HAMDEN, Ohio (AP) 鈥� Just days after authorities from a squalid home and arrested four adult relatives, the question looms over their southern Ohio village: How could this have happened, for years, unnoticed, right here?
Neighbors of the family in tiny Hamden, employees at local stores where they shopped and even the investigators who have been left to wonder that aloud and to themselves, and the limited information shared by investigators doesn’t offer a full answer.
The children weren’t enrolled in school, the family moved around over the past two decades, and neighbors said they鈥檇 never spotted the kids. The children remained mostly confined to a small room in the house, investigators said, under deplorable conditions.
鈥淩ight under our noses and nobody was able to help them sooner,鈥� said Emily Collins, 27, owner of VC Farm & Floral in nearby McArthur. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just crazy that all the wonderful things going on in our little Hallmark town and this is what puts us on the radar. It鈥檚 really sad,鈥� said the mother of three, who was compelled to decorate the sidewalk with bright flowers and stars drawn in chalk to cheer herself up.
Lawyer: Let the case 鈥榩lay out鈥�
Authorities said they had gone to the home Tuesday on an unrelated investigation and discovered the children 鈥� ages 1 1/2 to 18 years old 鈥� some of whom were unable to speak.
Seven were taken to hospitals, including one who was in critical condition, investigators said. Their current conditions weren’t immediately known Thursday. Child welfare officials have temporary custody of the children.
A man who lives three houses down from the Siders family said he had seen 鈥渘o kids at all鈥� there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sad situation,鈥� said Joseph Stewart, 60, who has lived in the 鈥渜uiet neighborhood鈥� for six years.
Four people who are the children鈥檚 parents and grandparents were arrested on child endangerment charges. Gary Siders Jr., 36, Gary Siders, 73, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Christina Siders, 67, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment. Bond was set at $300,000 each.
An attorney for the elder Siders said he is presumed innocent.
鈥淲e ask that the community at large, as well as anyone who might have an interest in this case, to take a deep breath, step back, and let the case play out and the facts play out,鈥� Dorian Baum told The Associated Press.
Attorneys for Siders Jr. and Christina Siders declined to comment. Messages seeking comment from Elizabeth Siders’ lawyer were not immediately returned.
Little traffic on home鈥檚 rural road
Authorities wouldn鈥檛 publicly share the nature of the other investigation that led them to the house Tuesday. However, court records show a warrant was issued for Siders Jr. that day on misdemeanor indecent exposure charges related to alleged incidents on four days in May. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, windows and doors at the formerly wide-open home, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus, had been boarded up. Police tape and piles of refuse remained.
The previous day, a door was ajar and heaps of trash and children鈥檚 toys were visible inside. A wood deck and the backyard were filled with discarded tires, a high chair and other debris.
The house sits on a road tucked alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains to a rail yard in the village of fewer than 1,000 residents. The closest neighbors are separated by trees and thick brush, but the house is easily visible from the road.
Kids not seen in schools
Investigators said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades and that it looks like they avoided creating a medical or governmental paper trail. The Vinton County Local School District, the only district in the area, said it has no records indicating that any of the children were ever enrolled.
鈥淭hese folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,鈥� Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said Wednesday.
The children鈥檚 absence from school, and the apparent lack of regular visits with medical professionals, likely contributed to keeping the dire situation unknown, said Jacqueline Yahn, an associate professor at Ohio University.
鈥淲hen kids are isolated or not participating, you don鈥檛 have someone who鈥檚 trained to know the clues,鈥� said Yahn, who specializes in rural education and poverty. 鈥淎 well-check is called that for a reason: They鈥檙e checking for well-being and development.鈥�
Investigators were reviewing whether the family was reported to any children鈥檚 services agencies in the past.
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), according to investigators, who noted that human waste was all around.
鈥淭hey looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible,鈥� Wilson said.
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Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.
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