Property Mystery: Records reveal the Siders family abandoned another home before the Vinton County horror house case—and investigators say it was in even worse condition
GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WSYX) — Months before investigators said they found 16 children living in horrific conditions in Vinton County, records show the Siders family left behind another home along with unanswered questions.
“We did not know they had even left for quite a while. It was kind of just an empty house, I guess, left a mess and not really in that great of condition,” said Melissa Edmonds, a neighbor in Gallia County.
ABC6 uncovered three birth records showing members of the Siders family were living at a home near Cheshire in Gallia County between 2020 and 2024.
Melissa Edmonds lives just down the street.
She said she never saw the kids, but her nephew did play with some of them a few years ago.
“My sister-in-law told me that their kids had talked to them, but they didn’t know them either. They didn’t hang out with him or anything. Possibly in 2021 or summer 2022, somewhere in that area.”
ABC6 also obtained juvenile court records for six of the children.
They show the children were enrolled at Addaville Elementary School in Gallia County, but during the 2021-2022 school year, truancy complaints stated they had not attended school for months.
Those truancy cases were later closed in January of 2022 because court records stated the family could not be located and could not be served.
That raises the question…did anyone try to find the family?
ABC6 asked the Gallia County Sheriff’s Office whether deputies followed up after the children could not be located.
So far, we have not received a response.
“They just kind of stayed in their house and stayed to themselves,” said Edmonds.
While it is not clear when the Siders moved from Gallia to Vinton County, investigators said this month at a press conference that the 16 victims stayed inside a 12-by-12 area in the Village of Hamden for most of the last four years.
Property records show a new owner bought the Gallia County house in May 2026.
We found Bruce Gullick renovating the home.
He said what he found inside suggests the conditions investigators described in Vinton County may not have started there.
“A lot of kids’ clothes in the attic stuffed away like someone was living up there. The whole entire house was just urine, human and pet feces, so it was pretty rough,” said Gullick.
