Then vs. Now: The mother in Ohio’s h0rror house case looked almost unrecognizable in a family photo shared six years before her arr3st
Elizabeth Siders and her husband each face 16 child-neglect charges after authorities allegedly found their children confined to one room in squalid conditions
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Elizabeth Siders in an undated photo (left) and her mugshot (right).Credit : Facebook; SOUTHEASTERN OHIO REGIONAL JAIL
The mother whose 16 children were allegedly discovered confined to one room and living in squalor in an Ohio “House of Horrors” looks unrecognizable in an undated photo posted by her mother on Facebook in 2020.
Elizabeth Siders is currently being held on a $300,000 bond in jail after being arrested and charged with 16 counts of child neglect.
Elizabeth’s mugshot, taken on June 30, bears scant resemblance to an earlier photo her mother posted to celebrate her birthday.
“Happy Birthday to my daughter Elizabeth it [sic] hard to believe. My younhest [sic] is 28 today love you mom and dad,” reads the caption on the post from August 2020.
The image is undated. By the time it was posted, however, Elizabeth was a mother of nine and one month away from giving birth to her tenth child.
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Elizabeth is now seeking to have her bond lowered so that she can reunite with her 16 children.
Officials in Vinton County said that they currently cannot afford to care for all the children and their medical needs and have been seeking and receiving money from other state agencies.
Elizabeth gave birth to her oldest child when she was just 15, the same year she married, Gary II, who was then 18, in West Virginia.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain alleged at a July 1 news conference after her arrest that their oldest child, an 18-year-old girl, could not write or spell her own name.
“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Cain said, calling the house a “disgusting scene.”
The raid also resulted in the arrest of Elizabeth’s in-laws, Gary and Christina Siders, who are also charged with 16 counts of child neglect.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said that even as deputies prepared to raid the household, they did not think there would be 16 children living in the home.
“It’s the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America,” he said.
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Elizabeth Siders.
Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail
Records obtained by PEOPLE show that deputies had also been investigating Elizabeth’s husband Gary for multiple alleged incidents of indecent exposure outside the family home in May, before the raid.
The child neglect allegations will now be presented to a grand jury, which will vote on whether to indict the four adults.
