Credit: Soft White Underbelly via YouTube
Three Members Of America’s Most Inbred Family Have Vanished
Three members of America‘s most inbred family have vanished from their compound in West Virginia.
The Whittakers, known as America’s most inbred family, were exposed in 2020 after a Youtube documentary about the clan was made.
Documentarian Mark Laita has amassed tens of millions of views after filming the family’s everyday life, but the attention has brought chaos to their door.
Who are the Whittakers?
The family found viral fame from the documentary series, after living a secluded life on a dirt road 75 miles south of Charleston for many years.
Neighbors of the family note that people are constantly arriving at the compound to film or snap pictures.
The Whittakers’ property includes a collapsing chicken coop, several broken-down trailers, and a single outhouse.
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 have been known to bark, grunt, and use gestures rather than conventional speech or sign language.
How did America’s most inbred family begin?
Laita’s documentary revealed the true extent of the family’s genetic isolation and severe disabilities, as a result of alleged inbreeding that dates back a long time.
The Whittakers’ inbreeding is thought to go back more than a century to a single marriage between two sets of cousins, who descended from identical twin brothers.
Speaking about the family, the documentary-maker said: “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.”
What has happened to America’s most inbred family?
Things really took a turn when Ray Whittaker, 72, his sister Lorene, 79, and her son Timmy, 46, vanished from the family’s compound earlier this month.
The remaining siblings, Betty, 73, and brother Larry, 69, have since spoken to the Daily Mail, noting that they were left behind without explanation.
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 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.
“They won’t tell us where they at.”
It’s been reported that the state’s adult protective services have taken the family members in.
Officials from West Virginia’s Department of Human Services noted that they are ‘aware of the situation,’ but declined to discuss the case due to confidentiality laws.
Related Article: Public Warned ‘Do Not Visit’ America’s Most Inbred Family
Related Article: Man Who Made America’s Most Inbred Family Famous Reveals One Thing That Still Haunts Him
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