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I've never never once for god to blog like forgetting to eat or forgetting to breathe. For me like picking up the Cameron blogging. It's like I would never forget to do that.

But the thing is, is when you get around a lot of these people hind the scenes, it's like flexing a muscle. They can only keep up those appearances. Ces put on the mask for the camera are so long.

you only got a little gist of IT on camera. All of the discipline takes place on camera.

My first thought when I heard this was that this is not something that is sound safe for a child.

I tell you, I really graduate home. Our house is so much Better with you here. But there's one part of me that really hates you're here.

I remember moby talking about how he had like broken bones from IT. And like all these repercussions right now was kind like the first english. Okay, sometimes is really not right here.

I'm polyborus and this is the rising fall of ruby. Frankie presented a law crime.

Good morning passengers. I am so happy. A good morning passengers. Today is a good morning passengers. I wanted to share a tip with you.

Rubie Frank's blog channel eight passengers is gaining a following, nearly two and half millions subscribers and counting on the blond hair, E, I. Mom of six lovingly refers to his passenger. Ruby continues to, moment by moment, document the Frankie family life out of their home in spring. The her oldest daughter, fifteen year old Cherry Frankie access ruby is blue tenant.

The older daughter, shari particular, came across a very bright, intelligent, hard working go, and from the outset, SHE shed a bedroom with her Younger sister and took on the role of making sure that siblings had what they needed for school.

Alice doz is a history teacher .

who wrote her thesis is on Christian fundamentalist families in the middle stern, U. S. Now based in australia, Alice has been following eight passengers since the beginning.

SHarry yet took on this role that you see in a lot of these, in a lot of kind of Christian communities, in particular that of the kind of caretaker of of that her Younger siblings.

Jordan foresight is an x morman and cohoes of the podcast and bracing apoStacy with Jordan and mckee, where SHE and her husband mckee explore topics related to religious fundamentals ism. The two also have an eondema youtube channel that boasts over eighty thousand followers with an entire section devoted to analysis of eight passengers and rubi Frank by day. Jordan is a social worker who specializes in working with clients with extreme religious backgrounds. SHE should light on the expectations of the eldest child in a traditional mormon home.

It's just the demands being put on. A mother with that many children in could not possibly attend to all of their physical and emotional needs realistically themselves if they have a partner who works primarily the only other person that they have that in the home the majority of the time is that this child in her field.

there is a term for this type of outsourcing of responsibility in the home.

but more that we use for this printin ation. Because that's essentially what, you know, the oldest child becomes as they become an additional parent. And then they're expected to help with the siblings with making food, with changing diapers, with helping, with school stuff like IT is just kind of, you know, baby sitting without like compensation. IT is just kind of the standard within moment families that the other sitting up and help. But IT is very common with a few of kids.

Did we make IT? yes. Are we all on the man? yes. Let's take these kids to thank you share for helping me. I could not have done this morning with I.

Is everyone okay on rush? Are we hit? Are we hit?

Are they OK? Are they OK? Are you okay? You OK. I'm OK.

In an unexpected dly dramatic video, the sound of tire screeching is heard as ruby and our kids are headed to their first day of the school year in their iconic eight passengers. White chevy expressive van ruby hurls the door open and runs towards a blue car with its airbags deployed on the side of the road. The front of the tudor blue car is smashed in debris strewn about the highway.

Ruby runs up to the man inside who signals he's okay, but looks confused as to why there's a camera in his face. SHE continues to run along the road, flipping the camera around to her face as he approaches the other car involved in the crash. The camera then pants to a man in a red truck whose signals he's okay too.

Okay, I think he's okay. This tire glue IT looks like the tire glue, and I was I right behind him. I don't even remember what happened shaking.

Ruby is frantic as SHE makes her way back to the van with all six of her children in tow. Tensions are high in the back seat. The kids dressed in their red and blue school uniforms are in apparent distress, but SHE make sure the camera is still rolling, focused on Russell.

who's crying. Everyone is rustle. K, what happened? It's okay. Everyone says it's okay.

For avid viewer Julia, this was the first video on the eight passengers youtube channel that raised suspicion. Julia found the Frankie when he was in high school. One of her teachers was morman, and SHE became curious about more and culture online searches about mormonism, LED her to youtube, where SHE found eight passengers.

And SHE quickly became enamored with the charming and funny Frankie children. But for Julia, the car crash video was a hard, vivid from ruby. Other blogs.

the way ruby filmed IT and like, edited IT was so strange. Her kids are like disco crying in the background and her first thought is let me without a camera and film my child. Clearly upset because we almost gotten a car accident. Um just it's just odd behavior. Like when I look back, logging your children is just odd behavior in general.

I want to tell you something, and I want you to really listen. We should have been in that crash there. I don't know how we avoided getting hit.

But you know what? There is not a single scratch on our car. There is not one person who got with flash. And do you know why? Because we set our prayers this morning and we tried our best to do or have any .

father wanted us to do.

And you know what? Nobody's hurt. And I know it's because the lord is watching out for our family and for others, and we're OK and we're going to get to school.

Carl andersson is a documentarian, an x morman blogger based in utah. He remembers seeing the vlog titled car crash on first day of school too.

I would say doing whatever IT takes to get views for youtube, there is a lot of content creators that will compromise the safety in the lives of their own children. In order to do that.

carl first started his youtube channel when he waited four hundred pounds. His blog followed his journey of reaching as one hundred and seventy five pound weight law school. After carl lost the weight, he wanted to keep the channel going.

His content shifted to the style of eight passengers being of loggers himself. And the next morning, carl knows a thing or two about ruby's world. He shared observations from his own experience, who avoided my ability.

When I talk about specifically what Emily were like, I can say that mormonism and being content creators on public online, on a daily basis, creates a type of dynamic, like a pressure cutter, where you have these positive issues and other things that not only can you not express works or having your life just regularly as a member of the morning church, but the fact that your life is public every day and that you're filming and posting what you're doing online and with your kids, you're under an extra layer of scrutiny and pressure that causes those secrets and those issues. But the thing is, is when you get around a lot of these people hind the scenes, you know, it's like flexing a muscle. They can only keep up those appearances, put on the mask, but the camera, or for the public for so long.

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As twenty nineteen progressed, fans like Julia noticed the mask coming off. A growing amount of concerning videos s popping up on eight passengers channel.

There's a couple that stand out, and I don't know if IT felt more like cookie because all of this kind of so gradual, in my opinion, that is more like hindsight bias when you look back on IT. But there were a couple videos that were just like weird.

One of those videos s shows ruby and Cherry cleaning red nail polish of the tile floor and bathmat of the master bathroom.

We had family dinner, and I was looking and looking and looking for, even I was like, why isn't even at the dinner table? SHE usually comes to dinner as soon as I color. Then I got looking outside.

We've looking for thirty straights minutes for her. And I was starting to get worried. And I was like, OK, we're going to start calling around neighbor od, and if I can't find eve in the next twenty minutes and calling the police. And then I found this.

The Youngest, Frank daughter, eve, had gotten into ruby is manicure kit, made a mess, then hit under her parents bed. That's where he had been the whole time they were looking for her. A close up shot captures will be scrumping nail polish out of the group. She's visibly frustrated with eve.

You only got a little justify on camera. All the discipline takes place on camera, but one of the consequences is SHE will not be getting her nails painted for a solid month and that's like her favorite thing, is to have me do her nails and she's gonna to go with out for a month until he learns that she's not old enough to do this yet by herself.

Once the floor is cleaned, the ruby is liking rustle.

approaches her, say.

type in command.

Eve slumps into the bathroom and a pink t shirt and a denon skirt SHE wrapped her arms around her mom.

sorry, sorry. Mom.

sorry for .

what i'm sorry for up in room into my things .

that you knew were not yours that makes me more upset than making a mess because mess this happened but you were sneaking and then you hide instead of telling .

me the just fly sorry and I don't mean to do IT and then I said, I shouted, have done this idea.

You know, that was bad idea. Yeah, you still gonna have the consequence of not having your nail stone for a month. You understand? yes.

And I still, I still want to buy you one of the rug.

Want to buy me a new rug? Maybe you can do some extra choice to help them with the money. Can you the nail .

polish incident was merely in establishing glimpse into ruby is penchant for exposing our children's misgivings .

in another .

brow raising video from january twenty nineteen, ruby take seven year old rosell aside to share the results of the schools reading assessment.

You're at a level n that's huge. Yes, that's like at the very end of the year, like beginning second grade level .

and just we are in the second great level.

What starts out as a congratulatory moment quickly evolves into bizarre commentary from ruby after Russell excitedly jumps to celebrate his achievement and accidentally bumps his mom in the corner of her eye.

yes.

Sorry.

you just pass me in the eye。 I'm sorry.

sorry OK these .

conversations .

not going well.

My god, once when your kid like jumps up and hit in the face, I like literally just want back. It's like taking a IT the good in the cas.

Her reaction to russels accidental blow seems disproportionate. SHE even doubles down and makes the light of her reactivity as he takes the camera with her into another room.

A little stinker. Aren't kids like that? You're like really proud of him and loving in one moment in like two seconds.

You're like you little not. You are so out of control getting your room. I'm never like that.

Sometimes you are.

I'm always common, collected and level headed.

Still, viewers are lapping up ruby increasingly weird locks.

Yeah, I definitely think what was bringing the people and was probably the kids the kids were Normal and think people just felt bad for them at a certain point originally. I think like everyone tries to look for the good in people. I think a lot of people come from broken homes.

And so maybe their only source of like a real fail was to watch IT on youtube. So I think that shall draw for a lot of people. Um and then eventually, I was just kind like rock watching A A car rec uh that you don't really wanna look but .

you can't look away about a month later, ruby publishes of log after learning her oldest sunshade has been suspended from school, for the video opens with her holding her phone up to read from a text message.

It's from Kevin chat, just called me from the office at school. He and his friends were clown, and we're disrespectful today. He was given two traces.

Have a parent come in with him tomorrow. Not gonna happen. I can't do that. Or misa day of school. I told them that that will stay home tomorrow and work for his mother.

Ruby is clearly frustrated by the news of chat behavior and begins listing off the chores i'll be put up to in lu of the school day.

He'll be missing by the time we get to twenty nineteen um her son chat was cost as the rebel within the family he's the oldest boy um sHarry you have is very univer studio is very bright in school ced struggled a lot in school and his behavior wasn't up to the very kind of strip standards that his parents had held for him. As soon as chad, I think, began on entering his teenage years. That's that when I think would be began to feel a sense of loss of control and all the beginnings of losing control. And that's where I think these more harsh parenting strategies started to come into play.

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Ruby continues to blog throughout the school year, documenting the usual struggles of any parent hoping to keep their kids on track, chores, homework, bad grades, backtalk and teenage angst. Life goes on as usual for all six of the Frankie children as they finally arrive at the end of the school year, including the Youngest, eve, who began school in the spring.

For most kids, summer break is a reprieve from rigid structure, a time to sleep in, see friends and say for every moment, school work isn't occupying the afternoon, but for the Frankie summer means a robust chore ticket and more time at home to beyond. Camera subscribers followed as the Frankie summer unfolded, with videos following the kids checking off the reading less a trip to philadelphy and back to school shopping. They gradually notice that chat is no longer appearing in the blogs. Long time eight passengers viewer alexius Anderson remembers chads presence becoming scarce.

IT wasn't like her to have a child of her household that just wasn't on camera. So we noticed early on that something was wrong. He wasn't there.

We always knew that he was not her colon cote favorite. no. So we just panel brushed IT off a little bit within IT became very strange .

youtube comments asking where res chat are dominating the eight passengers channel and biogas viewers finally get an answer.

Well, you know it's a serious video when it's me sitting down and talking but if it's the two of us sitting down and talking.

it's like even more serious.

really serious.

We decided IT was best to clue you guys in on what's been going on, uh, a little bit with cat and why. Ruby, an iron in a hotel room right now in pinions, arizona.

The twelve minute video opens with a shot of chat in White shorts, a White shirt and black visor, a backpack slumped over a shoulders, walking through an airport parking lot, then cuts to a tight shot of a ruby, an Kevin seated next to one another on a hotel bed. In this video, a divert from their typical of beat town, you can see on their faces that emotions are running high.

The last what we're doing, and now that we're sitting in the hotel and I have like check back of belongings, now the emotions can set in and now I can cry. I let myself do that.

Yeah okay. So you're probably wondering what the heck were talk about chat today has just entered the anasazi foundation wilderness therapy program where he's going to spend the next eight to ten weeks living in the and .

desert yeah the desert .

mountains of arizona. And you'll be with councillors and other youth that are trying to figure some things out. So you're probably wondering what did jt do? What did okay, let's what are not going to entertain that stuff. But it's an accumulation of things over years well before we ever started youtube being or well before we ever got in the social media. And it's reached a point where chat needs to develop some very basic maturity and skills that he's going to need as an adult.

This is a chance fer like a reset, like a starter, or like a do over, like a fresh beginning.

Ana sausse foundation describes itself as a therapeutic tic outdoor behavioral treatment health care program, and wilderness is rehab for adolescence, ages twelve to seventeen, struggling with depression, anxiety, self image, defiance, family conflict, mental health, lack of motivation, mild mood disorders, drug and alcohol, experimental internet addiction, entitlement issues and other self defeating behaviors. And in the vlog haven't explained, the idea behind the program is that if you can survive in the wilderness with nothing more than the close on your back and field supplies, given there is nothing in this world you can tackle, while the two refused to entertain the specific catalyst for sending chatto on sai, they elude to the chAllenges that were facing with him that let them to their decision.

We did give him a choice. The choices were limited. We had like three or four choices on the table and and we made IT clear what our boundaries are as a family where we're willing to go.

But we would like to see our expectations were very clear. And we made IT clear if these expectations, these basic everyday expectations aren't met. If you don't live within this parameter or .

demonstrates is basic life.

is basic life skills, basic, basic stuff that every adult needs to learn, then this is where we're going. You can do this. You can do this.

You can do this. This is, these are options. And IT came to this anastasi camp.

Aleta's said that this is when he really became more suspicious ous of ruby in Kevin's parenting style.

and when they explained where he was that he was at a teen wilderness camp, that this was a place where they sent a trouble to teens. And part of the trouble teen industry in the united states um that's when I really think along those began to sound .

for me SHE question the effective y of institutions like honath's .

those who have survived these institutions, a lot of them as adults have come back to criticize um what they went through and to reveal a lot of the trauma that they experience within these places.

Alice understands the need to address behavioral issues in children, but IT was the way we will be described on a sausse approach and treatment timeline that really raised her concern.

I'm not saying that the children who have heavy issues or are getting into crime or or need support don't need intervention, but i'm not sure that sending a child away into the wilderness for at this point, rubie said he didn't know how long chat would be away. And I think the fact that IT was open ended is another red flag there. So my in my first thought when I heard this was that this is not something that is sound safe for a child.

But Kevin and ruby saw things differently.

What I loosley over is, when kids starts self sabotage, they are on efforts. That's the kinds stuff that really concerns just .

a stick ket to their teachers or a sticking to their parents or family.

That and the only person that really hurting as themselves .

ah that's the kind of behavior that we're hoping this program can help chat, correct?

And so we're not thinking that anyone's gonna like fixed .

or corrected.

but like that that's a good way to .

say that yeah because no one can fix anybody. A person has to choose, they're going to make changes in their lives. And so I think this experiences will reveal chat and and everyone else who's out there to themselves and they can learn to Better themselves or just stay.

Yeah, they were saying that the ana zy way is where the nature will reflect .

back to you. So bottom line, it's going to be a long time before any of us sees chat. We'll hear from him weekly and letters. The family will and will write letters to him but um in the meantime, if everyone could keep your thoughts and prayers for him and our family and we're excited to see how all of us, not just chat for all of us, are impacted and changed by this experience.

Now that the cat was out of the bag for eight passengers followers, the family returns to the regularly scheduled program without chat. Their blogs are pepper with mansion's of missing their brother, but the Frankie clans stays busy. Russell goes to boy scouts.

Abby and Cherry practice their musical instruments and eva cyc to officially be a kindergarden. Then on october fifteen, two thousand and fifty eight passengers post their latest video titled reuniting with our son. Ruby films yourself packing their sleeping bags and suitcases for their trip back to the arizona wilderness for the first time.

You will see the environment where CD spent the past ten weeks through a car window. It's a remote desert landscape with more Greener than you're probably imagining. Standing in the middle of the wooded, dusty forest, Kevin ruby lock eyes with chat.

He darts toward them, dressed in army fatigues, streets of red paint across his cheeks and an american flag bandana tied around his forehold. d. He throws his backpack off his shoulders as he in.

Their direction is so good. 爱心 眼霜， 清 维生素 20K。

They share an emotional group hug. Ruby is soaring as SHE rubs chats back in the along gated embrace. This feels like a private family moment, but a camera crew appears to be filming the reunion from multiple angles.

Cat appears rugged. His hands are filthy, covered in dirt and scratches. His hair is long and messy. Once everyone drives their tears, chad begins to demonstrate what he's learned out at ana sai.

The vlog ends with .

a montage of chat showing ruby and Kevin how to pitch a blue tarp into a makeup shelter, time rope to trees to hoist the corners up. He then uses a hand made boat to start a fire with sticks, and the three of them camp for the night. By morning, the cameras are rolling again, this time capturing footage for a video titled living on the trail with chat.

Night sleep of my life ruby is wrapped .

in a blue and Green sleeping bag, sharing her experience of spending one night under the circumstances CD had just spent two and a half months. Chad then shows his parents how he spent his days interpreted with shots of the native Flora. He walks his parents through how you ration and prepare food and water, keep warm and forage. At the end of the video, ruby shares with chat that his absence from their videos has caused quite the stir on social media.

There is a hash tag on instagram going around hash tag free.

as you can see. uncomfortable. I'm not a slave.

Anything me in my cup cake? I think i'm good. You don't need to free me. I enjoy this .

place here .

now and free.

What was that story selling about? So every tuesday.

the along line services come out to take pictures of you and some of your parents. And every single time my services would come out, you would say people could call on the office saying, free jad. They get constant calls .

to the .

element is a yeah.

So some of prison guys, I had a good time.

So but to viewers like a lexis, there was something unsettling about ruby attempting to settle the score on CD, stay, stay at on a sai in .

the end to see where he sent him off. And to do my own research, like sit up in my google, go down like a rab a hole of with this count, whatever they want to call IT was very hard. IT was hard to to know someone close to my age being forced to do something like that in the end. The fact that when they at the end of the program, when the parents got to go with them and they would like enjoying IT, like I laugh about IT and thought I was fun and cool and nothing was fun and were cool about that.

Two days after ruby shares her and Kevin's reunion with chat, viewer seem reunite with his five siblings. They run across the front t yard, hugging him one by one, culminating in one collective embrace. It's a tender moment chat reMarks on how much more grown up each of his siblings look since he last saw them.

And this is crazy. The vlog .

follows CD settling back in.

He takes his first shower in ten weeks and catches himself in the mirror for the first time too. Rubi walks chat in the newly renovated house while all six kids trail behind. SHE then revealed SHE revamp chat and rustles room too, complete with new beds covered in red.

On the wall in the bedroom is a sign that says, walk forward with an arrow on a saudi foundation slogan in the bathroom is another sign that says, eyes up, feet forward and hearts, Howard ruby tells him, is the actual one from the wilderness program. Once he's settled back in, chat, agrees to do A Q and a for eight passengers. Youtube channel.

here we go. ready. Where did you go and you?

Where is that forest?

Kate.

why did you go there? Because I was a bad boy.

Not true.

That was true. Sorry, I am totally .

triggered because i've tried to teach her mic, everyone's a good boy because you are divine. We make choices that aren't good, but that doesn't make you not good. Anyway, okay, so totally trigger.

Let's go to the next choice. A question. I mean, what was your biggest take away from anathoth?

I like the boy.

Thank you. How did you break your toe?

So we were at camp and we all shoes off as IT was a nice camp. So I just how her shoes, often my friend was like chat, and I just down I T any other back of Grace and just hugged IT at me and I hit my back and exploded, but I didn't see where I was going. So I tripped over a log and I felt and like, I just had my toe and I also blow and then IT really short of hurt because just hurt like go with but this when I started a game, pain of the scale more and more and something wrong, the are turning black and um we cannot do anything about just the here on the show.

ruby continues to press chat.

Are you scared that when you go back to your Normal life, you fall back into old routines or habits that took you on your journey?

But the whole point going out there was knowing that I will not be perfect and I will mess up, which I already have. And just the matter fact, if i'm gonna be able to be hungry, that's a good word. The humble notice that i'm relaxed ing and going back to what I done in the past and being able to react and choose good actions members and thus.

Julia remembers the Q, N, A video SHE sensed text, and ruby is questioning that made her nervous while watching IT.

If there really was a reason to send him, he would come back and really, really different. I mean, he wasn't probably because there was no reason to me in the first place. Then I remember ruby talking about how he had like broken bones from IT and like all these repercussions and and that is just sit right that was kind of like the first thing of like okay, something's really not right here um with ruby never IT was never about the kids being like weird is always ruby Kevin like not sitting right with me but particularly the ana sai um was kind of my tipping point as to when I stopped watching .

now that chats back home, he's once again regularly featured on eight passengers in one rambling video rubie posted at the end of october twenty nineteen, not even two weeks since chad returned to have a azar exchange.

I have to tell you chat, i'm really graduate home. Our house is so much Better with you here but there's one part of me that really hates that you're here. Can you tell you what IT is? I started eating desserts and my stomach hurts so bad every day. I can handle IT.

What do I have to do me? That is your decision. Eat those series. I guess .

that's what I get from teaching you truth. So I guess you get to turn IT around them thrown at me. You're right.

Rubi eludes to an ambiguous concept of truth, of which the two scene to suddenly have a shared understanding. Something about IT feels both mystical and big, like a newly acquired dogma out of a self improvement book.

Charts got a really good at figuring out truth, he actually. So tell me what you learned about.

So I had a phone call yesterday with my therapy ist, and he taught me about truth and distortion.

By mentioning his therapy name, cat wasn't far off. If eight passengers subscribers hadn't learned of jody yet, they were about to get well acquainted.

By two thousand nineteen, she'd met jodie, held a brand that jodie was teaching her to become a life coach.

I just got back from a little retreat, Kevin. And we talked about starting a podcast, uh perhaps the second youtube channel where, uh, we can talk about some of the things that we're learning and how to answer your questions. But if we started a channel where we could kind of be your life coach and give you some advice, um I think that would really great practice for me.

We see a split and priorities from getting the views from the popularity to, well, this is the right way to parent on the parenting, on a mother that my job first and foremost and we see that um within Christian circles as well the role of mother is the heart of the household. And under the influence of jersey hill, the brand completely kind of took a different track .

SHE deprived her child of that basic necessity when he had the means. Certainly, that was just completely unacceptable. And the fact that he was laughing about IT in the video and then thought I was OK to post on line, just kind of goes to show there is seriously something wrong with .

her psyche there. That's all coming up on the rise and fall of a ruby. Frankie, this has been a law and crime production.

I'm your host, polar barrow. Our executive producer is Jessica law. There, our producer and writer is Cooper ml. Additional writing by Jennifer tenner. Our editor is brad. Maybe our bookers are elisa icier and Diana and special things to Shawn panzer a for designing our key art.