Another story ripped from the headlines!!! How is this possible - 16 children living in one room in a house filled with garbage and feces. Four adults abusing and neglecting them all. This went on for years!!!! How could these children fly under the radar? This house was on a main road near train tracks. They had neighbors, somebody had to know. Other family members had to know, BUT AGAIN SILENCE.

This should not be happening in this day and age, but it continues on. How do we change this narrative.

BOTTOM LINE - BREAK THE SILENCE - GET INVOLVED - SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING - QUESTION~~~ FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS STEP UP

REMEMBER SOMEBODY ALWAYS KNOWS!

Our youth deserve better. Wake up PEOPLE!

I will continue to advocate to bring awareness to child abuse and child safety - WE need to do better.

Lisa Zarcone

Author - Child & Mental Health Advocate - Public Speaker - Social Media Influencer - Blogger

CASA ADVOCATE - Court Appointed Special Advocate in the Judicial System for Youth

16 children rescued from Vinton County home, Ohio officials charge 4 people | Fox News

16 children rescued from Ohio home were 'almost feral,' authorities say

Four people have been arrested after 16 children were found living in "deplorable" conditions and in need of medical treatment in a rural Ohio home, officials said Wednesday.

The children were found during a search of the home in Hamden, 60 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio, state Attorney General Andy Wilson said at a news conference.

"Conditions you cannot even imagine people being in, let alone children being in," Wilson said.

The children were removed from the home. Wilson called it the worst scene he had encountered in his career, describing it as "pure evil." Several were in serious condition when found, and two were flown to Level 1 trauma centers because of their injuries.

"If they had waited 24 hours, there is a very high probability that we’d be dealing with a death, or multiple deaths, of these children," Wilson said.

Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain described horrid conditions, saying there was a high presence of feces and bacterial matter.

UPDATE JULY 7. 2026 - SOMEBODY ALWAYS KNOWS!!!! THEY REMAIN SILENT

Store worker who interacted with the 16 children rescued from Ohio home says one detail will never leave her

A CASE THAT SHOCKED THE COMMUNITY~

A Dollar General employee in Hamden, Ohio has come forward with a disturbing account of her encounters with the family at the center of one of the most shocking child neglect cases in recent memory.

Ariel Gutierrez worked at the local store where the Siders family were regular late-night customers, coming in almost every night just before closing to buy basic items like water, vegetable oil and sugar.

They typically brought only one child along on these visits.

Ghost white skin

Gutierrez told WSYX ABC 6 that the children she saw were visibly in poor condition. The adults kept the child close and did not allow her to speak to anyone. The children she encountered were extremely thin, pale and wore their hair over their faces.

“Ghost white, didn’t have no weight on their body and they had their hair over their face, like to block out the outside world to not see them,” she said.

Store workers noticed the family’s situation and tried to help by offering clothes and hygiene products, but Gutierrez said they never saw the family use any of the donated items.

A smell that will never leave the store employee’s mind

One detail that has stayed with Gutierrez is the odor that accompanied the family every time they entered the store. This matched what Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described when he visited the home.

“The smell will never leave my mind,” she said.

“Like they could have left the store five minutes ago and the store would still smell.”

Wilson had previously described the conditions inside the home as something he could not stop thinking about, saying the smell alone was something he would carry with him forever.

Case shocks local community

The case has left the village of Hamden, home to fewer than 1,000 people, struggling to understand how 16 children could be hidden for so long.

Authorities say the family had moved around Ohio before settling in Vinton County and were adept at keeping the children out of sight. None of the children were enrolled in school, some could not communicate at all, and the oldest, aged 18, could not spell her own name.

The four adults arrested, Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders, are each being held on a $300,000 cash bond and face 17 counts of child endangerment.

Gutierrez said she has been left with regret since the story broke.

“I’m sorry, I should have said something sooner,” she said.

“I’m praying and I know they’re in better conditions now.”

UPDATE: JULY 14, 2026

Ongoing Care and Outlook

The children are now in temporary custody of Ohio child welfare services. Officials note that recovery will be long and complex due to years of neglect, trauma, and lack of education or medical records. The police stated the children were feral with blank expressions on their faces, and some could not even speak they only grunted!

How cruel this existence of life. NO CHILD should ever have to endure.

UPDATE: Mother Elizabeth Sliders was a child bride at the age of 15 and 7 months pregnant - She was brought into this family as she was trying to escape her own personal nightmare growing up. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. It is believed that she was forced to have sex with her father-in-law and some of the children may have been fathered by him. She was abused right along with her children. This is a very sad story for her and the children.

16 Ohio kids case: Prosecutor weighs in on Elizabeth Siders' possible defense

UPDATE JULY 17, 2026

SOMEBODY ALWAYS KNOWS: HOW COULD THEY TERMINATE THIS CASE?? THIS SHOULD HAVE FUELED THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT AND THE STATE TO INVESTIGATE AND FIND THESE CHILDREN!!!

Ohio 'house of horrors' mom faced prior charges in connection with 6 of her children years before recent arrest

Elizabeth Siders, 33, and her husband Gary Siders II were charged in the Juvenile Court Division of the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas with truancy-related offenses in 2021.

Those charges were filed on October 19, 2021 after six of their children had failed to attend a single day of school at Addaville Elementary, according to copies of juvenile court records obtained by PEOPLE.

Addaville Elementary is a pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade school in Gallipolis, a village approximately 150 miles east of Cincinnati. The records state that the parents had been notified by officials from the Gallia County Local School District about their children’s absences but declined to take action.

On Oct. 26, 2021, the Gallia County Sheriff was granted the authority to serve the couple with a court summons and a copy of the six complaints. An arraignment was set for Nov. 15 at that time, but the deputies sent to serve the couple reported that the couple’s house was vacant.

On Jan. 7, 2022, the cases were terminated due to the unavailability of the defendants.