Three members of the Whittakers, also known as America’s most inbred family, have been quietly taken into state custody after years of viral fame turned their secluded lives into a global sideshow.
The West Virginia family, whose story was first brought to light through a 2020 YouTube documentary, gained worldwide infamy for their genetic deformities and extreme isolation.
Highlights
- Three members of the Whittaker family were removed from their home by state authorities.
- The family’s viral fame drew millions of views and turned them into an internet attraction.
- Many online now express guilt, saying the family’s exploitation went too far.
Now, their surviving relatives say the attention has torn them apart. The fame turned them into a very popular, and very profitable, internet attraction, which forced state authorities to intervene.
“All you cash cows should be ashamed of yourselves,” a reader wrote.
State authorities were forced to intervene after people tried to make money filming the Whittakers
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
The Whittakers are descendants of a bloodline that began with two identical twin brothers whose children married each other, collapsing the family’s gene pool.
Over generations, the family tree became so intertwined that many members are at once cousins, nieces, nephews, and siblings by blood.
Scientists describe these unions as “double first cousin” relationships, meaning they share more genetic material than ordinary half-siblings.
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
According to relatives, Adult Protective Services removed Ray Whittaker, 72, his sister Lorene, 79, and her son Timmy, 46, from their decaying property in Odd, West Virginia, in September.
Their siblings Betty, 73, and Larry ,69, were left behind and claim they were given no information about what happened to their family members or where they were taken.
“They said they were helping them, and they couldn’t live here no more,” Betty said. “I miss them a lot, I raised them.”
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
Larry echoed her distress, explaining that he has been waiting for a call that never came.
“I’ve been staying at home, waiting on a phone call, but that’s all I know. They haven’t called or let me know nothing. They won’t tell us where they at.”
Officials from the West Virginia Department of Human Services confirmed awareness of the situation but refused to comment further, citing confidentiality laws.
The Whittakers’ story became public after documentarian Mark Laita visited their property in 2020
The footage, which has now been viewed over 80 million times across several uploads, depicted the family communicating largely through grunts and gestures, with only a few members capable of limited speech.
According to documentarian Mark Laita, the relatives suffered from congenital defects linked to generations of close-kin marriages, such as developmental delays and physical deformities.
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
Laita described the encounter as one of the most disturbing interviews he had ever done, later adding in follow-up videos that visiting the family’s home was disturbing due to their unpredictable behavior and the extreme poverty they lived in.
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
In subsequent interviews, Laita said he had to be accompanied by neighbors familiar with the family to avoid being attacked, as outsiders were often met with suspicion or fear.
Despite the initial shock, he returned multiple times to document their living conditions and to provide food and assistance.
While some netizens lamented that the family was separated, others believe there was no other option
But the viral fame came at a cost. Laita’s curiosity and good intentions gave way to online exploitation. Onlookers wishing to cash in on the family’s virality began showing up uninvited and treating them as a living attraction.
For Larry, that was precisely what motivated the state to intervene.
“People out there making money off [the videos], and they don’t like it,” he said of protective services. “They told us not to talk to anybody. They are watching.”
“This is a total invasion of this family’s privacy,” a reader argued. “They did not ask for help from anyone. They have lived this way for decades. People invaded their home without any consideration for the embarrassment it may cause them.”
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
Reporters who visited the Whittakers’ home after the removals found Betty and Larry still living amid deteriorated conditions.
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
Inside, beans and sausage were left cooking on a gas stove as flies crawled over the counters.
The calendar was frozen on March. Outside, the yard was littered with trash and Halloween decorations dangling from the porch. A broken chicken coop and a single outhouse completed the desolate scene.
With the state having intervened, many hope the internet’s obsession with the family will finally fade
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
According to scientists, what the Whittakers experience is called “inbreeding depression,” a condition that arises when harmful recessive genes are passed down repeatedly within the same bloodline.
“There is an association between high rates of marriage between relatives and the development of congenital malformations, abortions, deafness, esophageal atresia, and mental and physical disabilities,” a 2021 study by the University of San Francisco Valley, Brazil, reads.
Image credits: YouTube/Soft White Undderbelly
Online, while many lamented the health and living conditions of the Whittakers, most condemned the fact that the internet paraded and profited off their situation.
“Leave those people alone and mind your own business,” a user wrote.
“I’m just glad that Ray, Lorene, and Timmy are in a clean environment now, with healthy meals to eat and the ability to take showers and stay clean,” another added.
"Heartbreaking." Online, many discussed whether the decision to separate the family was the correct one
