The mother of 16 “almost feral” kids rescued from a feces-filled house of horrors made a creepy social media post on her husband’s Facebook account more than a decade before their disturbing arrests on child abuse charges.
A 21-year-old Elizabeth Siders whined in a post on June 5, 2014: “[sic] this is elizabeth i dont want any one putting pictures of me on facebook every one if you have any pictures of me on here please take them off here !”
A photo of a young Siders — first posted by her mother, Lori Russell, on Facebook in August 2020 — also resurfaced after her arrest last month, according to the Sun, showing her smiling with shoulder-length blond hair — a far cry from the dark-haired and emotionless stare seen in her recent mugshot.
“Happy Birthday to my daughter Elizabeth it hard to believe. My youngest is 28 today love you, mom and dad,” her mom wrote in the post, although the snap isn’t dated.
Elizabeth Siders, 33, was one of four adults each charged on June 30 with 16 counts of disturbing child abuse charges after her kids — ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years — were found living in squalor inside a cramped 12-by-12 room in a scene Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described as “pure evil.”
The state’s top cop said the conditions inside the Siders’ Hamden home were something “you cannot even imagine people being in, let alone children being in.”
“It was terrible,” Wilson said, adding that “these folks were pretty good at hiding these kids.
“They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible.”
Elizabeth Siders was just 15 when she married Gary Siders Jr., then 18, in 2008 in West Virginia — where parental consent, at the time, was enough to legally tie the knot.
The couple’s oldest child, an 18-year-old girl, was reportedly born two months later.
Relatives of Elizabeth Siders claim they lost contact with her after she married into the Siders family.
Her attorney requested a recognizance bond for Siders last week that would let her leave jail under certain criteria, arguing that because she doesn’t have a criminal record she would be eligible for time away from Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail.
She is currently being held on a $300,000 bond.
“Through conversations with Counsel, the Defendant maintains that her principal desire (is) to reunite with her children,” wrote Siders’ lawyer, J. Thomas Sully, in a court filing obtained by WOWK 13.
“She understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this Court.”
The filing claims that Elizabeth Siders is no longer a threat now that the children have been removed from the care of her and her husband, Gary Siders Jr., 36.
On Monday, the state was expected to award Vinton County $1 million to assist in the care of the children.
The children, who were never enrolled in school, can barely communicate — and some cannot even speak, authorities said.
The oldest child is severely developmentally disabled and unable to even write her name, according to investigators.
Grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 67, were arrested alongside Gary Jr. and Elizabeth.
Each family member was slapped with 16 counts of felony child endangerment charges.
Elizabeth Siders is currently being held on a $300,000 bond.
