SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — ABC4 News obtained an exclusive interview with Dave Corrington, the private investigator hired by Ruby and Kevin Franke in the summer of 2020.
Corrington works in the public sector now as a Public Safety Manager, but does still take an occasional investigative job. He is no stranger to the world of media influencers and vloggers and has worked several similar cases to the Franke’s for other social media celebrities receiving threats. In a world where individuals make their lives available for public scrutiny, there is no shortage of threats and others who have strong opinions that are contrary to what is being portrayed by media influencers.
He said that in the process of investigating threats and the stalking of the Frankes he did extensive research of not just the individuals and groups making the threats but also the content produced by the Franke family.
He related that while he was surprised initially by the arrest of Ruby Franke, and he did not personally witness any child abuse during his investigation, he was not 100% surprised due to the nature of some of the content she posted on YouTube.
Ruby Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on Aug. 30, 2023, after one of Franke’s children reportedly climbed out of a window of an Ivins, Utah residence owned by Hildebrandt and ran to a neighbor’s home. The child was asking for food and water. The neighbor observed duct tape on the child’s wrists and ankles and contacted law enforcement.
Law enforcement then searched the home where the child had reportedly escaped from and found another one of Franke’s minor children hiding in the home. The children were found to be severely malnourished, and one had lacerations from being tied up.
Corrington said he was troubled by the incident and the condition the children were found in last week and he is relieved that if the allegations prove true, there will be an accountability made for the charges.
He reported he worked for the Frankes for several months during the year and gathered information that led him to believe the threats were made by multiple individuals and groups. While he did not personally agree with some of the behaviors he witnessed in the “8 Passengers” content, he did present full and thorough reports to the couple and local law enforcement in helping to identify where the threats were originating.
