If you were a YouTube kid, you have probably heard of the channel 8 Passengers. Ruby Franke, mother of six, and her husband, Kevin, created a family vlogging channel in 2015 to share their lives with the world. While the channel often appeared sweet and innocent, it was all a cover-up for Ruby’s cruel parenting.
8 Passengers:
Their channel rose to fame quickly, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers. Ruby and her family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which connected them with many of their religious viewers because they were open about their faith in their videos.
Most videos consisted of morning routines and parenting advice. In these videos, we see their adventures as a family of eight and how they function in their home. She enjoyed letting the viewers see how they live their lives as a large Mormon family.
Their channel gained 2 million followers over their years on YouTube, with thousands of fans from around the world.
Behind the Screen:
As fans continued to watch these vlogs, red flags became clearer. Various instances suggested that Ruby would take away food as punishment for her children.
In one vlog, she stated that her sons would “lose the privilege to eat dinner” if they continued to play fight.
On another occasion, her then six-year-old daughter had forgotten to bring her lunch to school. Ruby then refused to deliver her daughter’s lunch and stated in her vlog, “Hopefully, nobody gives her food, and nobody steps in and gives her a lunch, because then she’s not going to learn from the natural outcome.”
She was also known to take her children’s important possessions and threaten to throw them away. The only way they could get these items back was to either earn them back by doing equivalent chores or to pay for them with cash.
A disturbing punishment involving Ruby and her oldest son, Chad, is when the channel really started to spark concern with the audience.
In a video from 2020, Chad, who was then 15, shared with the viewers that his room had been taken away for seven months for messing with his sibling. Instead of his bed, he had been sleeping on a bean bag. The video had a very lighthearted feeling, which concerned the audience even more. You can hear giggles from the other children and Ruby as Chad discussed the harsh punishment. Ruby’s punishments never sparked regret or remorse within her.
This specific incident caused outrage among the viewers. A petition was started to have the Utah Division of Child and Family Services check on the children; it had 18,000 signatures, yet the children’s well-being was never confirmed to be good or bad.
Shortly after the controversy, they slowed down their posting. In 2023, their YouTube channel was terminated.
Jodi Hildebrandt:
Ruby’s actions were seemingly worse once she met her new “life coach,” Jodi Hildebrandt. Jodi and Ruby grew much closer than the professional mentor and mentee they originally were.
Jodi had previously founded ConneXions in 2007, but in 2022, Ruby joined the company, and they started the YouTube channel, ConneXions, to share their controversial life advice.
In 2022, Jodi Hildebrant moved into the Franke home. Jodi and Ruby’s close relationship was said to have strained Ruby’s relationship with her children and her husband.
Abuse:
On August 30, 2023, Ruby Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped through a window of Jodi Hildebrandt’s home.
He sought help from a neighbor, where he was seen with duct tape on severe wounds and looked to be malnourished.
Authorities were contacted, and soon after, they searched Jodi Hildebrandt’s home. In the home, they found the other three children, tied up and malnourished as well.
Ruby’s two oldest children had since been estranged from the family, but the four youngest were still known to be living with Ruby.
Jodi and Ruby were arrested once the children were rescued from Jodi’s home.
After the rescue of the Franke children, Ruby and Jodi pleaded guilty to severe child abuse. They claimed that the “devil” was inside their children, and they had to do what would save them from him. The malnourishment and restraints were a way to make the children “pay for their sins.”
After Arrest:
Ruby Franke was sentenced to 4 to 30 years for aggravated child abuse.
Jodi Hildebrandt was sentenced to 4 to 60 years for the same charges.
Kevin Franke finalized his divorce from Ruby Franke on March 20, 2025.
Kevin now has full custody of the four youngest children, where he plans to help them in their trauma recovery.
Sources:
The Story of Ruby Franke’s Chilling Spiral from Popular “Momfluencer” to Convicted Felon
Who is Ruby Franke, the parenting influencer jailed for child abuse?
The religious extremism of Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt
New video of Ruby Franke’s son reveals details that led to arrest
