US4 min(s) read
Published 14:17 07 Jul 2026 GMT
A first responder who helped rescue the 16 children from an Ohio home where they were allegedly "left to rot" has revealed whether any of them spoke to him on the way to the hospital.
On Tuesday (June 30), the Vinton County Sheriff's Office discovered 16 children, aged between one and 18, at a small home in Hamden after executing a search warrant linked to a separate criminal investigation that began four to six weeks earlier.
The children were allegedly confined to a single 12-foot-by-12-foot room surrounded by human waste.
The children's parents, Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, along with grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 77, were arrested at the scene and each charged with 16 counts of child endangerment.
An acting fire public information officer who drove four of the children to the hospital spoke about the 20-minute journey.
"It was just quiet... blank expressions," he said. "Of course, they were scared. They've never endured anything like that before. They didn't know where they were going, you know, that kind of situation."
He was asked whether the children spoke to him during the ride, and he said: "They didn't speak to me. I try to have limited contact, unless I was asked to help."
He also recalled the children's heartbreaking condition, saying the house had "cockroaches and stuff like that," adding: "Bugs just in general and the conditions, you know, bugs get on the children and stuff and they scratch, and they bite and all that stuff. So, their condition wasn't the greatest."
Elizabeth's attorney, Thomas Stolly, confirmed that all 16 children are hers and that she married Siders Jr. when she was just 15 years old.
According to court records, the children are aged 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, four-year-old twins, two-year-old twins, and one-year-old twins.
Investigators believe they had been living in those poor conditions for at least four years and say none of the children had ever been enrolled in school.
"One of the investigative challenges is that [the children] are limited. They can communicate, but it's extremely limited, and some not at all," Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said during a news conference.
Seven of the children were taken to hospitals in the Columbus area following the rescue, while two were airlifted to Level I trauma centers by helicopter.
One child was reported to be in critical condition.
During a court hearing on July 1, all four defendants formally pleaded not guilty.
Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers ordered that they have no contact with one another or with any of the children if released from custody.
"They [prosecutors] are asking that you have no contact with your co-defendants – that means each other. I presume the jail will keep you from having contact with the other two co-defendants if you remain in jail," she said.
"No contact with the alleged victims of the offence; and if you are released, that you be fitted with a GPS monitor at state’s expense."
The judge also explained the legal meaning of each plea available to the defendants.
"You have four pleas available to you. A plea of guilty is a complete admission of your guilt. A not guilty plea is a complete denial of your guilt. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is an admission to the facts that underlie the complaint," she said.
"If you plead no contest, the state would give me a statement of facts, and it would be up to the court to determine whether or not you were guilty of the charged offences based on those facts."
The judge confirmed that all four bonds are set at $300,000, and each charge could land a prison sentence of two to eight years.
If each of the four family members is found guilty on all counts, they could face 192 years in prison individually.
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