Pike County murders put focus on Appalachia’s challenges

PEEBLES, Ohio — At the Hillside nursing home, where Dana Rhoden bathed and fed and comforted the elderly and the sick, colleagues sift through bunches of memories and pluck the prettiest ones. The deaths of Rhoden and seven other family members in what is — and hopefully will remain — the largest mass killing in America this year naturally turned a spotlight on both the victims and their Appalachian communities.