Case File: Ruby Franke

Ruby Griffiths met her future husband, Kevin Franke, while they were students at Brigham Young University. The couple, both devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), married in 2000 and went on to have six children together between March 2003 and September 2013. They settled in Utah, where Kevin became a professor of engineering and Ruby took on the role of full-time mother.

In 2015, Ruby launched the YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” aiming to document the family’s daily life and parenting experiences. The channel quickly grew into one of the most well-known family vlogs on the platform, eventually gaining over 2 million subscribers. Viewers were drawn to the Frankes’ structured, faith-centered household, and Ruby cultivated a public image as a firm but loving mother who emphasized obedience, discipline and moral accountability.

However, criticism of Ruby’s parenting style grew as the channel gained popularity. Videos showed her withholding meals, removing bedroom doors for extended periods and openly discussing punitive measures. One controversial video revealed she had sent her teenage son to a wilderness therapy program for troubled youth, while another featured her laughing about not bringing lunch to a child as punishment. While some followers supported her tough-love approach, others began to express concern that what was being portrayed as discipline crossed into emotional and physical neglect.

In the wake of public criticism, Ruby rebranded the YouTube channel’s focus. By this time, she had also become closely affiliated with Jodi Hildebrandt, a licensed counselor and founder of the organization ConneXions Classroom, which offered courses and coaching based on a framework of “truth telling,” moral accountability and emotional cleansing rooted in spiritual teachings. Where “8 Passengers” had focused on everyday family life, ConneXions content emphasized rigorous personal morality, confronting children with “sins” and encouraging extreme self-discipline. By late 2022, online observers and former followers had begun to express alarm over her increasingly isolating and harsh methods, particularly as they related to the mental and emotional well-being of her children.

It would later emerge that during this period, Hildebrandt had moved into the Franke household with troubling results. Ruby’s two eldest children moved out of the family home, and by 2022, Kevin was also asked to leave the home and was forced to cut off contact with his wife and children. 

Concerns from the public and extended family members intensified. Ruby’s children appeared less frequently in videos, and some seemed visibly distressed when they did. In the months leading up to the discovery of abuse, Utah authorities received multiple reports and conducted several wellness checks at the Franke home. However, no significant action was taken at the time due to a lack of evidence, and the family remained under the radar. Ruby and the younger children also began spending extended periods in Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah, several hundred miles from the family hometown, further isolating them. 

On August 30, 2023, Ruby’s 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrandt’s house and sought help from a neighbor. He appeared emaciated, had open wounds on his body and duct tape around his limbs. Authorities were immediately contacted. Police arrived at the residence and found a 9-year-old girl also showing signs of malnourishment and physical injury. Investigators determined that both children had been subjected to prolonged starvation, physical restraint and emotional isolation. The boy told authorities he had climbed out of a window to escape the home, where he and his sister had been held in separate rooms and denied food for extended periods.

That same day, Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested, while the Franke’s four youngest children were placed in the care of Utah’s Department of Child and Family Services. Evidence collected from Hildebrandt’s home included makeshift restraints and Ruby's personal journal, where she had written detailed accounts of the abuse inflicted on the children, which she claimed was because her two youngest children were “evil” and had become possessed by the devil.

Former followers of the “8 Passengers” channel and family vlog community came forward with prior concerns. Many noted that red flags had been visible for years. In past videos, Franke admitted to withholding meals, using extreme punishment and isolating children for months as consequences for perceived misbehavior. 

Law enforcement found that Franke’s parenting methods had intensified after she began working closely with Hildebrandt. Together, they allegedly created an environment where children were punished for "sins," shamed into confessions and denied basic care in the name of moral correction. Several of Hildebrandt’s former patients also came forward with allegations of her abusive practices, and it was revealed that Hildebrandt’s counseling license had been temporarily suspended several years earlier amid accusations of professional misconduct.

On September 1, 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt were charged with six counts each of aggravated child abuse. That December, both women entered guilty pleas to all six counts. At sentencing in February 2024, prosecutor Eric Clarke referred to the pair's treatment of the children as a “concentration camp-like setting." Franke and Hildebrandt were each sentenced to serve four consecutive terms of one to 15 years, totaling a maximum potential sentence of 30 years. 

Kevin was initially considered a suspect in the crimes, but he was cleared, since there was no evidence tying him to the abuse. However, some members of the public have questioned how much he knew, given the years of concerning behavior documented online. Kevin has denied any knowledge of the abuse and has publicly condemned Ruby’s actions. He later divorced Ruby and received custody of the four minor-aged children.

In 2025, the Frankes’ eldest daughter, Shari, released The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom, sharing her personal experiences growing up under Ruby’s strict and often controversial parenting. Shari remains a vocal critic of family vlogging and its potential effects on children. That same year, Shari, Kevin and eldest son Chad shared the family’s story in the Hulu documentary Devil In the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, which includes hours of previously-unseen footage that depicts Franke’s often threatening behavior towards her children.

The Franke case has sparked widespread debate about the unchecked influence of parenting creators on social media. The “8 Passengers” YouTube channel was removed from public view shortly after the arrests. Her channel, once celebrated for its depiction of wholesome family life, is now viewed as a case study in how online fame can obscure warning signs of abuse.

Critics have called for stronger regulation of family vlogging, including consent requirements for child participants, mental health checks for content creators and clearer reporting pathways for suspected abuse. The case has also encouraged more critical public discussion of “authoritarian parenting” and the blurred lines between discipline and maltreatment. As of 2025, multiple states, including Utah, passed legislation to limit the financial exploitation of children in monetized online content, often citing the Franke case as a catalyst.