Newly released bodycam footage shows the dramatic moment Utah police busted into disgraced YouTube star Ruby Franke’s house after discovering her “emaciated” child nearby.
Guns drawn, police officers can be seen in the footage, obtained by ABC 7 Chicago, searching the mansion looking for the other minor children.
Authorities later discovered two of Franke’s kids at the home of Pat Bodtcher, a fellow ConneXions member, where they had been cleaning.
When questioned, Bodtcher shared that Franke asked her to take two of her kids because she had a “family emergency.”
“She said, ‘Do you mind watching the girls while I’m gone,’ because she was leaving,'” Bodtcher explained.
Police did not seek a warrant for Bodtcher’s arrest, but they ultimately cuffed Franke’s business partner and ConneXions co-founder Jodi Hildebrandt after two of the former “8 Passengers” host’s kids were discovered bound with duct tape at her house.
(ConneXions billed itself as an internet-based education program. ConneXions claims to work on relationship problems and anxiety, among other issues.).
Although Franke’s estranged husband, Kevin, has been fighting for custody of their minor children, they remain in the care of the state.
Police arrested Ruby, 41, and Hildebrandt on Aug. 30 and charged them with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse.
While behind bars, they each were slapped with four additional counts of abuse.
“Ruby changed a lot once she started to associate with Jodi,” a longtime friend of Franke told Pvnew last month. “Ruby’s values definitely changed. Then she started lying.”
The friend claimed as Ruby became closer with Hildebrandt she became more estranged from her other friends.
“Ruby became hard to contact as a friend — and I knew her for 22 years,” she shared. “Overnight, she banned her family with no rhyme or reason. What happened to Ruby is heartbreaking.”
Kevin blames the demise of his marriage and Ruby’s behavior on her association with Hildebrandt, who at one point had her license to practice therapy suspended.
“Jodi held herself out as this expert who could heal people and families by humiliating them,” Kevin’s attorney Randy S. Kester told Pvnew.
“My client thinks she destroyed his marriage and destroyed his family.”
