| Whittaker family | |
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| Country | United States |
| Place of origin | Egeria, West Virginia, U.S. |
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Whittaker family Related articles |
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The Whittaker family is an American inbred family from Egeria, West Virginia. They first gained public notoriety in 2020 when they appeared on the Soft White Underbelly YouTube channel as part of a series of video interviews conducted by Mark Laita.
As depicted in the video interviews conducted by Laita, there are three communicable members of the family, Betty, Larry and Kenneth. Most notably, a brother, Ray, can only communicate by grunting.
Discovery
In an episode with podcaster Joe Rogan, Soft White Underbelly host Mark Laita explained how he discovered the Whittaker family while exploring Raleigh County in 2004. Laita noted in the episode that due to the Whittaker's popularity in the area, a Raleigh County sheriff's deputy referred him to the Whittakers while he was searching for "interesting people" around the area to photograph for his upcoming book, "Created Equal," which was released in 2008.
Laita described a Whittaker brother, Ray, in the interview with Rogan:
Ray was uncontrollable, he would stand right next to my camera, like right next to it, two inches away from the lens, I said [sic] I needed him to stand with his brothers, and then as soon as I corrected him, he would just flip out and start [sic] screaming, running off. His pants would fall down around his ankles, then he would go and kick a metal garbage can. This would happen over and over and over again.
Impact
The videos on YouTube featuring the Whittakers have garnered a total 66 million views as of April 2023.
In 2022, Mark Laita started a GoFundMe page for the Whittaker family and as of April 2023, has raised over $57,000.
Members
Known family members
- Betty Whittaker (born 1952)
- Lorene Whittaker (born 1946)
- Timmy Whittaker (born 1979)
- Ray Whittaker (born 1953)
- Larry Whittaker (born 1956)
- Kenneth Whittaker (born 1957)
Known deceased family members
- Barbara Whittaker (1940–2008)
- Freddy Whittaker (1944–2013)
- John Whittaker (1950–2022)
Genealogy
The reason for the family's inbreeding has been up for discussion and debate by numerous sources. Betty Whittaker revealed that she, Lorene, Ray, Larry and Kenneth were only five of 15 children born to Gracie and John Whittaker, double first cousins. Gracie and John also had the same sets of grandparents. John Whittaker was a coal miner, and Gracie Whittaker was a homemaker. Timmy is the son of Lorene, born in 1979. Timmy was born as a result of Lorene being raped by an unidentified man. The official family tree of the Whittakers was released in 2022.