Ruby Franke’s sister has broken down in a video in which she blamed the YouTube influencer for causing their mother’s heart attack – and revealed how she ‘destroyed’ their lives offline.
Bonnie Hoellein cried as she said their mother’s health rapidly deteriorated when Ruby cut her family off – before her sister was sensationally arrested for child abuse.
Franke gained millions of YouTube subscribers and online followers through her 8 Passengers parenting channel, but viewers repeatedly complained about the way she treated her children.
The 41-year-old, along with business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, was charged with six felony counts of abuse after he was arrested on August 30.
Hoellein, also a YouTuber living in Utah, posted the nearly ten-minute video with the caption “I’m not my sister. I am not my sisters (sic) Crimes.”
Bonnie Hoellein, in tears as she said Sister Ruby Franke ‘destroyed’ their family’s lives offline before she was sensationally arrested for child abuse. The Utah-based YouTuber posted the nearly ten-minute video with the caption, “I’m not my sister. I’m not my sisters (sic) Crimes’
Mormon YouTuber Franke (pictured with her daughters) was taken into custody earlier this week on suspicion of two counts of aggravated child abuse
Franke’s sister told the camera: ‘I’m angry about what happened, I’m really disgusted by it and I feel like it’s shaking me.
‘It makes me shake because this is unheard of, it’s unbelievable. Something I’m proud of, something I like to do, is being transparent and there are aspects of this that I can’t be completely transparent about.
‘And if you don’t understand that, you don’t understand how the system works. The first thing I want to say is that we have been dwelling on the subject of our sister Ruby and Jodi and Kevin for three years.
“We didn’t know what they were doing because like we said, we were on lockdown. We had no access to anyone.
“When I say that Ruby and Kevin and Jodi and ConneXions have destroyed our lives offline for the past three years, that is exactly what they have done.
“It’s causing unrest within our family.”
She added: “Three years ago, Ruby and Kevin cut off our family and eventually they cut off Kevin’s family too.
“I thought this was going to be the end of my mother, she literally had a heart attack, she went into kidney failure, her body shut down because it was destroying her.
“So you can only imagine what she’s going through right now and how we’re all feeling right now.
“I’m not going to let Ruby and Kevin and ConneXions and Jodi take one more thing from me.
“I’ll continue to post because if that’s the little bit of control I have left, then I’m going to take it over.”
Franke’s husband, Kevin Franke, with whom she shares six children — Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve — said after the arrests that he is “trying to keep his kids together.”
The video came after all three of her sisters – who are all YouTubers – posted a joint statement on Instagram saying: ‘For the past three years, we have remained silent on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children.’
Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now defunct Channel 8 Passengers, was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right)
Kevin Franke (right) has said his ‘urgent focus’ is to keep his six children, whom he shares with former YouTuber Ruby Franke (left), in his joint care
The sisters are also YouTubers and said they “would not feel comfortable continuing with mainstream content without addressing the most recent events.”
“Once we have done that, we will have no further comment on it,” the statement said.
‘Ruby was arrested and that had to be done. Jodi was arrested, which had to be done. The children are safe now, which is priority number one.”
Franke was taken into custody after the two children were found starving with open wounds and duct tape on their “extremities.”
Police were called after a child climbed out of the window of Hildebrandt’s home and ran to a neighbor, begging for food and water. The neighbor saw the child’s wounds and immediately called 911, before another child was also found “in a similar physical state of malnutrition.”
Since the arrests, an online form has been set up documenting examples of concerning statements made by Franke and Hildebrandt in their videos.
Her estranged daughter, Shari, has since said police were warned about the allegations for years before “finally” taking action.
Her daughter, Shari, now claims 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.”
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”
This comes after a relative of Franke said news of her child abuse case is “disgusting” but that the problem is “bigger than people know.”
Franke’s unnamed cousin claimed that this is not the first time their family has experienced this behavior. Other members also have duct taped, handcuffed, and starving children.
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.
Child abuse, physical abuse and withholding of food is a problem that has existed in the Franke family for generations, the cousin claimed.
The full statement from Franke’s three sisters, which was posted on their Instagram pages
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.
The family member – who called the child abuse allegations “disgusting” – said their entire family tree has been “destroyed” from “roots to branches”.
Franke’s cousin, whose identity remained hidden, told Law & Crime: ‘I’m not shocked. It’s not a shock at all. The direction it went wasn’t what I thought, but where it came from was to be expected.
‘I didn’t expect that some of the details in that story would connect to 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 avoided my siblings. I’m not shocked.’
When asked when they last saw Ruby, they replied, “It was a long time ago when I was very young. More than fifteen years ago.’