America’s most inbred family has a new member in their ranks.
The Whittakers — who live in the aptly named village of Odd, 75 miles south of Charleston — are known to bark at people, communicate by growling, and often run away when people try to talk to them.
Producer Mark Laita recently put a spotlight on the family by releasing a 12-minute short film on his YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly, in an effort to cover untold stories from around the country.
In his latest video, Laita revealed that family patriarch, Larry, has a new great-grandson.
Brandon, 20, a mine maintenance worker, recently gave birth to a son, a blond-haired boy named Braxton. In the clip, Brandon confirms that he is already the father of an unnamed daughter.
The most inbred family in America welcomed a new member to their ranks when patriarch Brandon’s grandson revealed he had recently given birth to a son
Baby Braxton is bounced on the knee of his great-grandmother, Betty
The clip shows the baby smiling as great grandmother Betty bounces him on her knee, both Betty and Larry smiling throughout the video
“Who’s the little baby?” asks the interviewer as he approaches the family on their wooden porch. Brandon explains that he and his brother drove the child to the family that day.
The clip shows the baby smiling as great-grandmother Betty bounces him on her knee, both Betty and Larry smiling throughout the video.
Later in the same video, members of the family go to the West Virginia State Fair accompanied by Laita and his partner.
He has described the inbred family as something out of the 1972 thriller, Deliverance.
In April last year, he again visited the Whittaker family, whom he first met in 2004 and filmed in 2020, and spoke about it on the channel.
The Whittakers are three siblings named Lorraine, Timmy and Ray. Their parents were double cousins, The Sun reported — two cousins, as they share both grandparents.
The genetic complications have caused a host of behavioral problems, Laita reported.
Laita first met the West Virginia family in 2004 when he took photos of them and decided to return in 2020 to get to know them better.
In an interview with the Koncrete podcast, recorded before Christmas, Laita recalled the most bizarre moments with the family.
“It had gotten out of hand,” he said.
“There are people walking around with their eyes pointing in different directions and they are barking at us.
“And (this) one man, you looked him in the eye or said something and he just screamed and ran away and his pants fell down around his ankles.”
Laita said the family has taken a huge interest since he first photographed and then filmed them. He said he needed a police escort to visit him.
Laita remembered building his relationship with the inbred family, especially with relatives named Ray, Betty, Kenneth, Ray, Timmy, and Lorraine.
The first time he approached them was in the early 2000s, when he was initially met by “protective” neighbors with a shotgun.
“They don’t like people making fun of these people,” Laita said on the podcast.
At the time, Laita wanted to take pictures of the Whittakers for his book ‘Created Equal’. The book told stories about different cultures in the US.
Although he was not initially welcomed, he was eventually allowed to take a few photos and even donate some to the family.
One of the filmmaker’s latest videos from 2021 showed the family’s squalid conditions, with the group living in a small and overcrowded house with several animals.
Laita said he returned home on a whim to see how the family was doing.
He then decided to grab his iPhone and take pictures of their ‘poverty level’ and living conditions.
The family seemed to spend a lot of time on the porch, where they have a sofa, armchair and other household items.
One family member told Laita, “They understand what you are talking about.
“If they don’t like it, they start yelling — letting you know they don’t like that idea.”
In one scene, Laita asked Betty why she thought her family had so many anomalies. She said she didn’t know.
He continued with the question, and Kenneth specifically asked why their eyes weren’t facing forward. He replied, “Maybe it’s mining.”
Laita previously told podcaster Joe Rogan that the inbred family line started with cousins.
The Whittakers’ videos showed Laita asking them about their education and training. Only one seemed to have completed high school, Timmy.
Lorraine and Ray seemed unable to speak and just growled. Other family members had to speak on their behalf.
According to discover magazine, inbreeding can lead to several side effects, including “impaired cognitive ability and muscle function, decreased height and lung function, and put you at greater risk for disease in general.”
According to what they told the filmmaker, the family was unaware that their genetic problems were the result of inbreeding.
They also couldn’t remember much about their parents or other relatives.
To help improve the Whittaker’s living conditions and offer home improvements, Laita previously created a GoFundMe in 2022 that has since brought in $46,433.
Despite Laita’s fundraising, many people find filmmaking exploitative.
West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country. The village of Odd where Laita went to document the family has only 800 inhabitants.
Nearly 17 percent of West Virginia’s 1.77 million residents live in poverty, according to figures the census.
The US average is 11.6 percent. Only Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas were worse.
Melody West and Shane Simmons, who run the Real Appalachia YouTube channel, said they had problems with the film.
They said that Laita “apparently does all this good work for them and raises money for them.”
But, they argue, the documentary “perpetuates the stereotype that has existed for decades” regarding inbreeding in the Appalachia.
“I just feel like there’s a lot more that can be done for these people,” said West.
“I think he’s trying to act like he does a lot for them.”