The names Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke have become synonymous with the high-profile child abuse case in which they were embroiled for several years.
It didn’t properly come to the surface until 2023, but Franke — a mother of six — has been uploading family-themed content to her YouTube channel for years. Fans caught onto abusive behavior as far back as 2020, when worrying behavior was flagged by some of her channel’s 2.5 million subscribers. It escalated for several years until, in 2023, both Franke and her new business parter, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on child abuse charges.
Both women are now serving jail time for six counts of aggravated child abuse, brought on by the horrific conditions in which the pair of women kept several of Franke’s children. Hildebrandt was slapped with a sentence of between four and thirty years in prison in February of 2024, leaving the horror house at which those children endured torment empty.
Hildebrandt is expected to serve far more than the low end of her sentence, which leaves the house from which several of Franke’s children were rescued — Hildebrandt’s house — empty. Its now up for sale (with an eye-watering price tag attached) for anyone interested in getting a first-hand look at a modern true crime story.
Jodi Hildebrandt’s home is up for sale
In late August of 2023, a 12-year-old boy climbed from the window of Jodi Hildebrandt’s home and triggered a police investigation. His plea for help ultimately saved his sister from the home as well, and led to a thorough investigation, and eventual charges, against the pair of women who’d been abusing he and his siblings for years.
That same Ivins, Utah home, valued at nearly $5 million, is now up for grabs. It’s listed on realtor.com as a four bed three and a half bath sporting more than nine thousand square feet on a property nearly an acre and a half large.
Videos of the home, which spread to TikTok in the wake of its listing, showcase a gorgeous space that is eerily well-crafted for the concealed abuse that was going on behind closed doors. The home projects a kind of luxury prison vibe, with high steel fences and gates restricting access, plain sturdy walls, and large, scenic windows that are challenging to see through without access to the full property.
Its design is part of the reason Hildebrandt and Franke were so able to keep the children’s’ condition concealed, but it will now be motivation for flush home buyers to put down an offer. Particularly those with an eye on true crime will find plenty to enjoy about the house, so long as they aren’t squeamish.
There’s no sign, anymore, of the abuse that took place within its walls, but Hildebrandt’s former home is forever marked by the horrific happenings that occurred in its lavish depths. That likely won’t stop it from selling, but it will forever be part of this home’s history — even when it’s out of Hildebrandt’s hands for good.
Published: Apr 29, 2024 11:31 am