Elizabeth Siders, 33, gave birth a set of conjoined twin girls who died just hours after birth at a Columbus, Ohio, hospital in 2022, according to state vital statistics
The mum of 16 “almost feral” and mute kids found living in a house of horrors once gave birth to conjoined twin girls who later died, it has emerged. Elizabeth Siders, 33, delivered daughters Bailey Lee and Faith Lee Siders at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, on November 20, 2022, according to state vital statistics records obtained by local outlet WOWK 13.
The babies were born at 24 weeks’ gestation with a condition known as thoracopagus, where their faces and chests were fused together in the womb. Records state they died later that same day of natural causes.
The latest revealation came after Elizabeth her husband, Gary Siders Jnr and his parents, Gary Snr and Christina Siders were arrested at their house in Vinton County. There, authorities found 16 children aged one to 18 living in “pure evil” conditions crammed inside a 12x12ft faeces-filled room.
The four are all facing 16 second-degree felony charges each of child endangering. It remains unclear if both Elizabeth and Siders Jr. are the parents to all the kids, as Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described it as an “intra-family case.”
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.
Investigators say the children were found while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office were conducting an unrelated investigation at the property in Hamden, a village of fewer than 1,000 residents around 60 miles southeast of Columbus.
Authorities transported the children to hospital, where several have since been examined and released.
One youngster was admitted to intensive care at one point, while two others required airlifting to Level One trauma centres due to the seriousness of their injuries.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain branded the residence as “disgusting”, stating it was smeared with human faeces and claiming the children had been restricted to just one 12-by-12-foot room for almost four years.
“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Cain said during a press conference last week.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson revealed the conditions within the property had left an indelible mark on him. He informed reporters he couldn’t shake the stench of the home “away from me”.
Authorities also disclosed the profound developmental consequences the youngsters’ confinement seemed to have caused. Some were completely unable to communicate, while others possessed only “limited” speech abilities.
None had been registered for school, and the eldest child, an 18 year old described as developmentally disabled, was reportedly incapable of spelling her own name.
“Some of these children couldn’t even speak,” Wilson told reporters. “It was terrible. They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible.”
According to Wilson, the family had been “pretty good at hiding these kids” and seemed to have relocated around various parts of Ohio before establishing themselves in Vinton County roughly four years ago. The property where the children were discovered was held by a trust.
Describing the scene as unlike anything he had experienced in his career, Wilson labelled what investigators discovered as “pure evil”. He declared: “Justice will be served for these children.”
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.