Ruby Franke’s eldest daughter Shari has said her life was “turned upside down” when she broke her silence following her mother’s arrest.
Ruby ran parent advisory service ConneXions with business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54. Both were arrested on August 30 after one of Franke’s sons was found with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs.
In an Instagram post, Shari, 20 – who is estranged from her parents and whose father Kevin had her arrested for burglary – spoke about what she experienced.
“There are literally not even words to describe how upside down my life has become,” she wrote.
“I’ve cried, had endless panic attacks, eaten way too much ice cream, and yet life goes on.”
Shari also credited her faith and guidance with helping her through her mother’s ordeal.
Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke, confessed that she had panic attacks and that her life was ‘turned upside down’ when she broke her silence following her mother’s arrest
“Therapy literally saved me, but so did God,” Franke wrote. “My life somehow becomes more beautiful and fulfilling, despite all the terrible things that happen.”
Despite the desire to “hide,” Shari said she has tried to “live life to the fullest” in the weeks since the arrest.
“I would appreciate your prayers and thoughts for my family and myself,” she added ahead of a court hearing. “Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for all of you, and I feel your love.”
Shari claimed in September that family members “have been trying to tell the police and CPS about this for years,” adding that she was “so happy they finally decided to act” and that the children were safe. She posted the message on Instagram with a photo of police outside the house with the caption “finally.”
Last week it was revealed that Kevin called the police about their estranged eldest daughter, two days after his wife was arrested.
Kevin told police on September 1 that Shari had broken into their home and stolen hard drives.
But Springville, Utah, police told the father that the door to the property was damaged when they broke it down on August 30.
He told officers he wanted to arrest her for burglary, with police responding to him “by phone,” according to an incident report obtained by Fox News digital.
Shari Franke announced in April that she no longer has contact with her mother
Shari posted about her mother’s arrest on Instagram and shared a photo of police officers outside the house with the caption “Finally”
Shari, her five siblings and parents rose to fame in 2015 after she began sharing videos on YouTube that gave a glimpse into her life as a Mormon mother of six.
It is now known that the four young children found are currently in custody in the state of Utah
Ruby’s husband Kevin called the police on September 1 and claimed that their eldest daughter, Shari, 20, had broken into the house and taken several items after his wife’s arrest
The police report states: ‘Kevin stated that Shari is not allowed in the house, that he believes she entered unlawfully and that he wants to charge her with burglary.’
He ‘wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives from the house’, with officers telling him she ‘didn’t know’ she wasn’t allowed to have them.
Shari returned the items – three tablets, three cellphones, three cameras, diaries and three passports – to Springville police. Officers then returned them to her father.
Kevin was seen on bodycam footage asking police to charge his daughter with theft shortly after his wife was arrested for child abuse.
According to the police, Shari “did not intend to take anything from him, she had previously been allowed into the house and he had not been in the house for 13 months.”
They refused to take action against Shari, who handed over passports, phones and tablets she had taken from the family property after the police raid.
Ruby’s family previously told DailyMail.com that she should be ‘put away forever’ if convicted of the abuse.
Her sisters-in-law Cynthia and Jennifer Franke say they believe the abuse allegations against the mother of six, saying they are “shocked” and “sickened.”
Last week it was revealed that Kevin Franke called the police on their estranged eldest daughter, two days after his wife was arrested for child abuse.
Ruby Franke’s estranged husband asked police to arrest his daughter for theft, shortly after the mommy blogger was arrested for child abuse
Kevin ‘wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives from the house’, with officers telling him she ‘didn’t know’ she wasn’t allowed to have them
Ruby previously made astonishing claims during a court hearing that one of her minor children had sexually abused one of their siblings and other children.
She also claimed that her two children were playing a “beating” game with each other, but did not elaborate.
Her strict parenting style has faced repeated backlash since she started the channel in 2015.
Viewers called child protection in 2020 after their son Chad, 15, claimed he had been sleeping on a beanbag for seven months.
Ruby’s family previously told DailyMail.com that she should be ‘put away forever’ if convicted of the abuse
Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now defunct Channel 8 Passengers, was arrested on August 30 along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right).
Ruby’s sisters-in-law Cynthia (left) and Jennifer Franke (right) tell DailyMail.com exclusively that she lies and ‘says anything to save herself’
She also threatened to throw away her children’s things if they didn’t pay her cash for them, claiming it was a lesson in understanding the value of their things.
Both Franke and Hildebrant have previously been criticized for their teachings on parenting – working with Hildebrandt’s life advice service ConneXions.
Ruby first rose to fame for her strict parenting style, which blew up online and made her “millions” of dollars, she claimed.
She, along with husband Kevin, amassed more than 2.2 million subscribers for documenting their daily social media efforts.
The pair stopped uploading videos in January 2022 and the 8 Passengers page was completely removed from the website earlier this year.
When asked why she left YouTube months later, she said she chose to stop uploading videos because she wanted to “save her children.”
In July, she was called out online after a video surfaced of her leaving her daughter hungry after the young girl forgot to make her own lunch for school.
In a video posted in 2020, Ruby said her daughter’s teacher texted her saying the youngster had nothing to eat for lunch.
She said all of her children are responsible for preparing their own lunch in the morning, so she wouldn’t bring food over for her daughter to teach her a lesson.
Franke said, “My hope (is) that she will be hungry and come home and say ‘that was really painful to be hungry all day. I’ll make sure I always have lunch with me.’
“The natural result is that she will simply have to go hungry.”
It was this parenting style that helped the woman gain a huge following on YouTube and put herself and her family in the spotlight.