New police bodycam footage shows armed officers storming disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke’s Utah home to try to find her daughters after her “emaciated” son alerted them to their horrific neglect.
Franke ran the controversial parental advisory service ConneXions together with his business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (54). Both were arrested on August 30 after one of Franke’s sons was found with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs.
The new footage shows armed police storming Franke’s home in search of her children. Her son and youngest daughter were removed from the home. The officers then searched for the woman’s two middle children.
It later emerged that they were working at the home of Pat Bodtcher, a ConneXions employee. This encounter was also captured on bodycam footage.
“I don’t even know what this is about,” Bodtcher told police when her husband asked if they had a warrant, which they confirmed. She further tells officers that Franke asked her to pick up her daughters due to a “family emergency,” to which Bodtcher agreed because she needed help cleaning.
The officers, armed with a search warrant, burst in the door and discovered that the house was empty and the children were still missing
New police bodycam footage shows armed officers storming the Utah mansion of disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke (pictured left) to find two of her daughters after her “emaciated” son escaped
The girls were eventually found with a woman identified by police as Pam Bodtcher (pictured left), an employee of Franke and Hildebrandt’s online self-help platform ConneXions
Several new videos have now been released from police bodycam footage, including the storming of the Franke property in search of her daughters.
The officers, armed with a search warrant, burst in the door and discovered that the house was empty and the children were still missing.
According to Law&Crime Network, the fact that the home was empty prompted a three-hour search involving multiple Utah law enforcement agencies to find the remaining minor children.
The girls were eventually found with Bodtcher at their home in nearby American Fork, and one of the police units asked for cooperation in the investigation. Shortly afterwards they found the two children cleaning their house.
The footage shows a nearly 90-minute conversation between the officers, Bodtcher and her husband, as well as the two previously missing children and a social worker.
Bodtcher was held for about 50 minutes and placed in a police car shortly after officers arrived, which may have been inappropriate, according to KUTV.
When questioned, she said that Ruby Franke was having “a family emergency” and [Bodtcher] had to pick up the girls.’
“She said, ‘Do you mind watching the girls while I’m gone,’ because she wanted to leave,” Bodtcher added.
Bodtcher explained the children found cleaning by saying, “I said I can do that because I need help cleaning.”
The footage shows a nearly 90-minute conversation between the officers, Bodtcher and their husbands, as well as the two previously missing children and a social worker
Bodtcher was held for about 50 minutes and placed in a police car shortly after officers arrived
When questioned, Bodtcher said that Ruby Franke was having “a family emergency” and [Bodtcher] had to pick up the girls
When the officer asked how long Franke wanted her employee to watch the children, Bodtcher replied: “She didn’t say, I just planned to take them home tonight.”
“I don’t even know what it’s about,” Bodtcher added, saying the girls come to her house “all the time.”
“She’s a friend of ours, she comes over every now and then and helps me clean and stuff.”
Bodtcher’s husband was upset and told officers he was trying to protect the girls.
Police later confirmed that there was never an arrest warrant for Bodtcher himself, only one to locate Franke’s remaining children.
Bodtcher assumed the children would be dropped off by child care to live with her 20-year-old sister Shari, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
However, it is now known that the four young children found are currently in the custody of the state of Utah.
Last week it was revealed that Kevin had called the police about their estranged eldest daughter two days after his wife was arrested.
Additional bodycam footage showed officers handing Kevin electronic devices, including hard drives, after they were retrieved.
He asks one of the officers to explain again why the matter is not being treated as a robbery. The officer explains to him that it is a “civil matter” and that his daughter has an interest in the items and did not take them to rob him of them.
It is now known that the four young children found are currently in the custody of the state of Utah
Ruby’s husband Kevin called police on September 1, claiming their eldest daughter Shari, 20, broke into the house after his wife’s arrest and took several items
Shari posted about her mother’s arrest on Instagram and shared a picture of police officers outside the house with the caption, “Finally.” In April she broke off contact with the family
Shari previously posted on Instagram about her mother’s arrest, sharing a picture of police officers outside the house with the caption, “Finally.” In April she announced that she had cut off contact with the family.
She added that she had been “trying to tell the police and CPS about this for years”. Shari also said that she was “so glad they finally decided to get involved” and that her siblings were safe.
Ruby’s family previously told that she should be “locked away forever” if convicted of the abuse.
Her sisters-in-law Cynthia and Jennifer Franke believe the abuse allegations against the mother of six and say they are “shocked” and “disgusting.”
Ruby had previously made stunning claims during a court hearing that one of her minor children had sexually abused one of her siblings and other children.
The Mormon mother broke down at times as she made shocking claims that one of her minor children had sexually abused her siblings and molested several other family members and children in the neighborhood over the years.
Ruby appeared to blame her behavior on her children, going into shocking detail about how one of her six children abused other children.
In one of the most shocking claims, Ruby said that her child had been sexually abusing a younger sibling for years, adding that the two eventually began abusing other children.
Last week it was revealed that Kevin Franke had called the police about their estranged eldest daughter two days after his wife was arrested on child molestation charges
The popular YouTuber was arrested last month along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt and charged with six counts of child abuse after one of her sons was discovered with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs
Ruby’s family previously told that she should be “locked away forever” if convicted of the abuse
Kevin “wanted his daughter to be charged with theft for taking some hard drives from the house,” and officers told him she “didn’t know” she couldn’t have them
She also claimed that her two children played a prank game on each other, but did not elaborate.
Ruby said her child confessed in May to sexually abusing 20 people, including cousins and neighbors. She provided no evidence to support her vile accusations.
Since she started the channel in 2015, her strict parenting style has been met with backlash.
Viewers called Child Protective Services in 2020 after her 15-year-old son Chad claimed he slept on a bean bag chair for seven months.
She also threatened to throw away her children’s items if they didn’t pay her cash for them, claiming this was a lesson in understanding the value of their items.
Both Franke and Hildebrant have previously been criticized for their teachings on parenting – their collaboration on Hildebrandt’s life coaching service ConneXions.
Ruby initially became famous for her strict parenting style, which she claimed earned her “millions.”
She has gained more than 2.2 million subscribers by documenting her daily activities on social media alongside her husband Kevin.
Ruby Franke (left), who ran the now-defunct channel 8 Passengers, was arrested on August 30 along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right).
Speaking exclusively to , Ruby’s sisters-in-law Cynthia (left) and Jennifer Franke (right) say she lies and will “say anything to save herself.”
The couple stopped uploading videos in January 2022 and the 8 Passengers page was completely removed from the site earlier this year.
When asked why she gave up YouTube months later, she said she decided to stop uploading videos because she wanted to “save her children.”
In July, she was called out online after a video surfaced of her starving her daughter after the young girl forgot to prepare her own lunch before school.
In a video posted in 2020, Ruby said her daughter’s teacher texted her and told her the child didn’t have anything to eat for lunch.
She said all of her children are responsible for making their own lunches in the morning, so she wouldn’t bring food over to her daughter to teach her a lesson.
Franke said: “My hope.” [is that] She will be hungry and come home and say, “It was really painful being hungry all day. I’ll make sure I always have lunch.”
“The natural result is that she just has to starve.”
It was this parenting style that helped the woman gain a large following on YouTube and put herself and her family in the spotlight.