little ones,'' Conklin said from his home Tuesday morning. "The bears up here will snatch them kids right up."
Just a few hours later, he said he was shocked when he logged into Facebook and saw media reports that his new neighbors were a focus in the ongoing investigation of eight members of the Rhoden family who were all shot to death in Ohio in April 2016.
Ohio officials issued a media release Monday seeking any information about George "Billy" Wagner III, 46; his wife, Angela, 46; and their two sons, George Wagner IV, 25, and Edward "Jake" Wagner, 24. The Wagner family lived at an Ohio farm authorities searched last month.
"Investigators are interested in receiving information regarding any interactions, conversations, dealings or transactions that the public may have had with these individuals, which could be personal, business, or otherwise," said the news release which also included what appeared to be passport photos of each of them. "Specifically, information could include, but is not limited to, information regarding vehicles, firearms and ammunition."
Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, declined further comment.
Conklin said he called Ohio authorities as well as Alaska state troopers to tell them the Wagners had just moved in. To his knowledge, police have not visited the home.
Kendra Rhoden, whose father, aunt, uncle, and cousins were killed, said she feels as if investigators are making progress in the case.
"I do believe they are getting closer," she said. "I believe every day they get closer."
The Wagner family sold the 71-acre farm this spring and packed their belongings in trailers and pick-up trucks and stored those at a friend's Adams County farm — which authorities also searched in May — while they took a trip to Alaska earlier this month. Angela Wagner called that trip a family vacation in an interview with The Enquirer in early June.
None of the Wagners have been charged with any crime related to the killings.
Authorities will not say if the Wagners are suspects in the most complex investigation in Ohio history, which is dragging into its 15th month without an arrest or stated motive.
Neither Billy Wagner nor Jake Wagner, both of whom Conklin talked with for about 90 minutes Monday, he said, said anything about the killings. Instead, they asked him about jobs in the area. None of the family, he said, had found employment yet.
"The father said he had been coming up for a few years on and off and really liked the place and they just packed up and moved," Conklin said. "They seem like really nice people."
Angela Wagner, reached on Facebook Monday, declined to comment on the advice of her lawyer.
But Conklin said that Bill Wagner told him that the family is friends with an area pastor and they "finally took him up and decided to pack up everything and come on up."
The Rev. Kelly Cinereski of Resurrection Bay Baptist Church posted a note to the church's Facebook group Monday evening saying he was aware of "the current situation involving the Wagner family."
"The lead investigator in southern Ohio does not have any evidence that the Wagners are guilty in this case," the post read. "I talked with the Wagner family today and they have assured me that this is just an accusation. So we will just leave it at that.
"Because of social media it has been blown out of proportion and has shown them as guilty when in fact in the courts they are innocent at this time," the post continued.
The pastor said he and the investigator exchanged telephone numbers.
Jake Wagner is the former longtime boyfriend of victim Hanna Rhoden, 19. The two share a daughter, Sophia, and shared custody. Sophia is now three and her father won custody of her last year.
Conklin said he saw young children at the Alaska home Monday. He said they all seemed happy.
In The Enquirer interview, Angela and Jake Wagner denied any involvement in the killings. They said they thought of Hanna as a member of their family and were heartbroken by the slayings.
Conklin said the family arrived driving two heavy-duty pickup trucks pulling a large horse trailer and another 24-foot-long trailer covered with a tarp and have been in the process of unpacking it.
Jake Wagner told Conklin it took the family about a week to drive to Alaska and they got stopped at the Canadian border in North Dakota. Officials there made them unload the trailers and reload them before letting them pass through.
"That's just about the only trouble they mentioned," Conklin said.
Those who have information about the Wagner family are asked to call the BCI tip line at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or the Pike County Sheriff's Office at 740-947-2111.
Any information provided will remain confidential, and a $10,000 reward is still in effect.