. tonight, she was the mom giving advice to millions of other parents across this country. >> but what was really going on inside her own family? an all new "20/20" begins right now. >> police officers, open up. >> jodi? i need you to step out. >> i have my attorney -- whoa! no, no. >> we need to go do a security sweep. >> so many desperate searches.

>> we didn't know if another sibling was possibly even dead. >> so few answers. until now. the police tapes being seen for the first time. >> so they do an hour's long search. >> gathered ropes, handcuffs. there were rolls of duct tape. things clearly evidence of abuse. >> we have now heard about this since the arrest of a 2 million subscriber plus youtube mom vlogger. >> in one year, we have 600,000 subscribers. >> ruby franke has been charged with six felony counts of child abuse. >> if you cut one more thing in my house -- i'm going to take the scissors, look at me. and i'm going to cut its head off. >> ruby franke built a persona of, you know, strict parenting.

>> strict? or sadistic? >> this sounds like a horror movie. >> police department! make yourself known! >> it's a hot summer morning in the neighborhood of i'vins, utah, when a ring camera picks up a young boy. not wearing any shoes, approaching a home. he rings the door bell. no one answers. a minute later, another ring camera from the neighboring home picks up the same boy. he tries the door bell. it seems like no one is home at first. but then the door opens.

>> yes? i was wondering if you do two favors. >> what are they? >> take me to the nearest police station. just one's fine. >> what's going on, son? have a seat there. >> an investigation that will rock this otherwise sleepy, picturesque suburb. in fact, it will shock the world. >> 911. tell me exactly what's happened. >> i just had a 12-year-old boy show up at my front door asking for help. and he says he just came from a neighbor's house. he's emaciated. he has tape around his legs. he's hungry and he's thirsty. >> okay. >> one of the most gut-wrenching things about that 911 call, you

can hear in that home owner's voice, he starts to cry, talking about the boy. >> he has duct tape around each ankle. i think a good chance he's been -- he needs -- obviously been, he's been detained. he's obviously covered in wounds. >> okay. >> we need the police here now. >> has he told you where his mom and dad are? >> he just said he doesn't live around here. >> does he know his mom's name? >> ruby franke is his mom's name. >> within minutes of the call, the emts and officers arrive. >> the very first thing that kind of stood out to me the

second we got on scene was that first look at him. it just hit that there was something wrong. >> to the emts, the boy looks malnourished and has severe injuries. to protect his identity, we're calling him r. and what you're about to see may be unsettling. >> he had duct tape wrapped around him and underneath the duct tape was is a ran wrap wrapped around both of his legs. on both the wrists with the same. >> i don't think there's one emotion that you can use to describe this call. there was sadness. it was everywhere. it was heavy. it was felt by everybody around. >> the poignant scene is unfolding in this quiet neighborhood with this stunning back drop, and sergeant nick

tobler arrives on the scene, list body camera rolling. >> we were watching the emts attend to him. he was in pain when they lifted his legs up. >> what does that indicate? >> that he's been through a lot of pain. >> he was very calm. he never cried. he was just stoic, with unwavering strength. >> you can see the joints in his legs. they were abnormal. you can see malnutrition, not enough food. not enough intake. >> officer pikyavit's body camera shows how these wounds got there. >> there were ropes on there. when i asked him how did he get the injuries? he told me his mom and jodi. r said that they bound his and his feet to weights on the ground and restricted,

restricting his movement. when i heard him say that, it hit me pretty hard. i had to excuse myself out of the ambulance. >> later, detectives learned wasn't just the ropes that bound him to cause those wounds. it was also handcuffs. >> and did he tell you how he escaped? >> he told us later in interviews that he unlocked the handcuffs from his wrists and ankles and then he exited through the sliding glass door of the room. >> and did he tell you about his motivation? his state of mind in that moment? >> just hungry. he was hungry and thirst at this and he saw an opportunity to leave. >> reporter: while r is being treated, he tells officers that he has two siblings who he thinks are still back at the house. >> we didn't know if another sibling was in the same state of condition or possibly even dead in the home. >> there are two other kids there. we need to do a security sweep of the house.

>> that house, police learned, doesn't belong to the boy's mother, but to someone named jodi. jodi hildebrandt. and r's mother ruby so far is nowhere to be found. >> so we get there, we hop out of the vehicles. we get to the front door. >> police officers! open up! >> she finally answered the door. jodi? i need you to step out, please. >> i have my attorney -- >> that's great. step out of the house. >> when she answered, she had a phone in her hand. whoa, whoa, whoa! >> have a seat right there for me. >> do you have a search warrant? >> i'll explain it after this. >> we were able to enter jodi's house, due to the exigent

circumstances that surrounded us finding r. >> for exigent circumstances, this is a life-saving effort. >> the officers entered the home and began clearing the house. >> police officers! anybody home? >> looking for the other children. >> clear. police! anybody home? police officers. >> just over 10,000 square feet -- this home has multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways -- >> weight room? >> almost like a compound. >> we entered a room that had a bed in it with an attached bathroom and an attached closet. it was empty. like there were no clothes hanging up. none of the drawers were fulfill in the middle of the floor -- >> come on, little buddy. i'm a police officer. hey, are you okay? is it just you in here?

i'm sergeant tobler. what's your name? >> we at first thought it might have been a little boy sitting there cross-legged staring up at us. >> are you doing okay? you don't want to talk to me? that's okay. >> what was the look only child's face? >> looked scared. the child looked scared. >> at the time sergeant tobler called me and i was in the hospital with r, so i began asking r, hey, do you have a little brother? he said no. i have a younger sister there. 9 years old and he said she had a shaved head and she had brown hair. i said when is the last time you saw her? and he said it's been over a month. >> they were in the same home and they didn't see each other for a month. >> yeah. at that moment, we kind of

connected the dots that that was who sergeant tobler was sitting with in the closet. >> is it okay if i just sit here with you? we don't have to say anything if you don't want to. >> did she say anything about her being afraid of you? >> yeah. she just kept asking, where's jodi at? would jodi be okay if they came in? she was concerned what jodi would think. >> did she mention her mom at all? >> no. she did not. >> she's scared. i would be, too. you're in no way in any trouble. i'm not here to hurt you. i want to make sure you're okay. >> for over two hours, tobler has been sitting with e. that's how we'll refer to her. trying to make her more comfortable with his presence. yet, e remains motionless and afraid. but one suggestion gets her attention. >> i think you like pizza. she nodded her head. >> she ate the whole thing so

they ordered another one and she ate half of a large pizza as well along with a shake. >> and what does that tell you about how hungry she was? >> food deprived, hungry. just like r was at the time. >> while e remains in the closet, officers are still searching for a possible second child in the home. >> i've got a kid in a room back here. >> they don't find that child but they do come upon a large safe room. >> what do they find? >> we found rope. we found handcuffs. it was really set up like a private room. >> more than four hours after police make entry into jodi's home, e finally agrees to leave at the closet.

while e is led to the ambulance, jodi hildebrandt is placed in a secure room in the house. that's when the children's mother, ruby franke, arrives at the home. >> in the back room. >> immediately, we're shocked. she's here. >> and just who is ruby franke? it turns out, she's wildly famous for all the wrong reasons. myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue... and stop further joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections,

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. it's been several hours since police first got a call that young children may be in grave danger at the home of someone named jodi hildebrandt in ivins, utah. the children aren't jodi's. their mother is ruby franke who prosecutors say had been hundreds of miles away as the reality of her kids' horror is being uncovered. >> ruby is in a panic and driving down from northern utah. >> we got information that she showed up at the police department so she spoke with our secretary and said i was told my kids are here and our secretary said, no. they're not. and she frantically took off. and while we were serving the search warrant in ivins, ruby franke shows up. >> so she showed up and she was immediately detained. >> she's sitting in there for hours while the search is being

done. >> correct. she came down here looking for two children but never really digs into that. tell me where my kids are at. are they okay? none of that. it is just quiet and silence. >> officers spend nearly six hours searching jodi's home that day and collect multiple bags of evidence. >> due to the totality of the evidence, there is enough to charge these two with child abuse. >> detective bate came into the room and informed jodi that we were detaining her. that's when she was handcuffed. >> we'll make sure and lock it up. >> ruby, when i placed her in hand cuffs, very quiet. >> place your hands lind your back for me. perfect. all right, you're going to walk with the officer. >> right here.

go out and have a seat. >> once we transported her back, that's when i held an interview with ruby franke. >> at one point you describe her sitting and staring off, almost like in a trance? >> she would look like through me. she would give me three long blinks. >> do you want to tell me about where you live or how many kids you have? so we just spoke with your husband and he said you have six kids. are those all together? are those all your kids? >> i'm like, i don't know what to do with that. i don't know if you're telling me something. like morse code. >> i can wait all day. so it's up to you if you want to talk to us about what is going

on. >> i'll wait until i have a lawyer. >> so that's where it ended. >> the ruby franke in that interrogation room is tight-lipped and stone-faced. it is a stark contrast with the an plated and highly vocal mommy vlogger that fans saw on her popular youtube channel. "8 passengers." >> none of my kids have training wheels. >> in 2015, monetizes. she starts this vlog called "8 passengers." >> she was chronicling her life in utah. there's shari and clad, the two oldest, who are now adults. then two teenage girl in the middle and the two youngest children. e and r. >> ruby would post the standard family vlog style of videos. but it did seem like from right off the bat, discipline was a

focus. >> you're still going to have the consequence of not having your nails done for a month. >> the natural, i suppose, challenges the kids are facing, or that the parents are facing. >> you're going to have to selectively neglect something. sometimes i have to neglect the kids because kevin needs attention. >> they seem real and relatable and vulnerable as parents. >> she had made a flame for herself as a mormon mom influencer, which is a very particular brand. >> this is the last time we'll have family prayer in this home. >> the official name of the church is the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. the church has always embraced technology to spread the message. radio or television, or now the internet and social media. >> beyond spreading the message -- >> all right, you guys. we'll go check out another church. i'm really, really excited. >> mommy vlogging or momfluencers can be big

business. >> a way to potentially support the mom's income which is not possible when you have a lot of kids and you're encouraged to stay home. >> it allowed church members to project into the world the image that the church had been teaching for many decades, but now you could do it on social media. >> very quickly, "8 passengers" had millions of viewers for almost all of their videos. >> but if 2022, ruby abandoned her popular vlog and joined forces with jodi hildebrandt, a therapist who is also the franke's marriage counsellor. together they became the face of her online life-coaching business called connections. >> welcome to connections. i'm jodi hildebrandt. >> and i'm ruby franke. >> we want to have relationships where we feel close and where there's love. as we all know, what has been packaged and sold on social media isn't necessarily what's happening in real life. >> two young children who at first seemed so loved in those early videos, somehow ended up

starved and abused. >> i was not prepared for what i saw. when i saw the injuries, it was very alarming. children don't belong in that house. >> while ruby's two youngest children are at the hospital getting the medical attention they so badly need, the question now is, where are ruby's two other minor children? and could they be in danger? >> police department! open up! (tony hale) you need verizon home internet. (dad) how did- (tony hale) oh, i let myself in. get fast, reliable coverage, in every room. then you can watch your shows in here. (mom) nice. (tony hale) and she's off... get your game on down here! is that how you kids say it? (daughter) we never say that. (tony hale) no? ok. and up here you can socialize all your medias. nailed it. and back here for some 'we time.' (dad) don't you mean 'me time?' (tony hale) no, you heard me. scoot. scoot, scoot. (vo) switch to verizon home internet. with whole-home wi-fi included. plus, switch now and get a 5-year price guarantee. only on verizon.

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trust. hang out. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. powering more businesses than anyone. powering possibilities. on that fateful today of august 30th, 2023 -- ruby franke's two youngest children, ages 9 and 12, were rescued after being held captive in jodi hildebrandt's ivins, utah home. the other two kids are also missing. so police in springville, utah, are contacted. >> they notified us that the two youngest children had been located but there were two teenage daughters that their whereabouts were unknown.

>> springville police arrived here at the franke home in an urgent search for the two middle children who were teenagers. police worried they could be in danger, too. >> police department! >> we received no response from inside the house. our officers had to just sit there and wait for the warrant. once we had the warrant, officers used a ram in order to open the door. >> police department. make yourself known! >> the preliminary search took about five minutes. our officers did not locate the two unaccounted for teenagers. so we conducted a secondary search. >> anywhere a little emaciated kid can fit. >> we checked freezers, refrigerators, large bags in the garage. >> police searched every corner of the house. but no sign of the teenagers.

but as the search ends, 20-year-old shari franck franke is able to help with the lead. her have the oldest daughter at college tips the police that she's at a rec center. >> employees had said there young woman left with an adult woman whom they didn't know. >> it turns out that person had picked up both of the franke daughters. it's a business associate of jodi and ruby's. pam bodtcher. police were dispatched to her home. >> do you have a warrant? >> yes. >> will you just tell them you're all right? >> sure enough. the teens are there. >> she comes over to my house all the time. >> the two, visibly unharmed, wait on the porch while pam is being questioned. given the evidence of child abuse given the other franke children, the department of family services now places the

teen kids in their care. >> i'm with dcfs. you and your siblings are being taken into custody. >> even though the two teen daughters are found safe, there are serious questions for police. at the top of the list, where's the father of the franke children? >> so the same day that we placed ruby franke and jodi under arrest, kevin also came to the police department looking for list kids. >> was he considered a suspect? >> at that time, yes, he was. >> and so he is placed in an interrogation room. >> i want to pick up my kids. i haven't seen them for over a year. >> any of them? >> no. none of them. >> between 2022 and 2023, kevin franke has moved out. shari is in college. chad as always o'also moved out. it is ruby and four children. >> was he even aware that they

were at jodi's louse? >> we don't know. it's clear that he moved out in july of 2022. he was still having therapy with jodi. >> it turns out, jodi hildebrandt was kevin and ruby's marriage counsellor. >> they just worked on their marriage like most people do when relationship issues come up. >> was that part of your reason for separation? >> the reasons are because of ways that i treated my wife, some of my own addictions that i was working through and seeking help on with pornography. >> thank you for sharing that. >> jodi saw the need for me to get help. and frankly, i agreed. >> part of that process was stay away from your children and only

respond to ruby when she contacts you. >> did you ever try to reach out to the kids? drop by the home? >> no. i honored -- the separation boundary that we agreed to. >> have you communicated with your wife regarding discipline with your kids or their care or their physical well-being? >> no. >> and then detectives explained to kevin how his two youngest children were found earlier that day. >> a 12 to 13-year-old boy was knocking on doors in a neighborhood asking for food and water. he was severely emaciated. >> what does emated '80 mean? >> skinny, scrawny, malnutritioned, not enough food and water to sustain life. >> i'm sorry, what? >> after a short break, the police along with the child

advocate come back into the room. >> folks, i don't know what to do. i have no idea what you're talking about. this is just, it sounds like a horror movie. >> during the interrogation, kevin appears bewildered. but he also stands by his wife. >> i love appmy wife. i don't want anything i say to incriminate her or me in ways that i don't understand. >> the next day, kevin's wife ruby calls him from the purgatory correctional facility. and she has a bizarre question. >> are we in the news? >> it sound like. at least you're in the news. >> this is a witch hunt. the devil has been after me for years. i'm a good woman. i don't do naughty things. i'm a really good girl.

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ruby franke has been charged with six felony counts of child abuse. thanks to her popularity, from her viral "8 passengers" youtube vlogs, news of her arrest makes the news. >> tonight she is under arrest on suspicion of child abuse. >> and it's that strict parenting style that seemed to be part of the appeal. as her personal brand in those "8 passengers" videos had evolved from one of family fun to tough love. >> you're going to lose the privilege to eat dinner. >> ruby franke built a brand of strict parenting. you see someone who so believes in what they're doing and that it is right that she's publicizing what she's doing as though it is right. >> i'm going to take the

scissors, look at me. and i'm going to cut its head off. >> since the arrest of a 2-million subscriber plus youtube mom vlogger, the internet has gone absolutely wild. >> but perhaps the most striking, most remarkable reaction to ruby's arrest come from her oldest daughter shari, seemingly breathing a sigh of relief by posting on her instagram, finally! then she adds something more ominous and illuminating. we've been trying to tell the police and child protective services for years about this. i'm so glad they finally stepped up. >> a major i told you so. >> definitely. >> when i spoke with shari, she had kind of been estranged from her family based on the strict

parenting and the kinds of things they had put her through. >> in fact, abc news has obtained a call that shari franke made for a welfare check in 2022 when her father was already out of the house, sounding concerned about her siblings. >> hi, my name is shari franke. my four younger siblings are living in springville. my neighbors have been telling me that they've been left home alone for four or five days. so i was curious if someone could go check on them. they never find a problem but it keeps happening. >> i'll have an officer give you a call back. >> we returned to the home multiple occasions to try to speak with the mother and/or the children. they would not answer the door. they sought a warrant to try to get into the home. the warrant was not approved. it was frustrating at the time because we weren't able to gather any evidence that criminal activity had occurred.

>> abc news reached out to dcfs and they declined to comment, citing privacy concerns. utah's child welfare legislative oversight panel has the authority to investigate cases like this, but so far, no investigation has been opened. the day after her arrest, ruby is being held at purgatory correctional facility. according to jail call records, she places several calls to kevin. ruby seems to be defending her treatment of their kids. >> i do feel strong. i feel calm. and you know what? adults have a really hard time understanding that children can be full of evil and what that takes to fight it. >> then kevin is leader on the call giving an update on their youngest children. >> they're going to be in the hospital for three days. >> so weird. it's just not necessary. they're trying to exaggerate

this. >> despite hearing some of the realities of the situation she's in, ruby isn't convinced she's in trouble. >> satan has taken everything away from me that i love. i'm a good woman. i don't do naughty things. i'm a really good girl. >> before lillard hildebrandt entered the franks' lives, and before the children moved out, there had been signs that the wheels were coming off the "8 passengers'" well presented and tight-knit family. >> my bedroom was taken away for seven months and given back a couple weeks ago. >> i don't think our viewers know that. >> i've been sleeping on a beanbag. >> lds kids are raised with a sense of being obedient. that there are morals, there are standards that they should follow. if you follow those standards, your life will be happier. you'll be safer. but church leaders have been consistent and unequivocal in

recent years in terms of condemning abuse of any kind. >> there was an outcry after viewers of "8 passengers" became worried when ruby posted about her youngest daughter forgetting her school lunch. >> i just got a text message from [ bleep ] teacher. she said that [ bleep ] did not pack a lunch today. she's just going to be hungry. >> viewers elevate their concerns, and in may of 2020, a change.org petition with about 18,000 signatures circulates, urging child protective services to investigate the franke s. as news of the petition gets out, criticism of ruby escalates and becomes more aggressive, she claim. >> ruby and kevin franke were getting death threats. they had someone completely hooded go up to their door and leave a note with a threatening message. you start to see the family

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as police dive deeper into the tangled wave of dysfunction within the franke family -- >> police officers. open up. >> it becomes clear to investigators that problems really began when jodi hildebrandt, the therapist, who randal the online life coaching business connections, entered the picture. >> welcome to the empowering joy class. i'm jodi hildebrandt. >> just who is jodi hildebrandt? >> jodi hildebrandt was a licensed therapist who worked mostly with mormon couples and families. >> her primary clientele was

from 12 steps, alcoholics anonymous. she had sex addiction anonymous. she had a great reputation. >> jodi randal her own practice in the salt lake city area. according to former clients,le of her referrals came from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. >> i was seeing jodi because apply former husband and i had very severe marital issues. i told him that i wouldn't stay with him unless we could seek counseling. >> stephanie jones is a former patient of jodi hildebrandt. she said at first, jodi's counseling sessions were going well. >> the first time we met with jodi, she seemed very kind and understanding and very charismatic. i thought that jodi would solve everything and we were going to have a happy marriage. as i met with her longer, it became clear that there were certain things i couldn't say to her if it didn't fall in line with what she taught. >> stephanie says that things really took a dark turn during jodi's group counseling

sessions. >> in the group sessions, it was like a public shaming room. you had to write down if you kept your commitments to yourself. things like that. if your numbers were not good enough, she would rake you over the coals. >> others in jodi's group say they also felt uneasy. >> we would be in group sessions and she would call out people. this is distortion. or cut them off and belittle them. and she would emasculate men in a massive way. >> there were complaints from other men in the group sessions as well, although pornography addiction is not recognized as a disorder by the american psychiatric association, a lot of clients sought jodi out for that. but some, like former patient adam, an exmember of the church, say she had extreme views on how to treat porn addiction. >> back then i used to say aid porn problem. in mormonism, if you've ever looked at pornography if your life, you have a porn problem. ever. even if it was ten seconds.

and jodi figured out how to exploit that. >> with jodi, you look at it one time, you are an addict. he masturbates, couch. does it more than once, he should move out. most women in my group were separated from their husbands. they were at least sleeping in separate bedrooms. >> and in the case of adam, he said jodi ruined his marriage and his reputation, telling lies about him. >> so it's group therapy. when does it turn? >> what she did is she took our wives and started lying to them by telling them that we were confessing to all sorts of crazy sexual things in the guys' group. jodi hildebrandt called me a child pedophile. a child rapist. >> adam's marriage eventually ended. through her attorney, adam's ex-wife declined to comment. eventually he reported jodi hildebrandt to the state of utah for acting unethically as a counsellor.

>> jodi was subpoenaed by adam steed and she was shocked. the context of it was that she had reached out to brigham young university and told them what she had seen in her clinical office. it didn't ring true at all that she had done this. because there's such strong ethical guidelines as a therapyist that you never would disclose to any outside entity. >> in 2012, utah's division of professional listening put her downing license on an 18-month probation finding she had been sharing confidential information about adam with the mormon church, and brigham young university. information which adam says got him expelled from his college and the church in 2009. we reached out to byu but citing federal privacy laws, they said they could not comment. >> the church of jesus christ of latter day saints tells us jodi was removed from a community resource list of therapists in

2012. >> when her license was put on probation, what was your reaction? >> i was surprised they didn't revoke her license. >> but hildebrandt's career survives the incident and she actually expands her brand, launching the online life-coaching business. >> welcome. i'm jodi hildebrandt. so glad you're with us. connections is the solution. >> in 2020, that's when ruby franke hires jodi as a marriage counsellor and later starts appearing in connections videos and podcasts. the women post dozens of videos on connections together. as they appear to form a bond. both professionally and personally. in fact, at one point, jodi had a crisis of her own in her home. while kevin was initially hesitant, he was convinced by ruby to help jodi out. >> jodi began to live in the home with them. and at that point, that's kind of when kevin says there was a

shift in their marriage because jodi really integrated herself and she would go on their anniversary dinners. she would just, she would just be there. >> does that strike you as odd? >> yes. >> how many marriage counsellors move in with the couple? >> i don't know of any. let alone go on their anniversary dinner. >> according to investigators, all this driving a wedge between ruby and her husband kevin. >> jodi began to say that kevin was dealing with lust issues and addictions and for that, he needed to be separate from ruby. >> you see a complete disintegration of the franke family. kevin franke has left. he has moved out. she leaves her two teen girls back in the springville home and she essentially moves in with the family therapist, taking her two youngest children with her in ivins, utah. >> investigators say it was this bizarre living situation that police are trying to unravel as

they process this house of horrors. but so many questions remain. what would possess a mother to subject her kids to this kind of abuse? the clues lie in a journal police have uncovered. a journal belonging to ruby franke. but nothing would read quite as ominously as a message written with rocks by her abused son. >> where he had been sleeping outside he had left in rocks a statement. we were shocked. >> when we come back. there it is... that feeling you get when you can... du more with less asthma. it starts with dupixent. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. can you picture it?

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everybody thinks they know what happened in the case of ruby franke. but what we thought we know is just the tip of the iceberg. >> police! anybody home? >> what goes through your mind when you see this. >> i mean, handcuffs can clearly be a rt to you are device. >> we knew 14, almost 15 years ago, that she's already done this to me. >> jodi? i need you to step out.

>> jodi is an incredibly powerful, terrifying woman. >> welcome to connections. glad you're with us. >> both ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt convinced these children that they had done atrocious acts. >> when you're told you're a terrible person, you start to believe it. >> ruby seems to express zero sympathy for what she's putting her children through. >> it was unlike anything we've seen. >> it was all about power. all about control. >> dehumanizing. >> we have zero reason to believe that this abuse would have stopped short of death. zero. >> the parenting influencer charged with child abuse facing child abuse charges in utah. >> we're used to seeing mom ruby franke as an influencer. >> ruby franke is set to appear in court today. >> so september 8, 2023, a little more than a week after

she's been arrested, we see ruby franke for the first time. not as a mom influencer but she appears publicly in court. >> miss franke, can you hear me? >> yes. >> jodi hildebrandt? >> yes. >> while ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt are facing their first court appearances, investigators are trying to learn what exactly happened in jodi's home. >> police officers! open up! >> where ruby's 9 and 12-year-old children who we're calling e and r were staying. >> jodi hildebrandt's house is just over there at the base of this red rock paradise ironically called hell hole canyon. fitting, perhaps, given the unimaginable abuse. >> everybody thinks they know what happened in the case of ruby franke. but you're about to release a bunch of evidence that shows what we thought we know was just the tip of the iceberg. >> it blew my mind when i saw

it. this isn't just a case of a social media influencer pushing boundaries. the abuse is much worse than people are aware of. >> when we were able to interview the kids for the second time, that's when r shared his side. story of what happened inside the home. how he had to stand in the sun for hours a day and sleep outside. how he was deprived of food and water. how he was forced to carry boxes up and down the stairs all day. him and e had to go to the cemetery bare foot and pick up weeds out in the heat. in a video taken by a bystander and later provided to police, you can see r. in cemetery. >> it gets to be 110 degrees. the ground at that point would be hotter than the air. and his feet had blisters on

them. his arms burned. >> r told you he had a birthday that year. what was he made to do on his birthday? >> he said on his birthday, towed stand outside all day. >> in the baking heat. >> yes. >> what about e? >> she was more reserved. she wouldn't share much. she didn't go into much detail. >> it took a while before e finally opened up. and at one point, she described how she was forced to steal wat water. >> ruby and jodi would watch her in the shower. when she brushed her teeth, she would turn off the water because that's when she would steal water. normally, kids outgrow their clothes. she had lost so much weight that

she had actually, the clothes were too big to fit on he >> so in r's interview, he disclosed there was a set of silver handcuffs used and a set of black hand cuffs used. when we found these items, it really corroborated our story. >> what goes through your mind when you see this? >> i'll never look at handcuffs the same again. we've seen the injuries these caused. >> the prosecutors showed us photographs of the deep wounds from the handcuffs. what he describes as torture. we want to warn you, the image you're about to see is graphic. >> then you're starting to see the worst injuries. the ones that just really hit you. this is like injury on top of injury. this is happening for weeks. >> in jodi hildebrandt's house, not just handcuffs but even a trampoline used in extreme heat

can be a torture device. >> r in his interview disclosed that he was forced to jump on a trampoline for eight to ten hours a day out in the sun. we went back to the scene and on the trampoline, there is the build-up from him sweating on that trampoline. >> it confirms his story of unspeakable torture. >> yeah. so right here, you're seeing r as he approaches the neighbor's home on the day that he ran away. you can see how small and how visible his bones are, even on his legs. >> this is r's back. and you can see both how skinny he is in his arms, and how far out his shoulder blades stick. >> and these are obvious signs of malnutrition. of starvation. >> when you think of r and that

escape, how much courage did that take? >> this whole thing came to light because of r. for him to go to neighbor after neighbor and finding no one home. finding the third one, someone answered the door to tell him, hey, i need help. >> what's going on, son? have a seat there. i just had a 12-year-old boy show up at my front door. he's hungry and he's thirsty. >> that shows how brave he is. he's a hero in this whole thing. >> and there's the obvious question. were there signs along the way? anything that could have stopped this from happening? in the franke family, remember, the oldest child, shari, had tried to raise the alarm that something was amiss with that welfare check. >> my four younger siblings are living in springville. so i was curious if someone could go check on them. >> but there was another warning. this one about jodi years

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when i began covering this story, i went to seattle to meet 30-year-old jesse hildebrandt. >> who is jodi to you? >> my dad's sister. my aunt. >> jesse, who uses they/them pronouns is an accomplished museum. he said her experience echos that of the two youngest children. >> jodi is a terrifying woman. i never thought about going forward because i've had almost 15 years of people telling me to

move on, to get over it. i had finally the validation of what happened and the validation of my story. ♪ >> in 2009, jesse was a teenager living in california with their parents and three siblings. >> i grew up in a very traditional mormon household. dad is the provider. my mom was a stay-at-home mom. very good at homemaking. cookies and homemade meals. when i was growing up, i very much believed in the church. i was devout. i was also very curious. so i wasn't afraid of asking questions. i had a lot of frustration. i was so angsty and angry. i started running away. i had a lot of inner personal relationship issues with my dad and my mother. and that goes to the mormon culture at large of this stay

sweet, never rocking the boat, never challenging authority. >> jesse describes themselves as being a rebellious teenager. in part because of the morlon upbringing. make-up and caffeine and going out are all no-no's. >> a major turning point in their life was during a trip to their grandparents' 50th birthday party. jesse was 15. >> i got into a fight with my mom over silly teenager things. she wanted me to do dishes. i didn't wanted to do the dishes. she took my phone. normal garden variety teenage stuff. and i went downstairs to my aunt's basement. i fell asleep. i woke up to a knock on the door. it was jodi and my grandma and grandpa to tell me my family had left and that i wasn't going with them. and that my life as i knew it was about to change.

>> jesse's parents leave their teenager with jodi. >> i'm shaking and crying. i don't know how to process this. first she stripped me of identity. so i had to cut all my hair off. i wasn't allowed to wear make-up or the clothes that i had. i was not allowed to go to school. she locked me in this room and on a paper, she would have me kneel on the floor on my hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. jodi uses people's spirituality and belief in god against them. she shames people if they question her. >> when you're told by the one person in your life because everybody else has been thrown out that you're a terrible person, and that you deserve all the bad things that are happening to you, you start to believe it. >> jodi was convinced that i had had abortions. that i was a sex addict. i wasn't allowed to use tampons because she was convinced i was masturbating with them. at that point in my life i

didn't even know what that meant. i wasn't allowed to be alone in the restroom. i had to keep the door open. >> who is monitoring you? >> jodi. >> we spoke to a family member who said they saw with you duct tape on your face. >> yeah. she duct taped me. i wasn't allowed to speak to anyone. >> what in theory was the justification for the duct tape? >> the duct tape was in her words, an external reminder to me that i'm a liar, and her favorite phrase which even saying this is just, it hurts, is masterful manipulator. even if i wasn't duct taped. if i was at a church function and someone came up and spoke to me directly, i had to just stare at them. things got even worse. she made me sleep outside in the snow in a sleeping bag. i started fantasizing about jumping off her balcony, about breaking my legs, about stabbing myself, about anything i could

do that would just give me some escape. >> after trying to run away a couple of time, jesse said it only intensified jodi's punishments. >> she ripped me off the love seat by my hair, blind-folded me, threw me in the car, tied my feet and my hands. >> what in theory was the justification for what you say is being blind-folded and bound in the back of a car? >> the delusion that she has that this is like saving me. and her belief that god is literally working through her. it's all about power. it is all about control. >> in 2010, jesse hildebrandt goes to police and says there is extreme mental abuse. >> in the police report, jesse describes jodi's treatment of them and requested a referral to a safe house which the police provided. >> they ask for help. they ask for police to do something. the report is closed. >> we contacted american fork police who said they can only

comment on what is in the police report. >> the breaking point, jesse says, came after they had lived with jodi nearly a year. >> during the week, i would go to work with her. because i wasn't in school. >> at the time, jodi had a counseling practice in the salt lake city area. >> she would put me in this little room off the side of the office. i would be in there for 12 hours a day. and one day, i just walked in there and this teenage girl is sitting there and said to jodi, gosh, what is that teenager doing in there? i think this is the third day. >> for hours on end. >> yeah. and jodi got very, i would say agitated and said, don't talk to her. all i thought was, that's odd. >> one of her colleagues had found this jacket. it was like a reversible wind breaker raincoat. >> it was cold in the basement. >> so you put that coat in there knowing she was cold. >> yeah. >> and i had this moment where i

was like, if i don't leave now, i'm never getting out. and i grabbed that jacket. i literally just started running. >> jesse says they ended up staying in a homeless shelter and slowly began the process of healing. >> after news broke of jodi and ruby's arrests, jesse reached out to investigators in utah who say jesse's story mirrored the story of the two youngest kids. >> why was jesse's story important to this case as a prosecutor? >> all the things that jodi did to jesse, which i totally believe jesse on, were the things that happened early on in the abuse last summer in our community to r and e. >> so it shows a pattern of behavior. >> and control. the behavior, the brainwashing, the manipulation. >> in hindsight, had jesse's story been believed, could this

have been avoided many. >> had jesse's story been believed, and people had known about it. i'm not an expert on those standards. jodi's licensed to practice as a therapist shouldn't have remained in place. and we would have all been better off. >> now nearly 15 years after jesse's escape, it is one of ruby's children who has run away, too, and he's left behind a pledge for everyone to see. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. wowwww... m for everyone to see. this new charmin ultra soft smooth tear >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. e for everyone to see. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. s for everyone to see. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. s for everyone to see. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. ag for everyone to se. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. e for everyone to see. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a statement. new charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better for a smooth more enjoyable go. mmmmm. huh? mom, you ok in there? i'm tear-ific!

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from the very mormonism, latter day saints were encouraged to keep journals. there is a kind of sacred duty in recording your life. journaling is an act of gratitude to god. it's an act of devotion. >> ruby franke was among those practicing that sacred duty. but according to prosecutors, her journal was no list of

ordinary or mundane life events. instead, it would be a game changer for the investigation. >> let's talk about ruby's journal. how was it discovered? >> when we did the second search warrant of the home, we found a bla f blue folder. that was in the >> it's papers documenting the summer day about i day. at the start of the journal, it is rrn's 12th birthday. she writes, i told r that he emulates a snake. he slithers and sneaks around. if he wants to emulate the savior, he needs to be 100% obedient with exactness. >> 7/11/23. tuesday. r was told to stand in the sun with a sun hat. he is defiant. i come back with a cactus poker. when i woke his back to get in the sun, r doesn't even flinch. >> he had been through so much

pain. you can see his pain tolerance was -- >> through the roof. >> through the roof. >> on 7/14/23. e refuses to work. scream. has hair shaved off. >> taking away their identity. >> dehumanizing. >> in the journal, ruby describes her children r and e with words like demon, devil, possessed. insisting that they must repent. >> both ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt convince these children that they had done atrocious acts, and that this repentance process required them to do severe acts of punishment. >> she clearly feels like her children had not only been like possessed by evil spirits, but were embracing that possession, and celebrating that evilness inside of them. and so she clearly felt

justified in doing anything. >> ruby seems to express zero sympathy for what she's putting her children through. when she was hot, she acted like she was dying. so pitiful. >> there was a disconnect from a typical mother and child. >> it's something to hear it from r. it is another to read ruby's own account of it. >> yeah. >> in her own words. >> that in itself must have been shocking. >> it was crazy. it was unlike anything we've seen. all you can think at that moment is, holy -- like we've got them. this is clear intent. clear knowledge of the abuse documented by ruby herself. >> she was not only justifying her behavior, but she believed her behavior was acceptable behavior. and that god was approving it.

the twisted logic going on in her mind. >> as for jodi hildebrandt, she's referred to throughout the journal as g-jo. >> so it was may understanding that it was like grandma jo. like jodi. so g-jo. >> she says g-jo helped me intervene after work. i cut more off e's head. we doused her with water in the dog wash. >> yeah. >> so g-jo is implicated throughout the journal. >> yeah. that really shows both of them were very involved with the corporal punishment and physical, emotional abuse. >> by mid july, 2023, the abuse is so bad that r runs away in a first failed attempt. >> ruby writes, at 2:45 a.m., i woke straight up out of bed. straight up. i couldn't see r. he was gone. >> where he'd been sleeping outside, he had left in rocks a

statement saying, jail. i will call when i get there. they told these kids that you have to repent first and then you're going to jail. that's why he said i would rather go to jail now. >> ruby writes, oh, god, oh, father, we need a miracle. we need your help now. send the host of heaven. >> she's praying her guts out and driving around in a panic. and they're all just terrified. >> ruby and jodi split up in separate cars to search for r. after 15 minutes of driving, ruby finds him walking on the road and she writes, i get out of the car. r is shocked to see me. >> and at that point, that's where he started to become handcuffed and bound so that he wouldn't escape again. >> if all this isn't upsetting enough, then ruby reveals

something else in her writings. a plan to leave the state with her kids and jodi in tow. >> one of the things that terrifies me in that journal is how she talks about how important it is for them to move to a house on a larger property. >> in arizona. >> in arizona on a ranch-style property. >> ruby writes, g-jo has been looking for property and is feeling more imminent. the need to get these kids to open land. pop. we will drop them like hot potatoes out in the desert. their new home. >> why does that terrify you? >> because if that had happen, we have zero reason the believe that this abuse would have stopped short of death. like zero. >> how bullet proof was this case as you were heading toward trial? >> it's not that often that you have one of the two co-defendants cataloguing their criminal acts that they're doing. >> so as the case moves closer to trial, prosecutors are

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purgatory. in some religious traditions, it is a place between heaven and hell. but it is also the name of the jail where ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt are being held without bail, facing up to six charges of aggravated child abuse each. >> this is a call from and paid for by -- >> jodi hildebrandt.

>> at purgatory correctional facility. this call is subject to recording and monitoring. >> we frequently monitor jail house calls on cases because a lot of people say stuff that you can use in trials. jodi gets in there and starts saying things like, you know, i don't know why i'm here. >> i shouldn't be here. i haven't done anything wrong. i can't believe what i'm being accused of. i just can't believe it. i just can't believe it. >> to this must be part of god's bigger plan. >> what better example than to go to prison unjustly? and then go preach the gospel. >> to like, it's these rotten kids' fault. >> we didn't do that. he did that to himself. yes. we put that on him and he runs around and he cut himself? yes. but we didn't do that. >> what does that tell you about

her mindset? >> it's troubling at least. to hear someone justify the type of abuse that we know happened. and to continue to try to convince others that everything she was doing was the right thing. >> in the weeks following their arrests, ruby and jodi plead innocence. when police first questioned kevin, he stands by her. >> what will happen with my wife? i love my wife. i trust my wife. >> just to be clear as day, kevin initially was considered a suspect. >> in that circumstance, he will be considered a >> however, two weeks later, police call kevin in for a second interview. this time instead of defending his wife, kevin has a change of hea heart. >> every week was hell. psychological hell. and jodi was running it.

i can't describe to you what torture and hell it was to live an entire -- it was more than a month, really, in complete isolation. believing that i was like evil. >> you going through that is going to be extremely helpful with [ bleep ] and [ bleep ]. a lot of the same words were used and you'll understand how they felt. >> the main difference is that he now knows what his children have been subjected to. that his wife ruby and jodi had done some terrible things, and at that point, his willingness to protect his wife and keep her from getting in further trouble was removed. he was more concerned about his children. >> it became clear that he wasn't really a person of interest, and -- >> he was off the hook pretty

quickly. >> there just wasn't any evidence. we had a journal saying everything that happened over the summer and it never said he was in the home. >> kevin is no longer on investigators' list of suspects. he's found reconciling with his two oldest and once estranged children, shari and chad. >> any comments today? >> not today. >> and he's fighting to regain custody of his youngest four. kevin also files for divorce from ruby. meanwhile, ruby faces the possibility of spending christmas in jail. prosecutors monitoring her calls since she's also starting to see things differently. >> could ruby be ready to flip? >> this has been the strangest and the most miraculous intervention. it put everybody where they needed to be. it separated me from jodi so i'm

not hearing her. and i think just being gone and not hearing her has cleared a lot of things up for me. >> by listening to the jail house calls, we were able to determine that ruby franke, that the more time that she was away from jodi hildebrandt, the more understanding that she had of the injuries to her own children. that she was able to express remorse, regret, and that she wanted to then help with the case. >> she was willing to admit that what she did was awful and that she was going to plead to a pretty strict plea. >> miss franke is now here. >> but also she was willing to testify against jodi. that's a big deal. for moderate to severe crohn's disease skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor

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i really did feel like the arrest was like a rescue. like i just felt so many angels around. it was like a relief. >> summer has turned to fall, has turned to winter, and prosecutors are learning that as the seasons have changed, ruby's story might be changing, too. >> miss franke is now here -- >> it was our understanding that ruby felt the right thingt poin responsibility for her own conduct and that jodi should do the same. if that meant for ruby to testify against jodi hildebrandt, she would do that.

>> on december 18th, 2023, ruby pleads guilty to four second-degree felony charges of aggravated child abuse. the remaining two charges are drop. >> miss franke, how do you plead to count one, aggravated child abuse? >> guilty. >> to count three, aggravated child abuse? >> guilty. >> to count five, aggravated child abuse? >> guilty. >> and to count six, aggravated child abuse. >> with my deepest regret, and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty. >> the stakes for jodi were higher because ruby was now going to testify against her. and we were seriously looking at adding additional charges. >> but that would not come to pass. on december 27th, 2023, jodi, knowing that her former friend and business partner was willing to testify against her, she also

pleads guilty to the same four charges of aggravated child abuse. >> guilty. >> the court therefore dismisses the remaining two counts. >> what did you think when you heard that jodi would take a plea? >> i was relieved. because i didn't want to have to drag the victims through all of this. >> thank you. we'll be in recess. >> the plea bargain was that we would drop two of the six charges, and they had to agree to plead to four counts and they would serve prison for each count, and that those counts would run consecutively, not concurrently. >> with both women pleading to the same charges, the plea deal makes no distinction between the co-defendants' role in the abuse. although in recognition of ruby's cooperation in the case, prosecutors make one small concession regarding the terms of her parole. >> ruby' plea deal said she would testify against jodi and we would not go to the parole board arguing that she stay in

prison longer. >> so you wouldn't put the finger on the scale for her to stay in prison more. >> i was led to believe that this was a world of evil place filled with church leaders who lie and lust, husbands refuse to protect, and children who need abuse. i stand before you today ready to take accountability. >> to my babies, my six little chicks. you're a part of me. i was the mama duck who was consistently waddling you to safety. i can see now over the past four years, i was the one who led us to danger. >> jodi's sentencing was decidedly different. >> when jodi made a statement at the time of sentencing, she never once said she was taking

responsibility for her conduct or that she did anything wrong. >> go ahead. >> i sincerely love these children. i desire for them to heal physically and emotionally. my hope and prayer is that they will heal and move forward to have beautiful lives. i am willing to submit to what the state feels would be an appropriate. a time served to make retribution. >> compared to ruby who had accepted at some level responsibility, i think the judge was concerned that jodi was not taking responsibility. >> miss hildebrandt, this circumstance is tragic. it is largely, of course, of your making. adults are supposed to protect children. adults with specialized training in particular are supposed to protect children. in this case, you terrorized children, and the results have

been tragic. the court finds that it is appropriate that you serve a prison sentence. >> the utah board of pardons and parole will determine how long they'll end up spending in prison. and from what we know of the level of felony that both ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt pled guilty to, they can get anywhere from four years in prison to 30 years. >> what does justice look like in this case? >> to me, justice in this case looks like them not coming out of prison until the child victims are adult and grown enough that they can handle them being out. >> for jodi's niece jesse, the possibility their aunt could be released on parole before the 30-year maximum prison sentence seems like justice denied. >> the sentencing is a joke.

even if it is the law. it doesn't feel like closure at all. because now every time there is a parole hearing, i have to be there. those children have to relive that trauma. i believe that she is a very dangerous, dangerous person. that she cannot be trusted with anyone. children and adults alike. i think jodi is exactly where she needs to be. ♪ at the last scheduled train ♪ >> while jodi's fate is beyond jesse's control, that still hasn't stopped them from finding a way forward. >> you said that jodi stripped you of your identity. >> yeah. >> clearly you've regained your identity. >> yeah. >> who is jesse hildebrandt today? >> i'm a tattoo artist, a painter, a musician, and i want

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aveeno® what we see in this story, people can be given too much power. people can start to believe that they deserve that power. >> go and face that officer. put your hands on top of your

head, please. >> in resolving this case, we wanted to make sure that both jodi hildebrandt and ruby franke would not be able to injure any other child. i also hope that ruby can be reformed and can come out and not be a bad influence on the kids. and then it should be 100% up to each of the victims individually whether they choose to have a relationship or not. >> through his attorney, kevin franke tells us, in hindsight, much like some of her other clients, it was jodi who falsely convinced him he had a problem with pornography. in january of 2024, kevin franke filed a restraining order to block the sale of jodi hildebrandt's house. in the filing, easking for restitution to pay for the ongoing psychological care of the kids. >> and what can you tell us

about how r and e are doing now? >> last time we saw them. it's a 180. e and r, they look so much better. they've put on weight. they look healthy. they're happy. they're, you know, back to their hobbies. >> we're told e and r have been placed together in foster care. as for their siblings, the middle teens, abc news reached out to the department of child and family services citing policies they can't share any information. >> kevin does want custody of the kids. he's made inroads. he wants a relationship with his four minor children. >> r is a hero of a lot of people in our office. and he gives us such great examples of someone who is just resilient against the awful things. >> r was extremely brave. not only did he save himself but

he saved e and in e's own interview, she was grateful for r. >> i see a little boy that saved himself even though everyone around him should have had his back. >> jesse hildebrandt is 15 years ahead of r and e in the healing process and is able to gather strength after jodi has been found guilty and is behind bars. ♪ if you go i'll be here ♪ ♪ keep the light on for you my dear ♪ >> i hope that the shocking nature of this story doesn't blind people to the commonality of the story. it's easy to distance ourselves from something that seems so shocking and feel like it has w

community. >> treat your kids like angels. treat them like you treat yourself. kids need our help. helping them become good human beings. people that will be good parents in the future. ♪ baby just stay ♪ ♪ o stay ♪ >> we should note tonight in utah, the parole board actually determine the sentence while the inmate is serving time based on their behavior. >> so both ruby franke and jodi hildebrandt could be eligible for parole as early as august 2027. that's our program for tonight. thanks. so for watching. >> from all of us here at 20 "20/20," good night.

i'm not going to sing it for you. a wet friday night in the bay area, as our run of warm, dry days comes to an end. good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. i was hoping, i know for a song. we appreciate your time here tonight. we knew the rain was coming for the weekend and we are not done yet. >> now sandhya is here with a closer look at that timing for us. sandhya? yes. and om, i think you should sing that song first. >> that's fine. dan, let's take a look at live doppler seven right now. because we definitely have rain moving through parts of the south bay, where we are seeing some heavy rain from san jose into edenvale, coyote, evergreen street level radar showing you you're not getting mist. and from san mateo, redwood city peninsula headi