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Children found in ‘deplorable’ Ohio home are part of same family

By Associated Press Published July 1, 2026, 5:21 p.m. ET

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Sixteen children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in wretched conditions with human waste all around, confined to just one room over much of the past four years, authorities said Wednesday.

Some of the children discovered Tuesday were unable to speak and one — an 18 year-old who was developmentally disabled — could not even write her name, investigators said.

“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” said Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain.

Crime scene unit and sheriff cars parked outside a house, with several officers on the porch. — Authorities reported that 16 children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in filthy conditions surrounded by human waste. WSYX ABC 6

“Just a disgusting scene.”

Authorities have charged four adults with felony child endangerment.

They emphasized this was not a case of human trafficking and instead involved one family.

Authorities found the children while carrying out a search warrant for an unrelated investigation, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said Wednesday at a news conference.

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The unforgiving obituary was just two sentences long.

Grandma suspected of fatally poisoning daughter, grandkids remembered in stone-cold 2-line obit

“We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there,” said Wilson, who was nearly at a loss for words in describing what they found in the tiny village of Hamden that sits in one of Ohio’s poorest counties.

“It’s the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America, he said.

The sheriff said it appears the children spent most of their time in a room that was roughly 12 feet by 12 feet (3.5 meters by 3.5 meters).

He said they didn’t find any cages in the house.

The children ranged in age from 1 1/2 years to 18 years old and included both boys and girls, officials said.

Collage of four mugshots: Gary Siders Sr. (top left), Christina Siders (top right), Elizabeth Siders (bottom left), and Gary Siders II (bottom right). — Gary Siders Sr. (top left), 73, Christina Siders (top right), 67, Elizabeth Siders (bottom left), 33, and Gary Siders II (bottom right), 36, were each charged with 16 counts of endangering children. Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail

Seven were transported to hospitals in Columbus and two were flown by helicopters.

One was in critical condition on Tuesday, Wilson said.

“They looked like almost feral animals,” Wilson said.

“It was terrible.”

Vinton County prosecuting attorney William Archer said the four adults were charged with second-degree felony child endangering because it involves “serious physical harm.”

Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders appeared in court Wednesday where a judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

A house with yellow crime scene tape across the front yard. — Investigators detailed that some of the children were developmentally disabled, along with 7 of them being transported to local hospitals. WSYX ABC 6

They have not yet been assigned lawyers.

The house where the children were found sits on a road tucked away alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains through Hamden.

Authorities said it seemed as if no one outside the family knew about the children.

“These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,” Wilson said.

Neighbor Joseph Stewart, 60, said he saw “no kids at all” since the family moved in.

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“It’s a sad situation,” he said. Stewart has lived on the street for six years and called it “a quiet neighborhood.”

On Wednesday, the home’s doors and windows stood open to the sweltering heat.

A tangle of discarded children’s items — two busted bicycles, a plastic play table, a beach pail and two infant carriers — stood in a pile in the yard.

Hamden has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus.

The discovery of the children is reminiscent of past horrific cases of family abuse.

In 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children at their home California, starving them and providing only a minimal education.

They were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

The couple was arrested in 2018 after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the home and called 911.

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Authorities reported that 16 children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in filthy conditions surrounded by human waste. WSYX ABC 6

Gary Siders Sr. (top left), 73, Christina Siders (top right), 67, Elizabeth Siders (bottom left), 33, and Gary Siders II (bottom right), 36, were each charged with 16 counts of endangering children. Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail

Investigators detailed that some of the children were developmentally disabled, along with 7 of them being transported to local hospitals. WSYX ABC 6

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Meet Melat Kiros, the Ethiopian-born anti-Israel socialist crusader who is DSA’s rising star after stunning upset in Colorado

Meet Melat Kiros, the Ethiopian-born anti-Israel socialist crusader who is DSA's rising star after stunning upset in Colorado

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Meet Melat Kiros, the Ethiopian-born anti-Israel socialist crusader who is DSA’s rising star after stunning upset in Colorado

By Ryan King Published July 1, 2026, 2:06 p.m. ET

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WASHINGTON — Democratic socialism is spreading West.

Political newcomer Melat Kiros, 29, who took down 15-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Col.) in a stunning primary upset Tuesday, is riding a wave of anti-Israel and anti-ICE sentiment sweeping her party.

The Ethiopian-born PhD student has pushed to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), suggested that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks were “inevitable,” downplayed suggestions that a firebombing of a Jewish rally was an act of antisemitism, and more.

Once in the House of Representatives, which is considered likely because she’s in a safe blue district, Kiros has vowed to push Democrats as far left as possible and to oppose Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) becoming speaker.

Political awakening

Kiros refined many of her far-left views in law school at Notre Dame in the early 2020s, a period she describes as her political awakening, as the country was roiled by the COVID-19 pandemic and peak wokeness.

“I literally watched the Federalist Society handpicking some of my classmates onto the judge track in their decades-long bid to pack the courts,” she complained, according to Vox. “…I just lost faith in the system; I think a lot of young people did.”

Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros smiles at her primary election night watch party. — The democratic socialist has been a staunch critic of capitalism, Israel, and ICE. AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak

After law school in 2022, she joined the law firm Sidley Austin in New York, where she worked as a regulatory and enforcement associate. The following year, she was fired for writing a viral open letter lambasting law firms for pushing to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.

“By chilling future lawyers’ employment prospects for criticism of the Israeli government’s actions and its legitimacy, you are complicit in Israel’s weaponization of anti-Semitism against legitimate concerns for the right of self-determination and the livelihood of the Palestinian people,” she wrote in the missive.

Sidley Austin demanded she take the letter down, but Kiros claims she refused and was fired as a result.

“I didn’t flinch because I stood by every word and I always will,” she boasted during her victory speech Tuesday.

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That move drew headlines and boosted her name recognition in lefty circles.

After losing her law gig, Kiros moved back to Colorado, where her family had immigrated while she was just 11-months-old. Her father had been picked in America’s Diversity Visa Lottery, per her campaign website.

Back home, she enrolled in a PhD program in public policy and worked as a barista.

Then, in the middle of last year, she decided to launch a seemingly long-shot primary challenge against DeGette, who is widely considered to be a very progressive lawmaker and has served in Congress longer than Kiros has been alive.

DeGette had the backing of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Diana DeGette speaking into a pink microphone at a League of Women Voters forum. — Rep. Diana DeGette was one of the more progressive members of the House Democratic Caucus. Denver Post via Getty Images

But Kiros’ candidacy caught fire with the DSA and other lefty groups that were hunting for candidates to take on incumbent Democrats and push the party further leftwards.

One of the major differences between the two was Kiros’ tougher stance against Israel. DeGette faced grassroots pushback for supporting defensive aid to Israel.

Kiros, however, made tough talk against the Jewish state a feature of her campaign.

For example, she told notorious lefty streamer Hasan Piker that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack was an “inevitable consequence of apartheid,” though she later clarified she wasn’t trying to say it was justified.

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Piker is a very controversial streamer, having declared that “America deserved 9/11″ and praised the “brave mujahideen” who injured Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).

In a similar vein, she told 9News journalist Kyle Clark that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were an “inevitable consequence” of US foreign policy.

Kiros has stirred local controversy for downplaying the role of antisemitism in the June 1, 2025, firebombing attack at a weekly Jewish gathering aimed at bringing attention to the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. One person was killed and a dozen were injured in that attack.

Melat Kiros speaking to supporters at an election-night watch party. — Melat Kiros has indicated she won’t support Hakeem Jeffries for speaker. Getty Images

The attacker, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, screamed “Free Palestine” before later stating that he “wanted to kill all Zionist people,” according to the FBI.

Kiros repeatedly declined to call it antisemitism and told NOTUS that it wasn’t “entirely obvious that it was just motivated by antisemitism.”

Many of her positions are similar to those of other DSA members, including support for Medicare for All, a modified Green New Deal, and mass amnesty. Kiros also wants a 10% slash in Pentagon spending.

“People are seeing that capitalism is responsible for a lot of the degradation that we’re seeing in our economy, that we’re seeing in our democracy, that we’re certainly seeing in our climate as well,” she claimed in a recent interview.

“They’re demanding a new way to organize our economy.”

Should she win in November, she will be the first Gen. Z woman to serve in Congress and the second Zoomer overall, after Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.)

She is riding a socialist revolt within the Democratic Party, as far-left candidates have won primaries across New York, Maine, Illinois, and elsewhere heading into the midterms.

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