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Cartel concerns behind Jeff Ruby's withdrawal of $25K reward

Mallorie Sullivan, and Patrick Brennan
Cincinnati
Jeff Ruby

UPDATE on Friday, April 29, 6:30 p.m.: Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby explained via social media Friday he withdrew a $25,000 reward from the Pike County shooting investigation because he feared for his family.

In a Tweet posted around 6:15 p.m. Friday, Ruby said, "The savage execution of the Rhoden family was barbaric! If by cartel, my involvement puts our family in harms way." The tweet included what appeared to be a picture of Ruby and family.

Ruby might have also hinted at his reasoning for withdrawing the money in a Thursday Twitter post in which he used the hashtag, "#6kids4grandkids."

Ruby told The Enquirer Thursday he had been advised not to discuss withdrawing his money from the investigation.

Ruby has since protected his tweets, so only confirmed followers can view them.

UPDATE on Thursday, April 28, 12:20 p.m.: Jeff Ruby has withdrawn his $25,000 reward because of the "recent complex criminal developments" surrounding the Pike County case, according to a post on his Twitter page.

Ruby told The Enquirer his advisers have asked him not to talk publicly about his decision, and he has declined comment.

“It was generous of Mr. Ruby to offer the reward, and it is his choice to withdraw it,” said Ohio Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Jill Del Greco.

Retracting the reward is unusual for Ruby, who is no stranger to helping the community in big ways. In 2014 alone, he offered $7,500 to help find a missing University of Cincinnati student and bought 100 Cincinnati Bengals tickets for military families. More recently, he matched the Ohio Blue Ribbon Arson Committee's $10,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for firefighter Patrick Wolterman's death.

Original reporting: As the whereabouts of the person or persons responsible for Friday's mass shooting in Pike County remained unknown Saturday, Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby came forward with a generous reward in hopes of bringing justice to the family involved.

Ruby, owner of steakhouses located in Cincinnati, Columbus and Louisville, took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon looking to post a $25,000 reward for whoever aids in the arrest of the person or persons who killed eight people – all members of the same family – in Pike County on Friday.

Ruby reached out to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, with assistance from Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, to offer the reward. The money is available to those with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the Pike County homicides.

The family is asking anyone with information about the mass shooting to contact the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446).

What we know: Pike County mass shooting