True Crime Vault: Ruby Franke: From Momfluencer to Felon

On a hot August morning in 2023, a ring camera in Ivins, Utah captured a barefoot, emaciated boy approaching a neighbor’s door. He was hungry and thirsty, and when the homeowner opened the door, he called 911. “I just had a twelve year old boy show up here at my front door asking for food and water,” the man said, his voice breaking. “He’s emaciated, he’s got tape around his legs.” That boy, identified in court as R, had escaped from a home belonging to Jodi Hildebrandt—a therapist who had become the business partner and live-in confidante of his mother, Ruby Franke, a once-beloved Mormon momfluencer with millions of YouTube subscribers. What police found inside that house, and the story that unfolded over the following months, revealed a pattern of systematic abuse that had been hidden in plain sight for years.

The Rescue and the House of Horrors

When Sergeant Nick Tobler arrived at Jodi Hildebrandt’s home, R was already in an ambulance. He was covered in wounds: duct tape had been wrapped around his legs and wrists, and underneath were deep sores from handcuffs and ropes. He told officers that his mother and Jodi had bound his arms and feet to weights on the ground, restricting his movement. He had escaped by unlocking the handcuffs and sliding out a glass door. His motivation was simple: “Just hungry.”