Ruby Franke, a former family vlogger, launched her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, in 2016 and gained over two million subscribers. She shared family videos featuring her husband, Kevin, and their six children: Sheri, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. Her account was deleted earlier this year, to “save her children”, but Ruby remained active on social media.
Throughout her YouTube career, she’s faced backlash several times because of her controversial and strict parenting style. For example, in one video, she could be seen telling her sons they would “lose the privilege to eat dinner” if they continued play-fighting. In another video, she said her six-year-old needed to be hungry so she could learn to stop forgetting to bring her lunch to school. “Hopefully nobody gives her food and nobody steps in and gives her a lunch, because then she’s not going to learn,” she told the camera. She also made her teenage son sleep on a beanbag chair for seven months, all because he played pranks on his siblings.
On August 30, she and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on six counts of aggravated child abuse. One of her children, Russell, reportedly escaped Jodi’s home in a city in southern Utah. According to an affidavit, Russell climbed out a window at Hildebrant’s home and went to the neighbor’s house asking for food and water. He was extremely malnourished and had duct tape on his ankles and wrists, as well as open wounds. The neighbors called the police and when they arrived, they reportedly searched Jodi’s home and found Ruby’s 10-year-old, Eve, who was also malnourished.
Since Ruby was arrested, her eldest daughter Sheri has spoken out, saying, “Today has been a big day. Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We’ve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up,” on her Instagram story. According to Sheri, Ruby’s children are now safe and have a “long road ahead” to recovery.
