‘Right under our noses and nobody was able to help them.’ 16 kids found in squalor shocks Ohio town
HAMDEN, Ohio (AP) — Just days after authorities He took away 16 children Coming from a squalid home and arresting four adult relatives, the question looms in the Southern Ohio villages: How did this happen here, undetected for years?
The family’s neighbors in tiny Hamden, employees of the local stores they shop at, and even reacted to the scene They’re left wondering this out loud and to themselves, and the limited information researchers share doesn’t offer a complete answer.
The children were not enrolled in school, the family had moved elsewhere in the last two decades, and neighbors said they had never seen the children. Investigators said the children were often confined to a small room in the house under deplorable conditions.
“It was right under our noses and no one could help them sooner,” said Emily Collins, 27, owner of VC Farm & Floral in nearby McArthur. “It’s crazy how all the wonderful things are happening in our little Hallmark town, and that’s what puts us on the radar. It’s really sad,” said the mother of three, who had to decorate the sidewalk with bright flowers and chalk stars to cheer herself up.
Lawyer: Let the case play out
Authorities said they went to the home Tuesday for an unrelated investigation and discovered that some of the children, ranging in age from 1.5 to 18, were unable to speak.
Investigators said seven people were taken to the hospital, one of whom was in critical condition. Their current condition was not immediately known Thursday. Child welfare workers assume temporary custody of children.
A man who lived three houses down from the Siders family said he “never saw any children” there.
“It’s a sad situation,” said Joseph Stewart, 60, who has lived in the “quiet neighborhood” for six years.
Four people, the children’s parents and grandparents, were arrested on child endangerment charges. Gary Siders Jr., 36, Gary Siders, 73, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Christina Siders, 67, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charges. Bond was set at $300,000 each.
The elder Siders’ attorney said he is presumed innocent.
“We are asking the public in general and anyone who may have anything to do with this case to take a deep breath, step back and allow the case and the facts to emerge,” Dorian Baum told the Associated Press.
Siders Jr. and Christina Siders’ attorneys declined to comment. Elizabeth Siders’ attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Little traffic on the rural road to the house
Authorities would not publicly share the nature of the other investigation that brought them home Tuesday. But court records show Siders Jr. was indicted that day on misdemeanor and indecent exposure charges related to incidents that allegedly occurred over four days in May. It shows that an arrest warrant has been issued for him. He pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, the windows and doors of the formerly wide-open home about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus were boarded up. All that remained was police tape and piles of garbage.
The other day, a door was ajar and piles of garbage and children’s toys were visible inside. A wooden deck and backyard were littered with discarded tires, high chairs and other detritus.
The house sits on a road next to a steep railway embankment, where tracks carry thundering trains to a railway station in the village of fewer than 1,000 residents. The nearest neighbors are separated by trees and thick bushes, but the house is easily visible from the road.
Children are not seen in schools
Investigators said family members moved to southern Ohio in the past two decades and appeared to avoid pursuing medical or official paperwork. The Vinton County Local School District, the only district in the area, said it had no records showing any children were enrolled.
“These people were pretty good at hiding these kids,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said Wednesday.
Jacqueline Yahn, an associate professor at Ohio University, said children’s absence from school and lack of regular visits to medical professionals likely contribute to the lack of awareness of this dire condition.
“When kids are isolated or not participating, there’s no one trained to know the clues,” said Yahn, an expert on rural education and poverty. “They are called good control for a reason: They control well-being and development.”
Investigators were looking into whether the family had been reported to any child services agencies in the past.
The children spent most of their time in a room roughly 12 feet by 12 feet (3.5 meters by 3.5 meters), according to the researchers, who noted that human waste was found in the environment.
“They almost looked like wild animals. It was scary,” Wilson said.
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Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.
