America’s ‘most inbred household’ saga takes appalling flip as YouTubers who made them well-known are accused of soiled deeds… cops are known as in
America’s ‘most in-bred family’ have accused two men who made lucrative social media content about them of taking off with their money, as the pair face a police probe.
The Whittakers became internet famous five years ago, when a documentary highlighted their struggles with heartbreaking mental and physical defects and squalid living conditions on their run-down homestead in Odd, West Virginia.
Some family members can only communicate via odd words, grunts or barks and they were later dubbed America’s ‘most in-bred family’.
Social media groups about the Whittakers sprang up, and digital creators began to make and monetize content about them for their legions of newfound internet fans. Followers moved by the family’s tragic story donated money and supplies in a bid to help them.
But in a twist, two content creators who chronicled the Whittakers’ lives on social media are now at the center of a police probe over an alleged scam involving money and merchandise they received for the vulnerable family.
Lawrence ‘Eric’ Carroll, 41, of Waverly Hall, Georgia, and John ‘Patrick’ Roark, 46, who lives near the Whittakers in Odd, are under investigation by West Virginia State Police over a ‘fraudulent scheme that involves money and merchandise being sent to the Whittaker family’, the force said on Facebook.
Both men deny any wrongdoing.
Speaking from his home in Odd – 80 miles south of the state capital Charleston – Roark insisted he had done nothing wrong and pointed the finger squarely at his former collaborator, Carroll.
Betty Whittaker, 73, and her brother Larry spoke to the Daily Mail from the family’s cabin in Odd, West Virginia last week
The Daily Mail first visited the Whittakers in 2023 and was welcomed by several family members including Betty (center), Timmy, 46, (left) and Lorene, 79, (right) – both of whom are now under the state’s guardianship
West Virginia State Police announced an investigation into a ‘fraudulent scheme’ targeting the Whittaker family, urging the public to provide information about gifts and money given to two men, Eric Carroll and Patrick Roark, on the family’s behalf
But Carroll said he has only received ‘standard platform monetization’ from broadcasts. ‘I have ensured the Whitaker family will receive their appropriate share of the revenue,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Police have urged anyone who donated to the Whittakers through Carroll or Roark to contact them.
News of the police probe prompted a frenzy of online speculation over why the Whittakers still live in squalid conditions when there appeared to be an influx of cash donations, gifts and content money for them.
Once close collaborators, Carroll and Roark got into an ugly social media feud in which each sought to blame the other and show apparent ‘proof’ of alleged wrongdoing to their followers.
‘The donation money that come in through YouTube. Eric has control over YouTube, and I don’t’ Roark told the Daily Mail.
‘Eric is the one that got paid for that, I didn’t. I just have one platform, and that’s my personal Facebook.’
Cops have refused to release any records on the case, citing their ‘ongoing investigation’. Corporal J.W. Gilkeson, the lead officer on the case, told the Daily Mail no charges have been filed but the investigation is still active.
But speaking from the family’s dilapidated dwelling in Odd, angry Larry Whittaker, 69, accused Roark and Carroll of taking off with their money.
He branded Roark – who lives less than a minute from the Whittakers – a ‘lying f*****’ and suggested he and Carroll had ‘a lot of money’ from his family.
Angry Larry Whittaker, 69, accused Carroll and Roark, who have been documenting the Whittakers lives on YouTube, of taking off with cash and donations that were meant for the family
Speaking to the Daily Mail from his Odd home, Roark claimed his collaborator Carroll was responsible for most of the social media platforms that monetized content and drew in donations for the Whittakers
Asked what he believes happened to the Whittakers’ money, Larry replied: ‘Eric got it!’
Pressed on how much, he added: ‘I’ve got no idea, there was a lot of money, but no idea.
‘Far as I know, Eric got it and took off then, that’s all I know.
‘Patrick got some of our money, I don’t know how much.’
Roark and Carroll’s social media content of the family began in June with the creation of ‘official’ Whittaker Family Facebook, YouTube, X, TikTok and Instagram profiles.
In a June 20 Facebook post, Roark said he had started a new Whittaker Family YouTube channel, ‘where I will be posting daily videos and updates’ and promised followers they will see the family’s lives ‘drastically improved’.
Roark and Carroll soon asked for cash donations and supplies to ‘support’ the Whittakers’ living expenses and ultimately fund the building of a new home by the Amish community.
On June 24, the pair told followers to send checks to Roark’s home in Odd and to message them about ‘sizes and ideas’ for clothes and gifts for the Whittakers.
Asked what Roark and Carroll were doing about the family’s new home, Larry Whittaker replied: ‘They didn’t do it, they took the goddamn money and left!’
He rebuffed Carroll’s claim the Amish were to build them a house, insisting: ‘There was no Amish people, that was his friend!’
Larry also claimed Roark recently gave him a Range Rover, but imposed restrictions on who could drive it, so the family returned it.
‘I took it back up there to him. Patrick came around told me he bought it and that I couldn’t let nobody else drive it.
When the Daily Mail caught up with the family, the porch at their ramshackle home was cluttered with Halloween decorations, ornaments, and discarded items
The family homestead has several rundown vehicles and property, including a trailer and an outhouse
‘I’m 69 years old; he’s 44 years old, he ain’t gonna tell me what to do,’ he said.
In a YouTube video introducing themselves, Roark, a divorced dad-of-six, said he had known the Whittakers his ‘whole life’ after attending the same Head Start child-development scheme as Timmy, one of the Whittaker clan.
He said the pair lost touch when he moved away but later reconnected after he got a ‘good deal’ on his house in Odd.
Property records show Roark bought the three-bedroom house for $20,000 – below asking price – in a private sale last September.
Carroll, a twice-divorced dad of four daughters and two stepchildren, has a background in fathers’ rights activism and in July 2021 interviewed assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for his Dad Talk Today podcast.
He said he messaged Roark through his GoFundMe for the Whittakers after being inspired by his pastor father and mother supporting ‘mentally challenged people’ in their community.
The pair insisted they wanted to help the family and were not out to make money from them.
Their content of the Whittakers quickly went viral. The family’s first YouTube video on June 27 in which Betty and Larry debunked hurtful misconceptions garnered almost 345,000 views.
Roark denied handling any donations and insisted any merchandise for the Whittakers were delivered to them. He shared photos of gifts and donations that arrived at Roark’s home in early October
Larry Whittaker accused Roark of giving the family a flashy 2010 black Range Rover, but with strings attached, so he returned it and it is now parked outside Roark’s home
Three days later, footage of the Whittakers grocery shopping at Aldi gained more than 645,000 views, before another video of Ray Whittaker visiting the doctor racked up almost 500,000 views.
Roark and Carroll monetized their content, offering Whittaker fans different subscription tiers on the family’s social media pages of up to $9.99 a month.
The family are even on Cameo, an online platform where users can pay for video messages from their favorite celebrities. Individual fans can get a Whittaker greeting for $50 while businesses must pay $400.
Roark and Carroll wasted no time in asking for donations and gifts to ‘support’ the Whittakers and later fund the building of a new home.
They promised to bring in an accountant to ensure ‘the process is transparent and accountable’ and said they would put donations in a trust.
Protesting his innocence, Roark took the Daily Mail round his building site of a home, which he bought in a private sale in September 2024 for $20,000, to prove he’s not living in the lap of luxury
Roark said he and Carroll had a ‘contract’ with the Whittakers to split the revenue from their social media content three ways, but did not provide a copy to support his claim.
He accused Carroll of keeping the social media cash for himself and claims he still owes him about $40,000. He said the YouTube channel alone made ‘well over $100,000’ and that he didn’t know if the Whittakers ‘have seen any of it’.
He said the Whittakers’ share of the cash from his Facebook content was in the ‘thousands of dollars’ and still in his Venmo account.
Roark showed the Daily Mail his phone and what he claimed was his Venmo account. He said the account had more than $14,000 in it but covered up his transactions and other identifying information.
Asked when he planned to give the Whittakers their money, he said he would send it through lawyers. He claimed he has a lawyer but repeatedly declined to reveal their name when asked.
Roark told the Daily Mail he made money from his Facebook videos of the Whittakers and claimed their share was still in his Venmo account, which he showed had $14,000
He insisted the Whittakers’ money had to be ‘put in a fund’ to avoid compromising their state benefits.
Roark denied handling any monetary donations and insisted all clothes, toiletries and other merchandise for the Whittakers were either picked up or delivered to them by his aunt, Suzan Dickerson, who backed his story.
He said police came with a warrant and took two cell phones. He said he has not been charged and ruled out cooperating with them, adding: ‘There’s nothing for me to say. If you think you’ve got something on me, come and arrest me.’
He claims to have bought the black 2010 Range Rover for the Whittakers a few weeks ago, despite unverified claims by internet sleuths that he was actually gifted the car for the family.
Roark insisted he initially put the vehicle’s title in Larry’s name, but changed it to his name after the Whittakers returned it.
Asked why he bought the Whittakers such a flashy car when the money could have gone toward a house, Roark said: ‘It could be given to them if there was a lawyer involved. But I’m not just going to take $10,000 down there and hand it to him.’
Now Roark says he has ‘stepped away from doing Whittaker content altogether’ and is heading in a new direction to post content of ‘cooking skits, playing guitar, and singing a bit’.
In a statement to the Daily Mail Carroll said he welcomed the police investigation and said he has ‘proactively reached out to law enforcement and offered full cooperation’.
‘The Whittakers are entitled to their share of certain revenue generated from social media content,’ he added, saying he has only kept hold of the money until they can work out a way to distribute it.
He said he still needs to see his former colleagues records ‘to complete a full accounting’.
But in a lengthy Facebook video rant on October 3, Carroll said he ‘begged’ for an investigation and insisted he cooperated with police and adult services straight away.
Carroll claimed he had been trying to give the Whittakers’ money ‘to the authorities since day one’.
He said family members failed to attend a meeting with an attorney to set up the trust for the funds and that if the family told him where to send their money, his attorney could organize it.
He insisted he became involved to ‘build a house’ for the Whittakers, which he said is ‘not happening now’. He slammed ‘baseless’ online ‘conspiracy theories’ and insisted the Amish offer to build the Whittakers’ home was genuine.
