Relatives of the 16 ‘almost feral’ children found in Ohio house of horrors had no clue so many kids were living inside

Family members of the 16 “almost feral” children rescued from a feces-filled Ohio house of horrors had no idea there were that many kids living inside – until they saw the stunning headlines, a horrified relative revealed Monday. 

Grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina “Lynn” Siders, 67, were arrested alongside their son, Gary “Bub” Siders Jr., 36, and his wife, Elizabeth Siders, 33, after authorities allegedly found the children, ages 1 to 18, living in squalor and isolation inside a cramped 12-by-12 room at the family’s Vinton County home last Tuesday. 

Ronnie Fletcher, who’s married to one of the grandparents’ adult daughters, said he and his wife knew the younger Siders had a large family – but believed there were only around 10 children. 

They only learned of the staggering 16 kids when news of their relatives’ arrests broke, he told local news outlet WOWK 13 – and said the revelation left the extended family “horrified” and “worried about the kids.” 

The children were forced to live inside the cramped room littered with human waste for at least the past four years, according to authorities, who have described the grisly scene as “deplorable” and “third-world” – and even said local livestock lived in better conditions than the children. 

“It’s been awful for the people that had no idea that was going on [in] the house that are related to this family,” Fletcher told the outlet. 

Relatives would have intervened had they known what was happening, the son-in-law insisted. 

“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. 

However, it had been nearly seven years since Fletcher and his wife even knew where the Siders were living, as the alleged child abusers kept the rest of the family at “arms-length,” he recalled. 

“We might have known whereabouts, like in a county or in a spot, [but] most of the time we felt like that wasn’t really the truth,” Fletcher said, adding that the first time they ever saw the house of horrors was on the news. 

“The last time we heard from them, we gave them a car, and that’s probably close to a year ago now – other than Lynn [Christina] calling us and asking for money or [saying] they needed help with the water bill. 

“If we had it, we sent it, and if we didn’t, one of the other daughters did,” Fletcher recalled. 

Gary Sr. and Christina’s four daughters are all “quite a bit older” than their youngest brother, Gary Jr., according to the relative, who said that age gap contributed to the family drifting apart over the years. 

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 [Christinia] and Gary’s house, which like I’ve said, was back then a normal American home,” he said. 

The couple’s oldest child, now 18, was reportedly born two months after they tied the knot. 

Back then, Fletcher said, Gary Sr. and Christina kept a clean home and raised children who went on to become “successful members of society.” 

“I’ve known this family since grade school. I’ve been with their daughter for 20 years. Gary and Lynn did not raise their children that way. The four daughters that got out are successful members of society,” he said. 

The relative also complained that his own family has been targeted by online rumors and accusations of “generational incest” since the arrests. 

“This is all in that one home,” he said, echoing Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s description of the alleged abuse as “intra-family.” 

Still, despite having met only two or three of Gary Jr. and Elizabeth’s children years earlier, Fletcher said he never imagined the family would be capable of the horror authorities now allege. 

“I can’t believe it because we always thought there was homeschooling going on,” he said. “We knew they didn’t go to school, but we was always told they was being homeschooled.”

The children, who have never been enrolled in school, can barely communicate – and some cannot speak at all, according to authorities. 

The oldest child, 18, is developmentally disabled and unable to even write her name, investigators said. 

The children were taken to hospitals across Ohio following the rescue. Some were in serious condition, including two who were airlifted to trauma centers and at least one who had to be intubated, according to officials. 

Wilson said it remains unclear exactly who all their parents are. 

Although his family is incapable of taking in any of the children right now, Fletcher wanted them to “know that there’s distant family that does care.”

“I hope that they are able to get help and be productive members of society themselves, and justice needs to be done,” he told WOWK 13. 

The four defendants each pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of child endangerment last Wednesday, when a judge set their bail at $300,000 apiece. 

Gary Sr., who Fletcher believes may have suffered a stroke recently, is due back in court on July 14. Christina, Elizabeth and Gary Jr. are scheduled to appear for a hearing at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by The Post. 

If convicted on all charges, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of up to 192 years in prison.