Newly uncovered state records have revealed that the mother of the 16 children rescued from a home described by authorities as unfit for human habitation previously gave birth to conjoined twin girls who died just hours after they were born.
According to Ohio vital statistics records obtained by WOWK 13, Elizabeth Siders, 33, delivered daughters Bailey Lee and Faith Lee Siders at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus on Nov. 20, 2022.
The girls were born at just 24 weeks’ gestation with thoracopagus, the most common form of conjoined twinning, in which the babies are joined at the chest.
State records show both infants died later that same day from natural causes.
Authorities said the children, ranging in age from 1 to 18, had been confined to a single 12-by-12-foot room for years, surrounded by human waste and other unsanitary conditions.
It remains unclear whether Elizabeth Siders and Gary Siders Jr. are the biological parents of all 16 children. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has described the investigation as an “intra-family case.”
Investigators allege the children were forced to live in the cramped room for at least four years while surrounded by filth. Officials described the conditions as “deplorable” and comparable to those found in the developing world, with one investigator remarking that nearby livestock were living in better conditions.
Authorities also said none of the children had ever been enrolled in school. Many reportedly struggled to communicate, with some unable to speak at all.
The oldest child, an 18-year-old with developmental disabilities, was reportedly unable to write her own name, investigators said.
Following the rescue, the 16 children were transported to hospitals across Ohio for medical treatment and evaluation. Officials said several were in serious condition, including two who were airlifted to trauma centers and at least one child who required intubation.
As more details emerged, the children’s uncle said the rest of the family had no idea just how many children Elizabeth and Gary Siders Jr. had.
Ronnie Fletcher, who is married to one of the grandparents’ adult daughters, said he and his wife knew the couple had a large family but believed they had around 10 children.
Fletcher told WOWK 13 that the extended family only learned there were actually 16 children—and of the alleged abuse—after news of the arrests became public. He said the revelation left relatives “horrified” and deeply “worried about the kids.”
“If we would have known that it was like that in that home, we would have done something about it – even if it was just to go there and take the kids ourselves or give them money,” he said.
Fletcher also shed light on Elizabeth’s questionable marriage to Gary Jr. in 2008, when she was just 15 years old and he was 18.
“She did not have a very good home life when they got together, and she escaped to Lynn [Christina] and Gary’s house, which … was back then a normal American home,” he said.
The couple’s oldest child, the 18-year-old girl, was reportedly born two months after they tied the knot.
Court records show the other children’s ages as 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, and 5, along with 4-year-old twins, 2-year-old twins and 1-year-old twins.
The group later waived their preliminary hearings, which had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
If convicted on all charges, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of up to 192 years in prison.
