FOR years, Ruby Franke was the picture-perfect mom, beaming into millions of homes through her wildly popular YouTube channel, 8 Passengers.
Peaking at 2.5 million subscribers, the channel provided a close-up view of the family’s daily life in a suburban Utah setting, showcasing moments of home-schooling, heartfelt conversations, and wholesome family activities.
But behind the curated smiles and strict parenting advice was a dark reality that would ultimately shock the world.
On August 30, 2023, that reality came crashing down.
One day, a 12-year-old boy, emaciated and with visible wounds, arrived at a neighbor’s house seeking help, still bearing traces of duct tape on his wrists and ankles, pleading to be taken to a nearby police station.
He had escaped a nearby home by climbing out of a window, fleeing what authorities would later describe as a house of horrors.
Hours later, Franke was in handcuffs, facing child abuse charges alongside her business partner and counselor, Jodi Hildebrandt.
Now, as a new Hulu documentary airs today, the full story will be told from those who lived it.
Franke first entered the limelight in 2015 during the golden era of family vlogging on YouTube.
A devout Mormon mom-of-six, she would document her life with an ironclad approach to discipline.
Parents seeking guidance flocked to her channel, drawn by her promise to raise self-reliant children.
But as 8 Passengers grew, so did concerns over her controversial parenting methods.
Viewers raised eyebrows over her strict rules, particularly her willingness to withhold food as punishment.
She had remarked, “I hope no one gives her food or intervenes by providing her lunch, because then she won’t learn,” referring to her six-year-old daughter who had forgotten her meal at school on that particular day.
Another video showed Franke telling her sons they would “lose the privilege to eat dinner” if they continued play-fighting.
Her critics only got louder in 2020 when her teenage son revealed he had been forced to sleep on a beanbag for seven months as punishment for playing pranks on his sibling.
Franke defended the decision, saying he had shown he was “unable to manage a bedroom” and was given alternatives such as a guest bed or an inflatable mattress.
For many, it was a turning point.
A petition demanding child protective services investigate her amassed thousands of signatures.
YouTube and TikTok users dissected her videos, resurfacing clips of her harsh parenting style.
Franke, however, dismissed the backlash.
“They were purely seeking to throw hate,” she told Insider, insisting that a “reasonable person” would not consider her a child abuser.
Her husband, Kevin Franke, was less dismissive.
His lawyer later distanced him from the allegations, claiming he had been living separately from Ruby for over a year.
Following her arrest, he filed for divorce and called for the maximum sentence against her, describing the abuse as “horrific and inhumane”
By 2022, 8 Passengers had vanished from YouTube, but Franke remained active on social media.
Franke’s horrific punishments for children
Starting in May 2023, disgraced YouTuber Ruby Franke journaled about the punishments she imposed on her children.
She appeared to justify the abuse by referring to “Satanic choices” and “the devil’s” influences on her kids’ actions.
Some of the horrific punishments detailed in the journal include:
- Poking her children with cactus needles
- Pouring cold water on the kids
- Whipping with a towel or belt
- Forcing them to stand in the hot sun
- Forcibly dunking her son in the pool
- Forcing them to sleep on the ground
- Restricting food
She had teamed up with Jodi Hildebrandt to launch ConneXions, a parenting advice platform that preached extreme discipline.
The channel – though far less popular than 8 Passengers – claimed to help parents instill “truth” in their children.
In reality, it was a descent into something more troubling.
Franke and Hildebrandt’s Moms of Truth Instagram page condemned activities like socializing and exercise as “coping strategies” that distracted from “Reality/Truth”.
The duo’s rhetoric grew more severe, and, according to prosecutors, so did their treatment of Franke’s own children.
When Franke’s eldest daughter, Shari, learned of her mother’s arrest, she posted on Instagram: “Justice is being served.”
She later claimed she had been trying to alert police and child protective services for years.
Now, in Devil in the Family, Shari, her brother Chad, and their father Kevin will share their story.
With never-before-seen footage from 8 Passengers, the docuseries reveals the hidden fractures of a picture-perfect brand that masked a growing nightmare.
Left to heal
On January 16, 2024, Franke, now 42, stood in a Utah courtroom, tearfully apologizing before her sentencing.
“I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong,” she told the judge.
She and Hildebrandt were sentenced to four to 60 years in prison in February last year.
For Franke’s children, the ordeal is far from over.
“They have a long road ahead,” her estranged daughter Shari has said, as the family tries to rebuild in the wake of years of trauma.
In a recent interview, Kevin revealed that he is still married to his estranged wife and explained why he hadn’t finalized a divorce.
“As of today, I’m still working through the divorce,” he told People.
“We’re still trying to reach a settlement. It’s been a long process, well over a year, but it’s ongoing. I’m still technically married.”
Kevin said that Ruby “burned bridges” that can’t be repaired, but said that he still feels love for her and remembers the good times they shared in their 20-year marriage.
“I truly did and still do love her,” he said.
However, he admitted that they were not in contact, as he asked her to stop writing him letters from prison.
“That doesn’t excuse what she did, and that doesn’t excuse what she did to hurt our children and to hurt me,” the heartbroken dad said.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 800 422 4453 or live chat at https://www.childhelphotline.org/.
If a child or other person is in immediate danger, contact 911 immediately.
