8 Passengers

       

8 Passengers
YouTuber Information
Profile	8 Passengers
Style	Vlogs
Date joined	January 8, 2015
Shut down	August 2, 2023
Facebook	8PassengersPage
Instagram and Threads	@8passengers
Videos	1.2K
Schedule	Unscheduled
Status	Inactive (terminated)
Username
Personal information
Full name	Ruby Franke Kevin Franke Shari Franke Chad Franke Abby Franke J. Franke R. Franke E. Franke
Nationality	American
Location	Springville, Utah, United States

8 Passengers was an American YouTube channel that was run by Ruby and Kevin Franke. They were well-known for their family vlogs, mainly home-schooling, parenting, and others. Before termination, they had about 2 million subscribers and one billion views.

Family

• Ruby Franke (mother, owner of channel, criminal; born: January 18, 1982 (1982-01-18))
• Kevin Franke (father, ex; born: October 9, 1978 (1978-10-09))
• Shari Franke (oldest daughter; born: March 3, 2003 (2003-03-03))
• Chad Franke (oldest son; born: February 2, 2005 (2005-02-02))
• Abby Franke (born: April 14, 2007 (2007-04-14))
• J. Franke (born: 2009)
• R. Franke (youngest son) (born: 2011)
• E. Franke (youngest daughter) (born: 2013)

Controversy

Child Abuse

In their videos, there were multiple signs of child abuse from Ruby. Those include:

• Threatening to behead E's stuffed animal for cutting items in the house.
• She and Kevin sending Chad to a therapy camp for troubled teens for 10 weeks.
• Telling her sons Chad and R they would lose the "privilege to eat dinner" after horse-playing.
• Forcing one of the daughters to sleep on the bathroom floor after "wetting the bed".
• Making R do push-ups as a punishment for leaving socks outside.
• Taking Chad's bed away, making him sleep on a beanbag for 7 months because of a prank telling R at 2 AM that they're going to Disneyland.
• Hoping that E, her 6-year-old (at the time) daughter goes hungry after forgetting to make her own lunch and doesn't want to grab other people's lunch.

When Ruby was arrested, Shari, the oldest daughter, linked a Google Doc to her Instagram story, asking viewers to document moments of child abuse on the channel.

Ruby's arrest

On the morning of August 30, 2023, her 12-year-old son, R, escaped from a window in Hildebrandt's home. He ran to a house in Ivins, Utah, and asked for help. The person called 911, saying that he had open wounds and tape over his body. After the call, both Ruby and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were placed under arrest on aggravated child abuse charges, and were brought into custody.

On September 5, 2023, Ruby and Jodi were formally charged with 6 counts of aggravated child abuse, however, it was decreased to four. She pleaded guilty to all charges, and eventually, both Ruby and Jodi were sentenced to four consecutive sentences of 1-15 years in a Utah prison, resulting in a 4-60 year sentence. However, due to state guidelines, the maximum sentence they received is 30 years. Both Ruby and Jodi are currently imprisoned at Utah State Correctional Facility at Salt Lake City, Utah.

2-hour footage by ABC 20/20 was released on March 22, 2024 at 9 P.M. EST. In March 2024, bodycam footage of Ruby and Jodi's arrest were published, along with a police interview video of Kevin Franke, and one of the children in an ambulance. Crime scene photos were also released. A journal was also published, showing the punishments that the children suffered. Those include R being forced to stay and sleep outside, being told to "find God and to fast and pray", and others.

On January 7, 2025, their eldest daughter, Shari, published a memoir detailing her experience as Franke's oldest daughter, titled The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom. Later on February 27, 2025, Hulu released a docuseries, entitled Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.

Personal life

On November 29, 2023, Kevin and Ruby Franke filed a petition for divorce due to Kevin's Drug addictions.

Termination

On August 2, 2023, weeks before her arrest, the 8 Passengers channel was terminated for violating YouTube's Terms of Service. Later, on September 1, 2023, the channel for ConneXions, a mental fitness and relationship coaching curriculum, and owned by Ruby Franke, was terminated for the same reason. YouTube confirmed they terminated both channels linking to Ruby in accordance with creator responsibility guidelines.

Trivia

• The Frankes are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons.