A film maker who spent time with a West Virginian family believed to be one of the most inbred in the United States has described the abject poverty in which they are living, several years after his film was released.
Mark Laita has created the YouTube channel, Soft White Underbelly, to report on untold stories from across the country.
In April last year he revisited the Whittaker family, who he first met in 2004 and filmed in 2020, and spoke about it on the channel.
Laita told how the family would bark at people, communicate through grunts and would often run away when people tried to speak to them.
The Whittakers are three siblings named Lorraine, Timmy, and Ray.
Laita in 2020 released a short 12-minute film describing his encounters, and said that the inbred family were like something out of the 1972 thriller Deliverance.
He was first acquainted with the West Virginia family in 2004 when he took pictures of them and he decided to come back years later to get to know them better in 2020.
In a podcast interview with Koncrete podcast, Laita recalled the most bizarre moments with the family.
‘It was out of control,’ he said.
‘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.’
The Whittakers are America’s most inbred family brought to light by filmmaker Mark Laita in his 12-minute short film, ‘Inbred Family-The Whittakers’. Pictured: The Whittakers
Mark Laita was first acquainted with the West Virginia family in 2004 when he took pictures of them and came back years later to get to know them better in 2020 – when he started filming.
Laita recalled the building up of his relationship with the inbred family, particularly with family members named Ray, Betty, Kenneth, Ray, Timmy and Lorraine.
The first time he approached them was in the early 2000s when he was initially met by ‘protective’ neighbors with a shotgun.
‘They don’t like people coming to ridicule these people,’ Laita said on the podcast.
At the time, Laita wanted to take photos of the Whittakers for his book, ‘Created Equal.’ The book told stories of diverse cultures in the US.
While he wasn’t initially welcomed, he was eventually allowed to snap a few shots and even gifted some to the family.
One of the filmmaker’s latest videos from 2021 showed the family’s rundown conditions, with the group living in a small and overcrowded home with several animals.
Laita said he returned to the home on a whim to see how the family was doing.
He then decided to pick up his iPhone and grab footage of their ‘level of poverty’ and living conditions.
The family appeared to spend a lot of time on their front porch where they have a couch, armchair and other household belongings.
He observed Whittakers had various health issues and some were only able to communicate with grunts.
In one scene Laita asked Betty why she thought her family had so many abnormalities. She didn’t know.
He pushed the question further with Kenneth asking specifically about why their eyes weren’t facing forward. He responded: ‘Might be coal mining.’
Laita previously told podcaster Joe Rogan the inbred family line started with first cousins.
The family lives in Odd, West Virginia in impoverished conditions. Several share a home with dogs and wear worn down clothing
Laita said he returned to the home on a whim to see how the family was doing. He then decided to pick up his iPhone and grab footage of their ‘level of poverty’ and living conditions. Pictured L to R: Betty, Ray and Lorraine
It appeared by Laita’s video that the family didn’t know their genetic issues occurred due inbreeding. They also couldn’t remember much about their parents or other family members
The videos of the Whittakers showed Laita asking them about their education and schooling. Only one appeared to have graduated high school, Timmy.
Lorraine and Ray appeared to not be able to talk and only grunt. Other family members had to talk on behalf of them.
According to Discover Magazine, inbreeding can lead to various side effects, including ‘decreased cognitive abilities and muscular function, reduced height and lung function, and are at greater risk from diseases in general.’
The family didn’t know their genetic issues occurred due inbreeding, according to what they told the filmmaker. They also couldn’t remember much about their parents or other family members.
To help improve the Whittaker’s living conditions and provide home improvements, Laita previously created a GoFundMe in 2022 that has since raised $46,433.
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