The Franke Family, better known as the eight passengers, were successfully riding the road of fame. Until it took an unexpected turn as they arrived at the courtroom. Eight Passengers is a YouTube sensation, a family vlog capturing their everyday life, then uploading to approximately 2.3 million people. Led by the mother of the family, Ruby. This family of eight shares what seems like every detail of their life for public entertainment. Their journey, filled with joy, some sadness, and now legal drama has captivated millions.

The family consists of parents Ruby and Kevin, and their six children. They started their channel in Utah around 2015 and have since gained a large following. Their content is generally light-hearted and family-friendly. However, they’ve also faced criticism for their parenting choices, which they have addressed in their videos. The mother, Ruby, is currently being charged with six counts of felony child abuse. Ruby has punished her kids in many unacceptable ways. She took away dinner privileges for numerous reasons, one of her daughters had to sleep on the bathroom floor after wetting the bed, as well as making her seven-year-old son sleep on a bean bag for seven months after taking away his bed. 

Those examples are appalling enough, yet that is not the worst she has done. What really put all the legal action in motion was on August 30th. That night Ruby’s 12-year-old son snuck out of his window and over to his neighbor’s house asking for food and water. Their neighbor noticed duct tape around both his ankles and wrists, seeing the state he was in she called the police. When the police showed up they found one of her daughters in a similar condition. Multiple of the kids were suffering from malnourishment and had sustained “deep lacerations” from being tied up with rope. 

Ruby was transferred to the medical block at the Utah county jail due to an unknown health issue. She appeared in court on September eight where the judge ruled for her to be held with no bail. A review hearing for her bonds was supposed to be on September 21. However, her lawyer filed a motion for an expedited detention hearing to discuss her potential option to be released on bail, citing health issues. Her fate is undecided at the moment, but her four of six kids were taken into Utah child and Family Services, her two other children are adults and well taken care of. It seems that the eight-passenger chapter has closed, for the better.