Harrowing 911 call that led to arrest of YouTube mom Ruby Franke – where sobbing neighbor describes ’emaciated’ 12-year-old boy ‘covered in wounds’ turning up at his front door, with tape around his ankles and wrists

A harrowing 911 call that led to the arrest of YouTube mom Ruby Franke reveals the heartbreaking moment a neighbor helped her 12-year-old son.

The Good Samaritan raised the alarm when the ’emaciated’ boy showed up on his doorstep with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs after fleeing Jodi Hildebrandt’s nearby home through a window.

In his call to police, the man is heard trying to calmly explain that help is urgently needed, but he becomes overwhelmed by the boy’s condition and struggles through tears to get his words out.

“A 12-year-old boy just showed up at my front door asking for help,” the neighbor said, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC.

“And he said he just came from a neighbor’s house and we know there’s been trouble at this neighbor’s house.

Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now defunct channel 8 Passengers, was arrested on August 30 along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right).

Jody Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah, as seen last week

Franke’s eldest daughter Shari, 20, posted about her mother’s arrest on Instagram, sharing a photo of police officers outside the house with the caption “finally”

‘He’s emaciated. He has tape around his legs. He is hungry and he is thirsty.

“He has duct tape around each ankle. There are sores around them. He also has them on his wrists.

“This boy has clearly… he’s been detained. He’s clearly covered in wounds.’

Ruby and husband Kevin Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was later found by police in a similar condition.

The plea for help led to Franke being charged with six felony counts of child abuse.

Hildebrandt has been charged with six counts of child abuse in Washington County, Utah. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Child abuse, physical abuse and withholding of food is a problem that has existed in the Franke family for generations, her cousin claimed.

The family member said the news of her child abuse case is “disgusting” but that the problem is “bigger than people know.”

Franke’s unnamed cousin claimed this wasn’t the first time their family has experienced this behavior. Other members also have duct taped, handcuffed, and starving children.

Disturbing details have emerged revealing how Ruby and Kevin Franke’s children were subjected to grueling chores in scorching temperatures

They described the unprovoked child abuse and beatings that took place in their home as children – and said that after briefly watching Ruby’s YouTube channel 8 Passengers, they said they noticed similar mannerisms from Ruby.

‘I’m not shocked. It’s not a shock at all. The direction it went was not what I thought, but where it came from was to be expected,” the cousin said.

“I didn’t expect that some of the details in that story would tie in with details in my own family history.

“My mother handcuffed my sisters when they were young, and lack of food was not uncommon, but it wasn’t because of lack of money. There was a time when it could have been prevented and it wasn’t.

“All I can say is that my mother has been avoiding my siblings. I’m not shocked.’

The Santa Clara-Ivins Department of Public Safety in Utah arrested Franke and Hildebrandt at 10:50 a.m. last week after a report of a juvenile in distress.

In a statement, the Santa Clara-Ivins Department of Public Safety said, “The juvenile’s condition was serious enough that they were seen by Santa Clara-Irvin paramedics and transported to a local hospital.

‘Police have received information that there may be other young people in a similar condition at a nearby home.

“Officers arrived at the home and searched the residence, finding another youth in a similar physical state of malnutrition.

“They were also transported by ambulance crews for hospital treatment.”

Ruby Franke is seen with her four daughters: Shari (red coat), Eve (gray dress), Julie (pink coat) and Abby (black coat)

The family blew up on social media after they started posting videos in 2015

Last weekend, Kevin was spotted outside his home for the first time by DailyMail.com since his wife and her business partner were arrested last week

Ruby Franke’s home in Springville, Utah, was featured last weekend

Police said the home contained “evidence consistent with the markings found on the juvenile.”

Four minor children were placed with the Children and Family Services after a police investigation. It is not confirmed whether the children were related to Franke or Hildebrandt.

Neighbors said they had contacted the Utah Division of Child and Family Services in the past and feared the children were leaving the home “in body bags.”

“I remember one year she took away their Christmas and said things like, ‘They are not in good repentance,’ which is a Mormon term for ‘they are sinning.’

“Just complete madness,” a male neighbor explained.

Local residents also told how Franke would interfere in the lives of her neighbors.

One of them recalled an incident in which Franke lectured a neighbor about what she considered “inappropriate” posters of women posing in shorts on display in a garage.

Franke previously bragged online about letting her children go hungry, canceling Christmas and even punishing her children by taking them out of school and forcing them to clean the floorboards.

She and Hildebrandt were also previously criticized for their teachings on parenting – collaborating on Hildebrandt’s life advice service.

Franke gained online fame through her YouTube channel 8 Passengers and had 2.2 million subscribers before she stopped posting in January 2022.

“Everyone is breathing a collective sigh of relief because we thought they were going to come out of that house with body bags,” another neighbor told NBC News after the arrest.

Kevin Franke was reportedly evicted from his parental home last year.

He said earlier this week that he is “trying to keep his kids together” following the arrests, before he was seen outside the Utah family’s home last weekend after neighbors spoke out about their fears for their children’s safety.

Franke (seen with her husband) is known for her strict parenting style on the channel, for which she stopped uploading footage in January 2022. It was removed earlier this year.

She once came under fire for revealing that her then six-year-old daughter Eve was ‘left to go hungry’ because the little girl had failed to prepare her own lunch for school

Ruby’s husband was seen at the property on Saturday when a man came to remove the YouTube branding from the van parked outside.

Neighbors told DailyMail.com they were concerned for the children’s welfare, and once saw the children outside pulling weeds for hours in triple-digit temperatures.

DailyMail.com spoke with a neighbor of Hildebrandt, whose home is also in the Kayenta community, at the foot of the Red Mountains in Ivins, Utah.

“One thing we noticed and we told the police the same thing: six to eight weeks ago when it was very hot, I was out late morning and afternoon pulling weeds and at Jodi’s house several children were also outside weed her house.

“During the day the temperature rose above 40 degrees and after a while I gave up because it was so hot, but I noticed that the children stayed outside,” explains the neighbor.

The resident also noted that they never heard any sounds from the home, such as those of children playing outside, which they found unusual.

Her eldest daughter Shari, 20, posted about her mother’s arrest on Instagram, sharing a photo of police officers outside the house with the caption “Finally.”

She added: “Today was a big day. Me and my family are so happy that justice is being served.

‘We have been trying to tell the police and CPS about this for years, and we are so pleased that they have finally decided to act.

‘Children are safe, but there is still a long way to go. Please keep them in your prayers and also respect their privacy.”