Where are Ruby Franke’s children today?

If there is one thing that absolutely no one can deny, it is that the case of Ruby Franks has stunned not only the state of Utah, but the entire country. That’s because, as detailed in Lifetime’s “Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story,” this former YouTube vlogger was arrested, indicted and convicted on charges of child abuse against her own children. There had been accusations against her for a few years, but it was not until 2023 that concrete measures were actually taken, resulting in a prison sentence of 4 to 60 years in March 2024.

Ruby Franke unintentionally documented much of the abuse

After tying the knot with Kevin Franke, a fellow member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, in December 2000, Ruby had managed to build a large family with him by the time 2015 arrived. They shared a total of six children: Shari Franke, Chad Franke, Abby Franke, Julie Frane, Russell Franke, and Eve Frank, the latter of whom herself was born in the early 2010s. Then, in 2015, the mother of six launched a YouTube channel called 8Passengers to document their daily lives, unaware that she would soon receive a lot of backlash about her extremely strict behavior.

That’s because then-16-year-old Chad had come forward in early 2020, claiming he had been banned from his bedroom and made to sleep on a beanbag for seven months as a form of disciplinary punishment. Looking closer at her videos, viewers could also see that some of her other forms of punishment included withholding food, threatening to decapitate beloved stuffed animals, and telling younger children that Santa wouldn’t be bringing them gifts. Christmas because they were too “numb” to respond to other punishments.

This went so far that her audience even launched a petition asking for an investigation into the family over fears of child abuse and neglect, leading to the channel’s demise in 2021. But at the time, everyone in the family defended Ruby. Ruby therefore switched gears and became involved with the life coaching brand ConneXions with a certified therapist Jodi Hildebrandt by 2022, without knowing that everything would be turned upside down within a year. She and her husband separated, her eldest two children became estranged, and she was eventually arrested on August 30, 2023.

Ruby Franke’s arrest was caused by one of her children escaping

According to reports, Child Protective Services was called to the Franke household several times starting in 2022, with then-student Shari also calling authorities to check on her siblings after learning they were often left home alone, but that lasted until August . 2023 that something became of it. According to official documents, 12-year-old Russell had escaped through a window to ask for food and water from neighbors, who called 911 after noticing “open wounds and duct tape around the limbs.” When officials arrived, they found 10-year-old Eve in the house and realized she too was malnourished, rushing both children to the hospital.

That’s when a deeper search was conducted at the home Ruby shared with Jodi, only for officials to find evidence “consistent with the markings” on Russell. So the Utah Division of Child and Family Services took the boy and girl, along with their two older siblings, Abby and Julie, into their care, only to find that most of their wounds were often covered with cayenne pepper and honey . Therefore, with all this information, Ruby and Jodi were arrested on six counts of child abuse, allowing them to plead guilty to four counts in early 2024. Her estranged husband was never charged or arrested in connection with the case because investigators found no evidence against him.

Shari Franke is now gradually evolving into a lawyer

Although Shari was estranged from her mother and had little contact with her at the time of the arrest, she knew the extremes she could go to and how working with Jodi only made things worse. That’s why today the Utah native is calling for laws that protect children from social media and all its negativities and plans to publish her debut book, a memoir titled “The House of My Mother,” on January 7, 2025. Not enough, she has also since made it clear that Washington DC is one of her favorite places in the entire world because of what it represents, so her dream is to get a PhD in the political field and work there one day. She also remains close to her siblings.

Chase Frank is moving forward in life now

Although Chase has never been as open about his past as his older sister, he is well aware that the whole ordeal has made him quite a public figure. But instead of getting carried away with it, he has decided to make light of it and now often even jokes about the past on his social media platforms, as seen above. As for his current status, from what we can tell, this Utah native is a travel enthusiast, a cycling enthusiast, and an aspiring real estate agent, so it’s clear that he’s ready to take control of his own life. We should also mention that he currently seems to be in a happy, healthy, long-term relationship, and is happy that he still has a bond with his siblings.

Ruby Franke’s youngest four children are under state guardianship

Since Ruby was arrested in August 2023, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve have been in state custody, while their father now fights to achieve the same and make up for everything he has missed over the years. We should mention that while Kevin has since stated through his lawyers that his “urgent focus is simply to keep his children together under his fatherly car,” Ruby’s sister has claimed that they are doing everything they can to ensure the children’s safety to guarantee. The truth is that they are still minors at this point, so not much is known about them. Yet we do know that they are safe, happy and together, which is all that matters in the long run.

Read more: Kevin Franke: Where is Ruby Franke’s husband now?