Youtuber Ruby Franke, a 42 year old woman from the state of Utah got arrested in August of 2023. She ran a family Youtube channel with her husband Kevin Franke. The channel was known as “8 Passengers”; the channel has since been deleted. They would post videos of what was occurring in their daily lives and they had an audience of over 2 million people. Ruby Franke was arrested with her business partner Jodi Hildebrant and many allegations lead to this arrest.
Ruby and Kevin have six kids who are Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russel and Eve. Through the channel, the family shared their lifestyle and shared their daily lives on their Youtube Channel. Many people started to suspect that something was going on when, in a couple of videos that were uploaded concerning things were being said and done. One of the 8 Passengers videos depicted Chad’s bed being taken away for a total of seven months as a form of punishment. Another one depicted the teacher of 10-year-old Eve, calling the house, saying that Eve didn’t bring lunch to school that day. Ruby Franke responded with, “That is her responsibility to pack a lunch, so please don’t try and help her out. It’s her fault.” Many people on their Youtube channel were starting to think that her style of parenting was portrayed as “abusive.”
Ruby Franke had been living with business partner Jodi Hildebrant at the time and not with her husband Kevin. They both ran a parenting advice podcast called “Connexions’ ‘ where they would talk about giving advice to parents and many other topics. Russel and Eve were also living there with Ruby Franke as well. Individuals had already started to suspect things back then when those things were said in the Youtube videos and there were many concerns that were raised for their children and the family. Jodi and Ruby were arrested on August 30th, 2023 and they were arrested at Hildebrant’s home. Ruby’s 12 year old son had escaped out of Jodi’s house and went to the neighbor’s house asking for something to eat and drink.The neighbor saw the condition Russel was in and immediately contacted 911. When the police arrived, they had entered the home and saw Eve was almost in the same condition that Russel was. Russel had open wounds and other wounds that appear to be from tape being on his ankles and wrists. Both of Ruby’s kids had several signs of bad malnourishment and looked like they hadn’t eaten in a couple days.
After that, the kids were taken to the hospital for examination and care and later were picked up by Child Protection Services. Ruby was charged with counts of child abuse and a felony as well, a fine of up to $10,000 dollars. It has been stated that Ruby tortured her children and it was motivated by religious faith because she appeared to be Mormon along with her business partner Jodi. Allegations were also being made that Ruby was making Eve do labor in the outside hot weather with no shoes and no water to drink.The children also said to the police that “Jodi would tie them up” as punishment. The kids were also held in Jodi’s basement and put inside a “panic room” and they would be there for hours as a form of punishment.
Kevin Franke, who was Ruby Franke’s husband at the time, was seen out in public and was asked what he thought about the crime. He replied with him saying that he didn’t want to say anything about his wife’s actions and he just wanted to keep his kids safe and together. Kevin then filed for a divorce with Ruby and took it from there. On August 31st, 2023 Ruby’s sisters had made a joint Instagram post saying that Ruby’s arrest has been needed to happen for a while now. They also claimed that they had already been aware of what was going on but kept quiet for years for the sake of her children and family to stay together. Ruby’s parents in court said they didn’t know about what was going on and hardly stayed in contact with their daughter. Later on that evening when Ruby and Jodi got arrested another one of Ruby’s daughters, Shari, posted on her social media platform, “Finally justice is being served.”
It has been stated that this has been going on for a while and people have tried to reach out to Child Protection Services and nothing was done. Police even showed up to Ruby’s home a number of times and observed it but nothing was found as suspicious and nothing was done. Until now justice was served and they are serving their time in prison for the actions they committed. Up to this date Ruby and Jodi have court hearings and are fighting their case, they have now been in prison for a total of 7 months and we don’t know what is going to happen next. Finally, her kids are at peace and are safe.
They abused them for fame. (picture credits: dailymail.co.uk)
