How Ohio family who left 16 kids living ‘like feral animals’ managed to hide it for so long

A former FBI agent has shared their thoughts on the case of 16 children who have been described as being left to rot in disgusting conditions, and explained how the horrors were hidden for so long.

In the last week, the most horrific case has been uncovered. 16 children were found living in “deplorable” conditions in a rural Ohio home.

16 children, each aged between one and 18, were found living like “feral animals” in “deplorable” conditions. They were discovered trapped in a tiny 12-foot room, surrounded by human waste, by authorities who were responding to another incident and had no idea the children were there.

Elizabeth Siders and Gary Siders Jr, along with Gary’s parents, were then arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.

via Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson

A sheriff described the scene as “deplorable” and said livestock live in better conditions than the “disgusting scene” they saw at the house.

The children had allegedly been living in these conditions for four years, which has made people question how this went undetected for so long.

“These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids. We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there. It’s the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said during a press conference. “Pure evil. Some of these children couldn’t even speak. They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible.”

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via Southern Ohio Regional Jail

On NewsNation’s CUOMO show, Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI agent, was asked about how nobody knew the horrific things that were going on inside the house. The host asked her how you “get away” with something like this for so long.

Jennifer said: “You get away with it because you conceal it by moving over and over again. You don’t let the children out of the house, and you keep them in that basement.”

Investigators have said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades, and that it looks like they avoided setting up medical and government records. The children were also not enrolled in school.

“They were pretty adept at keeping these kids out of sight and away from investigators’ eyes,” Andy Wilson added. He said it appeared nobody outside of the family even knew the children existed.

Gary Siders Jr, 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, Gary Siders Sr, 73, Christina Siders, 77, have all pleaded not guilty.

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