Inside the Siders Mystery: DNA and Birth Records Reveal New Clues ohio’s House Of Horror

Inside the Siders Mystery: DNA and Birth Records Reveal New Clues ohio’s House Of Horror

new details that are coming out in this um House of Horrors case in Ohio. That’s what it’s sort of been called the story, House of Horrors. And based on all the details that I’ve seen, um it truly was horrific. Uh details about the parents history, more about what was happening that may have gone unnoticed, what the parents defense may be in all of this.

going to get to all these new details uh coming up in this episode. Also, like all their birth certificates, just really tracing back the history of this family. Uh a little bit of the backstory though, 16 children were rescued from an Ohio home. The the kids kids were kept isolated. It was a 12 by 12t home, I’m sorry, 12 x 12t room inside the small home, according to authorities.

The kids isolated from the world, police say. and living in just total squalor. Uh investigators describe the children as almost feral, which I’ve seen some of the comments like people are like, “Oh my gosh, it’s such an awful way to describe children.” And and I don’t disagree, but that’s what investigators said at their press conference.

 And I think it just gives you an idea of how bad apparently this was. Uh the children were ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old. Uh, they were 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4year-old twins, 2-year-old twins, and one and a halfyear-old twins. The parents and the grandparents were arrested.

 73-year-old Gary Ciders, 60 uhyear-old Christina Ciders, 36-year-old Gary Ciders II, and 33-year-old Elizabeth Ciders. Now, Gary Ciders senior apparently has some kind of health condition. We’ve learned when he was booked in, they discovered it apparently and according to prosecutors, he’s now been transferred to a hospital.

Elizabeth Siders, the mom, her lawyer has been doing a lot of interviews. Uh he also spoke on NewsNation and he’s defending Elizabeth, claiming that this entire situation is not what it is being portrayed in the media and with law enforcement. Listen to what the lawyer said on NewsNation.

 We’re talking about a headline that reads, “A house of horrors, pure evil.” That is the description that the Ohio Attorney General used. And I believe that that is probably the reason that we’re here today uh doing this interview is because the Ohio Attorney General and uh now picked up by the media is using this inflammatory and invocative language.

So, we are at the very early stages of this investigation. Uh, I was able to meet with my client, Elizabeth. I’ve met with her now three times. The person that I met does not come across as pure evil. The person that I met comes across as a mother who has been separated from her children, who is exhausted, and who misses her children, and is asking me constantly what she needs to do to see her children again, what she needs to do uh to ultimately be reunited with her children.

 That does not jive with the prosecutor’s narrative. It doesn’t jive with the attorney general’s narrative. And I think because of that language that was used so early on in this case, we are sitting here now having to defend that on television and in the media instead of in a court of law. >> Meanwhile, the dad, Gary Siders Jr.

, uh who is 36 years old. Um there’s this separate incident involving him where he’s accused of public indecency and according to court documents uh he’s accused of exposing himself outside of his home to people other than those in his household. And it apparently happened on four different occasions according to court documents back in May.

 According to um WK which is one of the local affiliates Gary Ciders Jr. and Elizabeth Ciders were married in 2008. Elizabeth was 15 years old. Gary was 18 years old. Their eldest child, who is now 18, was born just 2 months after their marriage. So, Elizabeth was very, very young. Uh, in addition to the 16 children, WK reports that another set of twins, both girls, were born in 2022, but died the same day.

There was a man named Ronnie Fletcher who is the son-in-law uh on the cider of the Siders family uh and he spoke to news station WK. >> If we would had known that it was like that in that home, we would have done something about it. Even if it was to just go there and take the kids ourselves or give more money, I mean whatever, you know, them girls would have went there and cleaned the house themselves if they would have known it was like that.

 Last time we heard from them, we gave him a car and that’s probably close to a year ago now. We’ve done what we could for that family at the arms length that they was leave keeping us at. >> What do you want people to know about about your family and then your extended family? >> Well, I mean, I just want them to know that we we if All right.

 My wife would take the last $5 out of her pocket and buy somebody a meal and chance running out of gas to get home. We if we didn’t know this was that way, we would have helped. >> Yep. >> Yeah. >> So, for more on where the investigation stands now, I want you to hear my conversation with LA Magazine reporter Lauren Conlin, uh, who’s been all over this story. Hey, Lauren.

 It’s It’s good to see you. Um, this is such a like just a disturbing case on so many levels. Uh, everything about it. I I I was kind of skeptical that like all 16 kids were born in the hospital, but the new reporting I’m seeing is that there like are birth certificates for all of them. Is that true? And if so, like do we know how then did the officials not keep up with these kids and they just sort of disappeared off the radar? >> You’re right, Brian.

 So, uh, it was ABC 6, uh, a local affiliate who actually was able to pull all of the birth certificates for all 16 children and they confirmed that all of them were born in hospitals, which is interesting to to your point because, you know, I’m I’m thinking back about when I gave birth and, you know, women out there, you guys can sort of think back or or remember weigh in here, but we had to either write down the name of our pediatrician or, you know, the hospital would assign one to us initially and then from there it was kind of like well

if you if you don’t make these appointments someone’s got to hold you accountable um because the hospital has all of this on record and and at least this was in my experience and so I go back to like what happened in between. >> Hey guys, I’ve been on the road so much lately.

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 And to his knowledge, only the elder siders, Gary and Christina or Lindsiders were getting checks from the government, which is mindblowing to me. And and I’m kind of wondering, you know, did Gary and Elizabeth Ciders not know this was an option? I keep going back to like, okay, well, Elizabeth finished the eighth grade.

 Gary finished the ninth grade. Gary Cider, senior, you know, he might have some uh I guess diminished capacity here that that he’s working with. So maybe he didn’t inform them that they could be doing this. But I just I have a lot of questions and I think that one of the biggest is the state. What why why did nobody from the state, no one from CPS know about these kids? Did you see the one family member who posted on Facebook something about how they’re just have low IQ? Like that’s what happened here.

It’s not more complicated than that. It’s not evil. It’s just low IQ. Which I just don’t buy. I mean, you can have low IQ, but that doesn’t mean you would have 16 kids living in squalor to the point where it sounds like one, at least one is in really, really bad shape or was in really bad shape even health-wise.

>> Yeah. I mean, I I did see that that was one of Elizabeth Cider’s brothers, I believe. And look, this is tough, Brian, because I feel like it it’s really hard for a lot of us to comprehend. Um, you know, we are fortunate and and you know, what we, I guess, see in in our lives is is much different than what these people see.

 So, you know, just to sort of deter from your question for a second, local reporters also spoke to an employee at the Dollar General who came in contact with a few members of the Ciders family who would pop in. They said mainly at night. They had very very poor hygiene is what this employee said. But that wasn’t really uncommon for such a an impoverished area.

 That didn’t make them, you know, think anything uh of this. and they would mainly buy chips and diapers, this guy said, and and sometimes they didn’t have enough money. So, I’m thinking about, you know, the fact that Elizabeth had, I think it was three sets of twins, ages 4, 2, and one. That’s six toddlers.

 I mean, you know, I’ve obviously I’ve had toddlers. You have to change their diaper, you know, multiple times a day. We’re talking like five to six times at at a certain point, you know, within a 12-h hour period. Do you think these kids had that type of attention on them? No, absolutely not. Um I I just feel like yes, low IQ would be a part of it.

 Um but also, you know, they’re very very impoverished and and I mean, you’re right. I just about like, you know, I don’t buy that it’s like they didn’t know any better, but I just don’t know if it’s evil at this point, but there’s so many things that we don’t know. It’s It’s hard to say that conclusively, but I’m having a hard time now saying, “Okay, they did this on purpose.

 They only cared about themselves.” It doesn’t sound like they were taking great care of themselves either. >> Do we know why the investigators ended up at the house? Because there were the reports initially about indecent exposure that there may have been like a warrant or an investigation involving, I guess, Gary Jr. and indecent exposure.

But now I’ve heard that that’s not necessarily why they came in are not confirming that that is why. But yes, initially many of us were reporting that as as the reason there was about four different instances or charges of indecent exposure in May of 2026 and there were about three or four days within each um incident, I guess.

 So, the criminal complaint doesn’t tell us exactly what happened during those incidents, but I did see uh an interview on a local news station with Gary Cider’s uh senior, no, I’m sorry, Gary Cider Junior’s attorney, and he stated that he did not think this would be the reason. I mean, that they would come, you know, storming in here.

 So, what is the reason? I I don’t know. It’s that’s part of uh part of the mystery here. Is there has there been any kind of update on the condition of the kids since we first heard about this? >> Well, investigators and and the county attorney have said the kids are all in foster homes. They’re getting the the care they need.

 They’re getting the attention that they need and they’re all doing very well. They’ve stated that DNA testing is still underway. Although, you know, it is interesting. Um I I heard that last week at a press conference. However, the birth certificates were obtained by ABC6, which stated that Elizabeth and Gary were were both the the father and and mother of these kids.

So, you know, I am wondering, I guess, what the DNA testing um could be for additionally, if if anything, um maybe they just want to double check, but um yeah, the kids are are doing okay so far. And also, there was a Facebook post that had surfaced um of this alleged foster mom. Again, investigators have not confirmed and and law enforcement hasn’t confirmed.

 Uh, but this foster mom had said to somebody in a response that she had two uh of the the CERS girls and they confirmed that their mom was pregnant with the baby girl, which I thought was I guess not shocking, but I you know, with what we’re dealing with here. >> Say that again because I’m just trying to follow.

 So, the foster mom posted what? >> She posted in response to some question um that she had two of the CERS girls in in her care and they told her that Elizabeth Ciders is currently pregnant right now. >> Really? So, is is there I wonder though if that would have come out in the proceedings somehow like when they were discussing like her in custody and how she should be treated.

 You know what I mean? I feel like I’ve seen that come out before when people are in court and they’re pregnant. >> Well, she if you remember during that initial arraignment, Elizabeth Siders, this is the only time we’ve seen her or any of them actually attempt to speak. She attempted to say something to the judge. I couldn’t quite make it out.

 You can find this clip. And the judge was like, I need to remind you, you have the right to remain silent. Whatever you’re about to say, this is not the time to say it. So, who knows what she was going to say. Um, but I did see per her attorneys, she’s getting care packages in in jail.

 And also, her brother posted her booking number so people could find um her booking number in order to send her these care packages, which again, you know, her attorney isn’t saying much about if this is true or not. He hasn’t really addressed it at all. Neither has law enforcement. So, I I don’t know if this is factual, but I’m also like, why is this person saying this um on Facebook? Isn’t this, you know, this is seemingly private? But I guess this is a very uh national case at this point.

 So, >> well, and it’s small town. It seems like people just kind of talk and Facebook seems to be the preferred. I’ve noticed like a lot of the family members are on Facebook. So, you’re saying she could be pregnant with with child number 17? Uh, I think there’s a a very high probability again, especially based on the fact that she has been pregnant every year since 2008.

>> It’s about that time, Brian. So, you know, >> and so even though the dad is listed on Gary Jr. is listed on the birth certificates, but you’re saying there’s ongoing DNA testing. I guess that would make sense because when you’re the dad listed on the birth certificate, like there’s no DNA, right? You could just say this is the dad and they’ll put the dad, right? It it could be someone else for some of them.

>> No, you’re right. That they don’t test your baby upon you giving birth. You just, you know, you fill out these forms. But I think that that as this case progresses, there are more family members coming out. And it does seem like the ciders were very isolated for for quite some time. And also the the local reporters um you know they’ve been kind of showing us some drone footage of the home and it really was secluded like there there weren’t neighbors right next door.

 It was it was very much kind of away from everything. So, I I still am confused though that as to how no one saw 16 kids move into that home and no one saw, you know, it’s it’s very bizarre. Very, very >> I don’t buy it. I don’t buy that there wasn’t I mean, there was the railroad tracks right there. >> I just think 16 kids there had to be someone who saw something.

 Um, >> right. >> Have we heard anything about a possible defense at this point? I mean, do you think mental health is going to come into play here? Well, Gary Cider, Senior, is getting an evaluation. The state signed off on that. His attorney had stated that initially he had no idea how to follow these court proceedings.

He was very lost. He didn’t even know who his attorney was, why he was there. And they were like, “Okay, we need to get him evaluated ASAP.” So, that should be happening. And I’m willing to bet there there probably will be some kind of NGI plea cuz they’re they’re kind of saying that he was not in his right state of mind when you know these alle I I don’t even know how to to say this because Brian we don’t even actually know I keep saying alleged abuse.

 Um but like we don’t actually know if these kids were hit, if they were starved, if they were just living in, you know, filthy conditions. We don’t know all of the details here. So, um, yeah, this guy, you know, Gary Cider Senior, he could have just been living in this house in his own world, dealing whatever with whatever he’s allegedly dealing with and not actually knowing.

 But then I go back to the whole, you know, well, they’re these kids have, you know, a lot of them have been around for, let’s say, you know, uh, 18 years. So, what happened up until then? How, you know, how are they living five years ago? Was it like this? Did did, you know, was there a decline? Did something happen specifically? >> When the reports that the 18-year-old can’t even write her her name, did you see that? >> I did.

 And that was one of the questions. Why is an 18-year-old grouped in with with a, you know, a child endangerment case? And they said, well, she couldn’t write her own name. We thought um, you know, she potentially was mute, but then good old Facebook is is again, this is unconfirmed, but there have been rumors. And also, uh, Elizabeth Cider’s attorney did echo this.

 the older kids had social media and they had iPhones and they were communicating with people um this way. So, I don’t know what the truth is there. We’ll we’ll find out. But, uh her attorney Tommy Staly also said, you know, she shared all these inside jokes with the kids. Um her and Gary Cers always wanted a big family. So, a lot of these statements are are just wildly conflicting if if you ask me at this point.

 So I was looking back at the Turpin case from California. Do you remember that case? Interviewed the prosecutor who prosecuted that case and was is was very close to the Turpin kids and still is and really I mean these cases are very complicated like it’s not cut and dry and like what you said about you know the 18-year-old being an adult even though she’s an adult.

 They’re still like children and that was the same case with the turpins. you can’t really treat them as adults because they never went to school. They, you know what I mean? Like mentally they’re still kids. But it’s complicated because even she was explaining like even with all the abuse with the turpins, some of those kids still missed their parents.

 I mean, that’s all they’ve ever known. Um, so I don’t know. I I think it’s just it’s not as cut and dry as just saying these people are awful, evil, which maybe they are, but you like you said, you bring poverty into it. You bring maybe like mentally diminished, you know, IQ like the family saying. I mean, I think it’s not just cut and dry, I don’t think.

>> Yeah. No, I think you’re right. I mean, look, when investigators had said, you know, some of the kids were close to death, my thought went to starvation, I think, at that point, or a possible infection just from, you know, there was one bathroom in that house and and again, it just it it didn’t seem like it was used a lot, or maybe they they didn’t even have soap.

 So again, you you’re living in conditions like this, it is, you know, very easy to to get these infections or or, you know, deal with these illnesses. Um, and if you don’t have proper medical care, then yes. Um, or or, you know, proper vaccinations even, whatever it is. Yeah, these kids could be close to death. So I I wasn’t exactly thinking of a a turpin situation where, you know, some of these the turpin kids were chained to a bed.

they would be beat and you know read passages from the Bible if they didn’t do XYZ because their parents had the you know this certain ideology. I don’t think that the ciders are calculated like that again as of right now. Could I change my mind as things come out? Absolutely. But everything that we’ve learned so far, Brian, I just don’t think that they had this um you know, evil uh just plan in their head to keep breeding these children and and torturing them and beating them and starving them. I I again think that they

just it might have been just carelessness. It might like low IQ. I just I I know I sound like a broken record. I just I I want I want to be inside that courtroom. I want to uh you know, I wish that we had a a preliminary hearing, but again, they waved it last week, so it’s going to a grand jury. Maybe we’ll find out more um based on a possible indictment.

 I do believe they will be indicted. Um but, you know, we’ll see. >> Yeah, it seems like this is maybe more a failure of the system, too, like for not keeping track of the kids, no one noticing that the you know, that they basically just disappeared. and um you know and maybe it’ll even come out later that there were reports made that just went ignored.

 That wouldn’t surprise me either, you know, to like protective services or whatever. So, it’s it’s so sad though. Thank you for digging into it, Lauren, and for for joining me. >> Yes, of course. Of course. Anytime, Brian. I I hope that we know more soon so we can speak a little bit more intelligently about, you know, the family. >> All right. Talk to you later.

 Really appreciate Lauren for taking the time to talk with me. Uh, and as you heard me mention in my discussion with Lauren, I spoke last week to Kim Deonia who prosecuted the Turpin case. She has a really interesting perspective on sort of getting into the mind of parents like this.

 Uh, and I wanted to just replay for you guys a little clip of that cuz I thought it was so interesting just mentally, psychologically, like what is going on with these parents? I mean, this is a really big question, I know, but those are your own kids. It’s your own blood. How does it get to this point where they’re living in filth? They’re they’re chained up with the turpins.

 Similar situations and they were living in a 12 x 12 room in Ohio. Like, how do people get to a place where they’re doing this to their own kids? >> I mean, Brian, that is the million-dollar question. How do they I I don’t know. It’s it’s so callous and it’s so I mean there’s no words to describe right h how a mother and a father who bear these children can turn and put them into the conditions or even themselves lives in live in those conditions you know where it’s so filthy and there’s rats and there’s feces nobody in their right mind would want to

live in that so it it begs the question what is going on with these parents and why what is their motive for wanting to produce all these children and then just treat them in this manner. I think there’s got to be some mental health things going on, uh, some control issues. I know that David and Louise at some point they try to point fingers at some point, you know, they try to blame it on past traumas.

All of the kids typically though had the same story that it was a gradual demise. It wasn’t always so bad that Louise started out little by little. And it’s almost like with each chaining of one child, then it became easier to chain chain them for longer. And then with each forcing a child to skip a meal, it became easier to make all of them skip a meal.

 And then with chaining one, it became easier to chain two. And then they just kind of got used to this rhythm of adding horrific things. And I I mean to the point where they were at where they’re chained and they’re in cages and they’re living in deplorable conditions. I don’t know though the answer to that question of how a parent gets to that point. It’s horrible.

>> Was it a religious thing with the turpins at first? >> I mean there was some there was some evidence of that that yes it was this m like multi-ifferent religions that they had kind of meshed into one. some things from Buddhism, some things from Christianity, uh some things from atheism.

 It was a very strange how they spoke about the religion, but nonetheless, there was this love for God within all of the children when we when we met them. And even I think till to this day, a lot of them really have a deep faith. But I don’t think that it was the religion that they had created that sent them down this road to live in these conditions.

 And with David Louise, it was interesting when it got so bad for them in Texas, they actually went and lived in a hotel and let the kids stay in those horrible conditions. So, I mean, it is just it’s unexplainable. >> Do they claim to love their kids? >> Oh, yes. Yes. >> Mhm. >> How How do you even explain that? I mean >> I mean probably you would analogize it to the domestic violence, right? where a >> partner beats up their other partner in a horrible way but still claims it’s in the name of love and it was just a overreaction or all of the excuses that

they use but they call that love as well which is equally disturbing >> with the Ohio case I was watching the sheriff he was explaining that some of the kids can’t even really speak like even the older kids don’t have like language skills the 18-year-old he said couldn’t write her name. Um, like with the turpins, how difficult was it to communicate with them initially? >> You know, Brian, that was almost an identical thing that we we struggled with with the turpins.

 And in fact, I think when Diane Sawyer had the 911 call come out and you saw Jordan Turpin trying to explain to the detective what the chain, like the bruises on the wrist were, she kept calling them the places. She didn’t know the the grammatical word to use. I was my brother is chained up and he has bruises on him.

 She kept calling him it the places. And you can see the deputy is like I don’t know what she’s talking about. He was thinking about calling in a 5150 hold. Same with the medications. She couldn’t read or say the word medication. She couldn’t say her street name. And there was this cadence about all of those children that was very present when we first rescued them.

 you could you could hear that there was a different cadence almost like their own language that that you could visibly hear when you spoke to them. And I believe it’s the same with these Ohio kids because you know when you’re not exposed to the outside world and you’re not exposed to individuals who have accents, individuals who have English as their second language, we pick up a lot of those social skills and how we speak to one another.

 And when you don’t have any of that because you are completely isolated, it it shows a very similar pattern in their language and how they speak. Uh similar with the Turpin kids, they weren’t going to school. They weren’t being homeschooled by Louise, so they didn’t know how to write their names.

 You know, those poor kids were rescued and got thrown into the foster care system and had to go to elementary school at the age that they were. So they got thrown into fourth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade. Yet they had never been to school. They don’t know fourth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade work. Uh, and I would imagine the Ohio children are in the exact same boat.

>> Kim is just a rock star. I got a couple messages from some of you guys. I mean, and you think about the prosecutors in this case, too. It’s difficult prosecuting a case like this. So, I’ll stay on top of it. Um, I wanted to update you guys on a couple of those details there. We’ll see what happens. You know, there’s likely going to be a grand jury.

 Um, more information will be coming out. And you just got to think about those kids who are now in the foster care system hopefully being looked after. Um you know you look back at the Turpin case unfortunately some of them were reabused. >> If your life feels stressful or out of control stop reacting to everything around you you know and start creating a life on your own terms.

 Bling decide what truly matters to you. set standards that are non-negotiable Ben because if you always leave yourself an easy way out you know your mind will choose comfort over growth man but when you fully commit to becoming better you know you must value your future more than your current habits plained every single day you wake up remember that life is a gift right and if it’s a gift right then you have a responsibility ility to grow and give more.

 If you want your life to expand, you know, you need to step into new environments. Bland surround yourself with things that challenge you. You things you are not used to because most people stay stuck simply because they keep doing the same things. Amance, here’s the truth. No, nothing in your life will change until you change.

 Your beliefs shape your reality. uh the story you keep telling yourself becomes your life you know and many people don’t fail because they lack knowledge you know they fail because they lack belief at every moment you are making three decisions and what are you going to focus on uh what meaning are you going to give it and what action are you going to take banny it you don’t experience life as it is you experience life through your focus your mind is constantly filtering ing reality.

 It deletes things, distorts things and simplifies everything just so you can function. So if you don’t control your focus, you will end up reacting instead of creating balance. The moment you focus on something, you know, your brain immediately asks, you know, what does this mean? Right? And the meaning you give it creates your emotion.