18 kids later: All the details we’ve learned about Elizabeth and Gary Siders Jr’s relationship

Elizabeth and Gary Siders Jr were arrested alongside his parents earlier this month when police discovered 16 kids living in “deplorable” conditions.

Charged with second-degree felony child endangerment, which could see them locked away for 192 years, details quickly emerged about the couple, their kids, and the perspective of family members.

This week, a gag order issued by a Vinton County judge stopped any further information about the case from being released to the public. The motion was filed by Gary Jr’s lawyer, who argued that the “inflammatory” language officials used could hinder an unbiased trial.

Though we won’t be getting any new updates from the Attorney General, here’s what we’ve learned about the couple up until this point.

Credit: WSYX

Gary Siders Jr and Elizabeth Siders were married in their youth

According to information revealed by Elizabeth’s lawyer, the couple got married in 2008, when she was 15 and he was 18. Under local law, both sets of parents had to consent to the union, and they did.

“Because if that’s all you know — and you have to think someone at 15 years old doesn’t know a whole lot about being an adult, about being a mother, about being a wife — and that’s been your worldview for the past 17 or 18 years, you get shaped by that,” her attorney said.

Elizabeth then dropped out of school at 16, dedicating herself fully to being a full-time mother. At the same time, Gary Jr was working for DoorDash.

Elizabeth gave birth two months later

Credit: Southern Ohio Regional Jail

Two months after getting married at 15, Elizabeth gave birth to Gary Jr’s first child, who is now 18. But it didn’t stop there, with Elizabeth giving birth for most of her late teen and adult years.

Now, she has kids aged 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, four (twins), two (twins), and 17 months (twins).

Last week, it was revealed that the 18-year-old cannot even write her own name.

They actually lost two kids

Credit: Southern Ohio Regional Jail

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Though 16 kids were rescued from the home in Hamden, Ohio, Gary Siders Jr and Elizabeth actually had another set of twins.

Bailey Lee Siders and Faith Lee Siders were born with “extreme prematurity” in 2022, believed to be around 24 weeks. They only lived an hour after being born Thoracopagus conjoined, meaning they were face-to-face at the chest and upper abdomen. Their cause of death was listed as respiratory issues.

Elizabeth Siders desperately wants to see the kids

Though we haven’t heard anything from Gary Jr, Elizabeth Siders’ lawyer has been sharing insight into her state of mind right now.

“Through conversations with Counsel, the Defendant maintains that her principal desire [is] to reunite with her children,” her lawyer wrote in a court petition for a reduced bond. “She understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this Court.”

In earlier statements, he admitted that he “did not see any malice in Elizabeth.”

Her brother said she was ‘indoctrinated’

Credit: Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson

Elizabeth Siders’ brother, Jeremy Russell, wrote dozens of Facebook posts after hearing the news. In them, he claimed that his sister was “rapped” by the Siders family.

“My sister just rapped her life up. Due to indoctrination. It is 100 per cent real,” he wrote. “I met this dude couple months ago. Shook my hand like a baby would super soft hands. Definitely never worked a day in his life.”

He added: “I should have took him out that night. I was thinking about it but my sister. I was happy to see. Been 15 years. You lost touch with your family followed another look what happened.”

Despite those statements, Elizabeth’s brother later blamed the situation on the family’s low IQ, rather than the “pure evil” line proposed by the Attorney General.

‘My sister and her husband really did do their best to their IQ. Allowance is the one to blame. Low IQ, getting that money,” he said. “Everything is misunderstood. Their hygiene. Low IQ. The man of the house is responsible at most. He is the leader, leading followers. That’s what I think.”

The case continues, with a grand jury incoming.

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Featured image credit: Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Southern Ohio Regional Jail