As social media grows and evolves, it is important to recognize that the people on these platforms may not always be who you think they are. In this edition of Two Bit True Crime, I decided to dive deeper into one of America’s most well-known family vlogging channels, recently revealed not to be who social media thought they were.

Before:

Ruby Franke was born on January 18, 1982, in Utah to a large family, to which she has three sisters. As she grew up with this family dynamic, she wanted a large family of her own and later had six children with her former husband, Kevin Franke. Her firstborn, Shari, was born in March 2003, and the youngest, Eve, was born in September 2013. Even though the children were separated for over ten years, the one thing that never changed in the family was their devotion to religion. The family was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this heavily influenced their family dynamic. In private, Ruby was immensely focused on religious themes such as demons and devils. Although this does not seem relevant now, religion played a massive role in the tragedy of this family.

In 2015, Ruby and Kevin started their YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, and quickly rose to fame through documenting the lives of themselves and their six children. Through sharing their methods of raising, disciplining, and schooling their children, the channel gained more than 2 million subscribers. In their videos, their harsh parenting style was often on full display and many viewers took note of this, even to the point where a Change.org petition was created to call child protection services on the family after one of their sons admitted to sleeping on a beanbag for seven months as a punishment. However, there was not enough evidence and the case was quickly dropped.

Even though the beanbag punishment was only a glimpse into the abuse the children underwent behind closed doors, this was a turning point for the channel as viewers were outraged when they heard of this. During this time, the 8 Passengers channel lost a significant amount of subscribers and views tanked, resulting in them losing 90% of their monthly income. For context, the channel was making around $100,000 per month. However, when a lawyer was brought in to help the family avoid complete cancellation, Ruby declined to apologize to viewers about the mistreatment and instead wanted to show what “real parenting” was like. 

Around the same time, Ruby met therapist and life coach, Jodi Hildebrandt, who actually counseled one of Ruby’s sons and was the one who recommended Ruby take away his privilege of having a bedroom hence the beanbag. After Ruby separated from Kevin in 2022 and discontinued the 8 Passengers channel, she began to develop a relationship with Hildebrandt and they collaborated on Hildebrandt’s coaching service, ConneXions. ConneXions was started in 2007 by Hildebrandt to offer counseling services for relationships and parenting. As their relationship grew, Ruby began to appear in ConneXions videos with Hildebrandt and eventually became a “certified mental fitness trainer” on the ConneXions website. While this was going on, Hildebrandt counseled Ruby regarding her own family, though Ruby later stated that this counseling led her to believe a distorted version of reality.

After:

From May to August 2023, the abuse grew significantly as Ruby and Hildebrandt mentally and physically tormented the two youngest children. The women now lived together and were considered roommates along with Ruby’s youngest son and daughter. During these months, a number of frightening things happened such as the children being forced to work outside in bare feet and being denied access to food and water. When the son was discovered to have consumed water, he was punished. Additionally, when the children sustained injuries from being physically abused, Ruby would combine a mixture of cayenne pepper and honey to put in their wounds and then cover them with duct tape.

In July 2023, the youngest son attempted to run away but he was caught and bound with two sets of handcuffs on his hands and feet. However, a month later on August 30, the boy successfully escaped through a window to which he went to the neighbors and asked them if they would take him to the police station. As the boy was covered in wounds and was hungry and thirsty, the neighbor offered him a banana and water and immediately called the authorities who came minutes later. While on the phone with the authorities, the neighbor was said to be holding back tears when describing the boy’s condition.

When the boy directed the authorities to Hildebrandt’s home, where he had been staying, they searched the property and found his 9-year-old sister inside a closet with her head shaved. Both Hildebrandt and Ruby were arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse. In their raid of the house, the thing that stood out the most was Ruby’s journal positioned on her nightstand which contained information about the treatment of her children. Their treatment was justified in Ruby’s mind because she believed the two youngest were possessed and by mistreating them, she would get closer to God.

Sources:

Davies, Cerys. “Ruby Franke doc on Hulu details abuse, neglect and family vlogging.” Los Angeles Times, 5 March 2025, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-03-05/ruby-franke-doc-hulu-devil-in-the-family-abuse-biggest-revelations. Accessed 5 May 2025.

Kettler, Sara. “Jodi Hildebrandt’s Role in the Ruby Franke Case and Life Today.” Biography, 27 February 2025, https://www.biography.com/crime/a63963849/who-is-jodi-hildebrandt. Accessed 5 May 2025.

Piccotti, Tyler. “The Story of Ruby Franke and Her Children.” Biography, 4 April 2025, https://www.biography.com/crime/a60319774/ruby-franke-stor. Accessed 5 May 2025.