Chilling Moment First Responders Break Down After Uncovering Ruby Franke’s Abuse of Children in Jodi Hildebrandt’s $5 Million Utah Home

Footage of first responders struggling to hold back tears upon discovering the horrific abuse former Mormon influencer Ruby Franke and life coach Jodi Hildebrandt carried out on young children has been showcased in a new docuseries.

Investigation Discovery will release “Ruby and Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence” on Sept. 1. The four-part docuseries will dive into the “motivations” that sparked therapist Hildebrandt to influence mommy vlogger Franke to physically abuse her children inside Hildebrandt’s $5 million Utah dwelling.

A preview of the series provided to Realtor.com® lays bare the “creepy” warning signs of the pair’s crimes and “thousands” of people who have reportedly suffered at the hands of Hildebrandt.

Within the first few minutes of the explosive docuseries, viewers see the effect the shocking crimes had on even trained professionals.

Police arrived at the horrifying scene after Franke’s son, Russell, then 12, miraculously fled the dwelling and ran to a neighboring home, where security footage showed him asking the residents to give him food.

While speaking with the boy, first responders discovered numerous wounds and bruises and noticed that he was severely malnourished, prompting one of the medical pros to admit that she was “going to cry” before having to step away briefly.

Police treated the then-12-year-old boy, who had attempted to run away and go to “jail” before, but, was caught by Hildebrandt and Franke before he could get help, the docuseries revealed.

The show also shared the tearjerking moment cops found Franke’s daughter, Eve, then 10, who was starved and abused inside a closet, and ate an entire pizza before she was able to get up and walk out of the closet.

When searching for Eve, cops were advised to even search “containers” as they weren’t sure how malnourished the child they were about to find would be.

During their search of the property—which was described as a home “made for prepping” and came complete with three basements—law enforcement officers discovered torture devices, including rope, handcuffs, and cayenne pepper paste.

Further episodes laid bare the numerous warning signs that chillingly foreshadowed the crimes that would soon take place at the hands of Franke and Hildebrandt.

Franke’s parenting first came into question during one of her very own YouTube videos, in which her son, Chad, confessed that his mother “took away” his bed and he was forced to sleep on a “bean bag” for seven months.

Viewers then began looking for other clues of potential abuse, discovering that Franke once let her 5-year-old child starve at school because she forgot her lunch, didn’t allow them to have dinner, and even made her young son do push-ups outside as a form of punishment.

Kevin, Franke’s ex-husband, revealed that he was worried about what Hildebrandt was sharing with his wife when the life coach first came into his home and “weird” things began to happen.

He claimed that while Hildebrandt was staying in their Utah home, he noticed that the lights would “turn on and off” and he would hear the “sounds of people walking in walls and across the ceiling.”

“There would be stuff floating around, it was weird. I can’t explain some of the stuff that happened. She would talk in different voices, it was very creepy. The voices would say, ‘She’s ours. I’m not letting her go, I’m going to marry her.’ She believed that Satan wanted her as her bride,” Kevin claimed during a police interview.

Neighbors even noticed potential warning signs and revealed that Franke would leave her children at home alone for days.

The docuseries also uncovers the horrific acts the young children were forced to carry out while living at Hildebrandt’s home, including standing in the sun on the cement patio and removing the weeds in a cemetery while barefoot.

Viewers will also hear from Hildebrandt’s niece, Jessi, who claimed that she too suffered abuse at the hands of her aunt, revealing that she was forced to sleep on the patio of the life coach’s home and often thought she was going to “die.”

“Ruby and Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence” will premiere over two nights on Sept. 1 and 2, from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery. It will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

“Delving into Hildebrandt and Franke’s relationship from both women’s respective rise to power and extensive influence within the Mormon community to their eventual arrests in 2023, the docuseries charts the magnetic connection between the two and how the melding of Franke’s strict family values with Hildebrandt’s controversial beliefs created a microcosm of control, manipulation, and brutality that led to the devastating emotional and physical abuse of the Franke children,” a press release shared with Realtor.com read.

The press release noted that viewers will see extensive “archival and police footage” as well as insight from local journalists who covered the case.

“The disturbing alliance between Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt has captivated and horrified the public, and this docuseries peels back the layers of that relationship through exclusive interviews with family members, former clients, and experts to explore the broader implications of family vlogging and the devastating impact of family abuse,” said Jason Sarlanis, president of Investigation Discovery.

The trailer for the upcoming series begins with footage of the moment Russell begged a neighbor for food after he fled the house.

In the background, the 911 call that the neighbor placed is played.

“He is obviously covered in wounds, Ruby Franke is his mom’s name,” the 911 caller says, before the clip cuts to a video of the mommy vlogger.

The trailer then cuts to a various people branding Hildebrandt “insidious” and even a “cult leader.”

“This was a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” someone else in the trailer says.

The five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom home in which the pair carried out the horrifying crimes and were arrested belonged to Hildebrandt and was located in Ivins, UT.

Both Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 55, pleaded guilty to the charges against them and, in February 2024, they were each sentenced to four consecutive prison terms, which could see them serving up to 30 years behind bars.

Police video footage reveals officers combing through the dwelling, with one almost breaking down in tears when he discovers a terrified Eve Franke inside the tiny closet.

Both Franke and Hildebrandt were held without bail while they awaited the start of their December 2023 plea hearings—with the latter opting to list her home for sale for $5.3 million just weeks before she was sentenced.

However, the dwelling was swiftly taken off the market after a judge ruled that Hildebrandt had to wait until her sentencing before selling it.

Once listed, the property then sat on the market for quite some time but seemed to have finally have had a pending sale in March 2025.

However, it was put back on the market in May 2025. One month later, though, the home was delisted, Realtor.com exclusively revealed.

It may well be that the home’s links to Franke and Hildebrandt’s horrifying crimes caused buyers to shy away—despite the place being described in its listing as having “stunning features and finishes that will take your breath away.”

According to Franke’s former husband, Kevin, and their two older children, Shari and Chad, all of whom had moved out of the family home when the YouTube star was arrested, the mother of six had moved into Hildebrandt’s home not long before her arrest, along with her two youngest kids.

Not long after the extent of his wife’s crimes was revealed to him, Kevin filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20.

According to local news outlet KSL, Kevin was awarded full custody of their four children who are under the age of 18, as well as sole ownership of the $1.3 million Springville, UT, home he once shared with Ruby.

Additionally, Kevin was awarded ownership of a 2.8-acre plot of land in Scofield, Carbon County.