'America's most inbred family' began 'over a century ago with identical twin brothers whose children married'
4 April 2023, 22:11 | Updated: 5 April 2023, 00:41
A family dubbed "America's most inbred" reportedly started with identical twin brothers whose children married and had more than a dozen children together.
Today, the family has been decribed as living in squalor and communicating in grunts, with heartbreaking genetic conditions thought to have been caused by inbreeding.
It reportedly began over 100 years ago with identical twin brothers Henry and John Whittaker, whose children married and had over a dozen children.
Henry and wife Sally had seven kids together, including John Emory Whittaker, who was born in 1913.
John and his wife Ada, who was also his own first cousin, had nine children, including Gracie Irene Whittaker in 1920.
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Double cousins John and Gracie then married and had 15 children together, MailOnline reported.
Mark Laita, who runs the Soft White Underbelly YouTube account, has shared a poignant insight into the Whittaker family in the modern day, who he says would bark at visitors, make animal noises at each other in lieu of conversation, and would often flee from people who came to see them.
Mr Laita first met the family at their home in the village of Odd in 2004, and later came back to film them in 2020.
The genetic mix has is thought to have caused serious health problems.
He said on the Konkrete podcast: "It was out of control. There's these people walking around and their eyes are going in different directions and they are barking at us.
"And [this] one guy, you'd look at him in the eye or say anything and he would just scream and go running away and his pants would fall around his ankles."
They have received a huge amount of interest since Mr Laita filmed his interview, he said.
But the local people are very protective of the Whittakers, he warned - a challenge he had to overcome himself when he came to film them.
The first time he approached them in 2004, he was met by "protective" neighbours wielding a shotgun.
"They don't like people coming to ridicule these people," Mr Laita said on the podcast.
He was allowed to take a few photos, but only filmed his interview when he came back on a whim in 2020.
The family spent a lot of time on their front porch and communicate largely in grunts. But one relative told Mr Laita: "They understand what you talking about.
"If they don't like it, they start yelling - let you know they don't like that idea."
Mr Laita returned in 2022 for another follow-up, having set up a GoFundMe page and raised $55,000 (£44,000). He discovered that conditions inside their home had majorly improved.
