Heartbreaking Update About America's 'Most Inbred Family' After Man Who Found Them Says They Were Lying 'The Whole Time'

The Whittaker family, often referred to online as America’s “most inbred family,” has faced a heartbreaking turn of events after rising to viral fame. Once known mainly within their small rural community, their lives have since become the subject of intense public attention.

Living deep in the mountains of West Virginia, the Whittakers became known to millions after their family was featured in a widely viewed YouTube documentary that explored the effects of inbreeding within their bloodline.

Their complex family tree reportedly traces back nearly a century to a marriage between two sets of cousins who were both descended from identical twin brothers. That single union heavily condensed the family’s genetic pool, leading to a high likelihood of inherited conditions.

This marriage set the stage for generations of genetic overlap, and many family members today live with physical and developmental challenges as a result. While the story brought them public recognition, it also exposed them to unwanted attention and speculation from strangers.

The family’s story gained massive traction when filmmaker Mark Laita, through his Soft White Underbelly YouTube channel, released a series of documentaries about them. Laita, who first met the family in 2004, continued documenting their lives for years before the 2020 release went viral and reached millions of viewers around the world.

Unfortunately, their viral popularity has brought unintended consequences, creating new hardships for the family members who were once living quietly and out of the public eye.

The Whittakers were in a documentary on the Soft White Underbelly YouTube channel YouTube/Soft White Underbelly

The sudden influx of attention eventually led state authorities to get involved. According to relatives, West Virginia’s Adult Protective Services removed three family members—Ray Whittaker, 72; his sister Lorene, 79; and her son Timmy, 46—from their home in the small community of Odd this past September.

The intervention came as a shock to the family. Their remaining siblings, Betty, 73, and Larry, 69, were reportedly left behind without any explanation or notice of where their loved ones were taken.

Speaking to reporters, Betty said: "They said they were helping them, and they couldn't live here no more. I miss them a lot, I raised them."

Larry, who has been trying to reach officials for answers, shared that he still hasn’t received any updates about where his siblings have gone or how they’re doing.

He added: "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."

The fame is now impacting on the family YouTube/Soft White Underbelly

"They won't tell us where they at."

Officials from the West Virginia Department of Human Services confirmed that they are “aware of the situation” but declined to comment further, citing confidentiality laws that prevent them from discussing individual cases.

The Whittaker home, located about 75 miles from Charleston, has become a curious destination for onlookers. Since the release of the documentary, people have driven long distances to visit the area, often hoping to take photos or film videos near the property.

Larry believes the family’s unexpected fame might have played a role in the authorities’ decision to step in. He suggested that outside interest and exploitation of their story may have created problems that the family never wanted or asked for.

"People out there making money off them [the videos], and they don't like it," he said, adding: "They told us don't talk to nobody. They watching."

Meanwhile, filmmaker Mark Laita recently announced that he was “done” working with the family after discovering they had allegedly faked the death of one member, Larry Whittaker. The revelation reportedly left him frustrated and disheartened after years of documenting their story.

In a new video clip, Larry can be seen sitting outside his home, addressing the rumors surrounding his supposed death and saying: "No, I just heard of it last night on a video."

Laita revealed that he had given Larry’s daughter, BJ, money to help pay for funeral expenses after being told of Larry’s death. BJ later admitted the story was fabricated and offered an apology for deceiving him, marking yet another strange twist in the family’s ongoing saga.