Nearly a month after 16 children were discovered living in squalor in a home in Hamden, Ohio, investigators have found a second property linked to the Siders family just 16 kilometers away.
A local builder who was called in to renovate it says what he found inside was almost identical to what police described in the original house.
Legal records show the family lived at an address in Gallia County between 2020 and 2024, before moving to the Hamden property in Vinton County where the children were eventually found on June 30. Investigators say the family “bounced around” frequently over the years before settling in Hamden.
Bruce Gullick, the local builder hired to renovate the abandoned Gallia County property after it was sold to a new owner last May, described what he encountered when he arrived.
“A lot of kids’ clothes in the attic stuffed away like someone was living up there,” he told WSYX.
“The whole entire house was just urine, human and pet feces, so it was pretty tough.”
A neighbor who lived next to the family during their time in Gallia County said she barely knew they were there and had no idea they had even left.
“It was kind of just an empty house,” Melissa Edmonds said.
“Left a message and not really in that great of condition.”
Edmonds recalled one summer when her nephew had briefly interacted with some of the children – possibly in 2021 or 2022 – but said they never socialised or spent time together.
Where the case stands now
The children’s parents Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, along with his parents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 77, were arrested following the June 30 discovery and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.
All four have pleaded not guilty.
Two of the children were airlifted to specialist trauma centers following the rescue. Seven more were taken to hospitals in Columbus, with one admitted to the ICU and placed on a ventilator.
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