A family largely cut off from much of civilization has seen their newfound fame lead to a sharp downfall in recent months.
The Whittaker family, known for their genetic deformities caused by inbreeding, gained a large online following after being featured in a popular YouTube documentary series.
The series, produced by videographer Mark Laita for his "Soft White Underbelly" channel, brought widespread attention to the peculiar family living in the remote town of Odd, West Virginia.
Viewers were both fascinated and horrified by the living conditions and physical abnormalities of the Whittakers.
Laita set up two separate GoFundMe campaigns for the family, which together accumulated around $130,000 in donations from generous viewers.
He even dipped into his own funds to cover the taxes on the sizable sum, with the intention of using the money to improve the Whittakers' living situation.
But their charitable efforts have now collapsed. The family's recent actions and comments caused a strong negative reaction.
In a video interview with YouTuber Tyler Oliveira, Betty Whittaker said she didn't know where the donated money went.
This response left Laita furious, as he insisted the family regularly requests thousands of dollars at a time for various expenses.
"When he asked Betty 'what happened to the money?' and she goes 'I don't know' - come on, Betty knows exactly where the money went," Laita said.
Laita believes the Whittakers have greatly improved their living circumstances thanks to the money he helped raise, but he feels betrayed by their apparent lack of gratitude.
"Look at the Whittakers, their lives have improved greatly since I came into it and the reason for that is because I came through for them every time," he stated.
The YouTube filmmaker has now taken down both of the GoFundMe campaigns he set, effectively cutting off the family's access to the remaining donated funds.
He feels the Whittakers have caused him nothing but a 'headache' and says he is washing his hands of the entire situation.
Laita supposed that the Whittaker family's financial windfall was likely overwhelming for a group so isolated from mainstream society.
With little experience managing large sums of money, it seems the funds were squandered on unknown expenses rather than being put towards meaningful improvements.
Mark Laita, who has been documenting the Whittakers' lives on his YouTube channel for 4 years, was shocked to discover that the family had been lying to him all along.
The problem started when Laita said 67-year-old Larry Whittaker had died, but it wasn't true. Fans saw Larry alive in another video.
When asked, he said he didn't know about his supposed death. This made Laita lose trust in the family, especially since he had given money for Larry's funeral.
The deception continued when Laita gave $700 to Larry's daughter, BJ, believing it would help her start a new life in North Carolina. However, he later found out that Larry had kept the money instead of fulfilling his promise.
Laita was upset and said other family members, like Kenneth, had lied to him. When he realized the Whittakers were still lying, he chose to end all connections with them.
