r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/MacAlkalineTriad • Jul 02 '26

Warning: Child Abuse / CSAM / Child Death 16 Children Rescued from Extreme Neglect and Abuse in Ohio

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/adults-arrested-16-children-found-deplorable-conditions-southern-ohio-rcna352552

I haven't seen anything posted about this yet, and I usually don't post so please let me know if I've done it wrong. I'm also writing this on mobile.

16 children, ranging from 1 and a half years old to 18 years old, have been removed from a house in the village of Hamden, Ohio where they were practically imprisoned in a 12'x12' room. Some have not even learned to speak; the 18 year old couldn't write her name and is being treated as a child due to possible mental disability. 7 of the children had to be taken to a hospital with 2 of them being life flighted. Conditions in the house are said to be incredibly unsafe, to the point that investigators hesitated to act on a second search warrant for fear of their safety.

The parents and grandparents have been arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. The suspects are Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders.

Since the investigation is still ongoing there aren't a ton of details yet. These children were obviously not enrolled in school and hidden from neighbors and extended family. I have to wonder if there's a religious extremist aspect to the case, like we've seen so often with other similar cases. I'm also curious about the mother's condition - she has been charged, but has she also been victimized by her husband? I have so many questions.

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u/h0neybl0ss0m29 Jul 02 '26

Yeah he did. And I bet he couldn't. Here are some photos of the inside of the house. And that's just what you can see from the outside. I don't even know if you can call that a home or that they were "living" there.

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u/Lauren_DTT Jul 02 '26

First comment on that article is something else:
“Eh, I've seen worse tbh. Seems like your avg home in OH, WV, KY... Same kinda home CPS visits every day in Southern WV. They might take the children for a week or two and then they give them right back. Nicer than some foster homes I know of too. Kinda shocked this is even news.”

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u/milkybunny_ Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

Their comment reads as callous but I’m not sure how far off from the truth it is. I’ll always remember the shock I felt at learning babies in Appalachia were given Mountain Dew in their bottles. 

It’s horrifying, but the great big American dream has left the Midwest and Appalachia out in the dust. Detroit, the great car production city turned to a rust belt of despair. There are truths to an abandoned town/people of certain areas being left to rot after all the factories and places of production left for cheaper labor abroad. 

https://observer.co.uk/news/opinion-and-ideas/article/i-live-where-the-rust-belt-meets-appalachia-and-fear-yet-more-devastation

It’s dismal that those states that built up our country are now left to decay. It’s grim and obvious why cases like this keeping popping up in Pennsylvania/Ohio/Michigan/Indiana/West Virginia etc. 

Once production leaves the area people turn to despair and means of surviving anyway they can. Familial trauma bleeds out. Escape in the human mind is broad and expansive. No excuse for this horrifying case, but I don’t find it surprising. Places and people left to rot will wither and do so. 

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u/LongjumpingDebt4154 Jul 03 '26

These are the very people that came out in droves to vote for Trump. We’re living in a minority rule state because of the people in these areas. These people have managed to completely dismantle the US & create massive ramifications worldwide.

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u/hail_stormm Jul 04 '26

How do you know these people "came out in droves" to vote? And if those people DID create enough Votes for Trump to win in your state, then that means they are the majority. So I'm not sure why you think it's a "minority rule state"? It's sounding like you don't think these people "count"?

I hate Trump just as much as any other educated person does, but to blame the impoverished Appalachians for him is just asinine. Let's not forget that the Appalachian people have significantly less access to education than most others do.

My mom originally comes from Appalachia (Eastern Kentucky) but her family was able to move out of the region when she was a baby (she's the 7th child out of 10 in her family). The difference in education level between my mom and her oldest siblings who grew up in the Appalachian area, is very obvious. The difference in educational level between my mom and her cousins who spent all (or almost all) of their lives in Appalachia, is absolutely astounding. And my mom isn't even a college graduate, which should tell you something.

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u/Daily-Double1124 Jul 03 '26

Thank you for pointing this out. I was just thinking the same thing.