Credit: Soft White Underbelly via YouTube
Public Warned ‘Do Not Visit’ America’s Most Inbred Family
The public has been warned not to visit America‘s most inbred family.
Filmmaker Mark Laita, who has documented the Whittaker family of West Virginia for nearly two decades, is issuing a stark warning to curious onlookers: stay away.
The family, often described as America’s most inbred, has become the subject of widespread fascination following Laita’s documentaries on his YouTube channel, Soft White Underbelly.
But that attention has come with serious consequences.
Who are the Whittakers?
The Whittakers reside in the remote town of Odd, West Virginia, living in isolated conditions without modern amenities or formal education.
The family includes members Betty, Lorene, Ray, and their cousin Timmy, among others.
What makes them particularly unique is their distinctive form of communication; family members are known to bark, grunt, and use gestures rather than conventional speech or sign language.
Laita first encountered the family in 2004, documenting them for his photography book ‘Created Equal,’ which explores diverse American cultures.
His initial visit was met with hostility from protective neighbors who were armed with shotguns, wary of outsiders who might ridicule the vulnerable family.
Despite this challenging start, Laita eventually gained their trust and returned in 2020 to document their lives more extensively.
The family members exhibit various physical and cognitive challenges.
Laita has described observing misaligned eyes and erratic behaviors during his visits.
In one interview on the Koncrete KLIPS Podcast, he recounted his first encounter, comparing it to a scene from the film Deliverance.
“We came around to this road, which turns into a country road, which turns into a dirt road. Then we come to this trailer, and then a little shack on the other side of the road. And there’s these people walking around, and their eyes are going in different directions, and they are barking at us,” he said.
How did America’s most inbred family begin?
The Whittaker family’s history of inbreeding reportedly began with a set of identical twin brothers named Henry and John.
According to reports, Henry’s son John and his twin brother’s daughter Gracie had a relationship that produced 15 children: Aileen, Emory, Barbra, Nannie Lou, Connie Jean, Freddy, Lorene Sue, Mary Madeleine, John, Betty Ann, Danny Ray, Larry Eugene, Kenneth Waye, Judy Kay, and Michael Steven.
While Laita has acknowledged the difficulty in definitively confirming the extent of inbreeding within the family, he has stated his belief based on what he’s observed.
“There is no way I would be able to confirm that the Whittaker parents were related, but given that this does happen in this part of the country and the Whittakers are the most extreme case I’ve seen so far, I would bet that inbreeding was at least partly responsible for the mental and physical abnormalities seen in [siblings] Lorene, Freddie, Ray, and [cousin] Timmy.”
Today, Betty Whittaker is considered the head of the family. In one of Laita’s videos, she revealed that she promised her mother she wouldn’t marry and would instead dedicate herself to looking after her siblings, a promise she has kept.
Mark Laita’s fallout with America’s most inbred family
Laita’s relationship with the Whittakers has been complicated by controversy surrounding fundraising efforts.
The filmmaker launched two GoFundMe campaigns through his YouTube channel to help improve the family’s living conditions. However, these efforts led to a significant breakdown in trust.
The controversy erupted when YouTuber Tyler Oliveira visited the family and interviewed them about their situation.
During this interview, Betty Whittaker claimed she didn’t know what had happened to the money that had been raised for the family. This statement deeply upset Laita, who felt he was being portrayed as a scammer taking advantage of vulnerable people.
In response, Laita released a video on Soft White Underbelly defending his actions and showing bank transfer screenshots to prove his transparency.
He stated: “Look at the Whittakers; their lives have improved greatly since I came into it, and that’s because I came through for them every time.”
According to Laita, the family had regularly requested thousands of dollars, though the exact use of these funds remained unclear.
The situation worsened when Larry Whittaker was falsely reported dead. Laita announced Larry’s supposed death on his YouTube channel after relatives claimed he had died of a heart attack.
The filmmaker even gave Larry’s daughter $1,000 for funeral expenses. It was later revealed that Larry was alive and that his daughter had lied about his death to obtain money.
She later admitted to the deception, citing her drug addiction as the reason for her actions.
The drama continued when Laita gave Larry $700 to help his daughter relocate to North Carolina for a fresh start, but Larry allegedly kept the money without following through on the plan.
Frustrated, Laita considered walking away from the family entirely, stating: “I don’t know what to do with them other than just walk away.”
Despite these challenges, Laita has since reconciled with the family.
In a recent video, Larry apologized, saying: “I’m sorry for what they’ve done to you and I want to tell the whole world that I’m sorry for what they done.”
Laita accepted the apology, responding: “I’m very good at forgiving and understanding. I’ve missed you guys, I think a lot of my viewers have missed you guys too.”
Public warning about America’s most inbred family
Despite his renewed relationship with the Whittakers, Laita is now strongly cautioning others against visiting the family, the Mirror reports.
He warns that anyone attempting to replicate his documentary work or simply satisfy their curiosity is unlikely to receive a warm welcome.
“They are kind of protected by the neighbors and the relatives [who] don’t like these people coming to ridicule them,” Laita explained.
The family’s protective neighbors, who initially greeted Laita with shotguns during his first visit, remain vigilant against outsiders who might exploit or mock the vulnerable family members.
Pastor William Plumley, who is familiar with the situation, told the Daily Mail: “I think the documentary about them is good and bad, good because it has helped them. But also, it’s brought a lot of people to the area who just want to mess with them.”
The increased attention from Laita’s documentaries has led to unwanted visitors attempting to find the family’s remote location.
These curious onlookers pose a threat not only to the family’s privacy and safety but also potentially to their own wellbeing, given the protective stance of the community surrounding the Whittakers.
Related Article: Man Who Made America’s Most Inbred Family Famous Reveals One Thing That Still Haunts Him
Related Article: Man Who Made America’s Most Inbred Family Famous Has Warning For Anyone Trying To Visit Them
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