Where Is Ruby Franke’s Eldest Daughter Shari Franke Now? Inside Her Life After Surviving Child Abuse (and Why She’ll Never Raise Kids in the Public Eye)

Shari Franke grew up in the public eye as the daughter of former Utah family vlogger Ruby Franke. Now, after publishing a tell-all memoir exposing her mother's abusive parenting, Shari is determined to move forward with her life.

Ruby and her husband, Kevin, first entered the spotlight in 2015 when they started the YouTube channel "8Passengers," which documented the family's lives to over 2 million subscribers. Over the years, viewers began raising concerns about Ruby’s extreme parenting methods and spotting troubling signs of child abuse. The "mommy vlogger" later partnered with Utah-based therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, to continue advocating for strict parental discipline via an advice podcast.

Related: All About Ruby Franke: Everything to Know About the Influencer Mom Convicted of Child Abuse

In August 2023, Ruby and Jodi were arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse after Shari's then 12-year-old brother Russell asked a neighbor to call the police after he escaped the home. Police in Santa Clara, Utah, said officers found two of Ruby's children “emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around” their arms and legs. In February 2024, they were each given four consecutive prison sentences of one to 15 years.

On Jan. 7, Shari published a memoir titled The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom, reflecting on the abuse she and her siblings experienced. Though the past was challenging, she told PEOPLE ahead of the book's release that writing it was an effort to share her side of the story and shed light on the dangers of family vlogging.

“I’ve witnessed the damage of what happens when your life is put online," she said. "There’s no ethical way to do it.”

From her engagement to her memoir, here's everything to know about where Ruby Franke's eldest daughter Shari Franke is today.

Who is Shari Franke?

Shari is the eldest of six children, including Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve. She was heavily featured on her mother's YouTube channel alongside her siblings until the page was deleted.

Ahead of the release of her memoir in January 2025, Shari told PEOPLE that the abuse extended as far back as their "8Passengers" vlogging days, long before Ruby ever connected with Jodi.

Related: Where Are Ruby Franke’s 6 Kids Now? Here's What Happened to the Family After the Vlogger's 2023 Arrest

"She'd always say that she wanted to be a good mom," Shari said. "That was what she always told us, and I think that she wanted to force her kids to also think that she was a good mom. She couldn't handle anybody disagreeing with her."

Shari also shared that her discomfort with being filmed as a child grew as time went on.

"As I got older, I think I was 18 and we went bra shopping — me, and my sisters and Ruby — and she was filming it. And it was the first time that I was like, 'Oh, this is kind of weird and inappropriate and I'm not okay with that,' " she said.

Shari continued, "Looking back, I could see how all of my embarrassing moments as a teenager, I was coerced to post those. And that wasn't me actually understanding the full consequences that that would have."

Though Ruby later disowned her eldest daughter and cut off communication when she left for college, Shari became increasingly concerned for the safety of her siblings who remained in the house, going as far as calling the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (who took no further action following a welfare check).

"My biggest priority was just making sure that the kids were alive,” Shari told PEOPLE. “As long as they were alive, obviously then I knew eventually things would be okay."

How did Shari Franke react to her mom's arrest and conviction?

Less than a day after Ruby was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse, Shari shared in a since-deleted post on Instagram that she and her family "are so glad justice is being served."

"Today has been a big day," she wrote. "We've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up."

After posting a photo of officers outside the family home on her Instagram Stories with the caption, "finally," Shari turned to her followers for their help, asking them to begin adding clips of suspicious and questionable comments her mother has allegedly made to a public Google doc.

Within a few days, the document had accumulated nearly 100 links to problematic comments from Ruby over the years, including discussions of withholding food from her kids and transphobic and ableist remarks.

Is Shari still in touch with her mom Ruby?

Ruby ultimately disowned Shari, which led her to cease all communication with her mother. In January 2025, she told PEOPLE that she has no interest in reconnecting with Ruby, whom she no longer regards as her mother.

"She's very selective in what she's remorseful about, and I don't think that she'll ever fully recover until she can look at everything that's happened with her," Shari said. "Part of me feels guilty if I don't forgive. But I've come to realize that forgiveness for me just means that I don't let her actions consume my thoughts."

She added, "I'm still angry about what she did, of course, and that's never going to go away, but I am living my life and I am not letting her take any more of that from me than she's already taken."

Where is Shari Franke now?

Since her mom's conviction, Shari has advocated against family vlogging. In October 2024, she addressed the Utah House of Representatives in hopes of shedding light "on the ethical and monetary issues that come from being a child influencer."

"I want to be clear that there is NEVER. never a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame," she said in her statement, which she shared on Instagram. "There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger."

Although she's used her voice to fight for change, Shari is also focusing on moving forward with her life. She is set to graduate in 2025 from Brigham Young University, where she studies political science.

Alongside her education, Shari is attending therapy and working on mending her relationship with her father, who has filed for custody of the younger Franke siblings. To protect their privacy, she no longer speaks publicly about them.

In December 2024, the former child influencer shared on Instagram that she had gotten engaged, adding that the milestone also marked the start of a new chapter — "the end" of her sharing her private life.

"I’ve had my voice and agency taken for so long, and now, I’m putting my foot down. I’m not going to talk about my wedding, future husband, or future kids," she wrote.

Shari added that she would "continue to advocate for kids who didn’t have a voice" but that she was also seeking closure from the past.

"I’m moving on with my life, and that’s true freedom and joy," she wrote.

What has Shari said about her mom’s abuse in her memoir?

In The House of My Mother, Shari details the abuse she and her siblings experienced from their mother — and recounts what happened when she once called child protective services.

She recalled her mother saying, "I can’t believe you called the police on me. After everything I’ve done for you, after all the sacrifices I’ve made. How could you betray me like that, Shari? How could you be so selfish?”

Shari wrote that she responded with concern about her mom allegedly leaving the children alone for five days, to which Ruby reportedly rebutted, saying, "They’re fine. They’re old enough to take care of themselves. This is about you, Shari. Your jealousy, your need for attention.”

She continued to tell her daughter that she was a "child playing at being an adult," blaming her for terrifying her siblings.

"One day, Shari, you’ll come crawling back to me. Begging for my forgiveness. And it’ll be hard for me to give it to you, but I’ll be gracious," Shari recalled her mother saying, to which she responded, "I’m not going to apologize for telling the truth."

After Ruby claimed that her daughter "hated" her since she was 5 years old, lacking any appreciation for the "sacrifices" she made, Shari responded, "That’s not true. I never hated you, Mom. I was just scared of you.”

What has Shari said about her mom’s relationship with Jodi Hildebrandt?

In her memoir, Shari also touched on her mother's relationship with Jodi, the family therapist and her mom's business partner.

During an appearance on Good Morning America the day of the memoir's release, Shari shared that she "got weird vibes from Jodi and Ruby."

“I don’t think it’s normal at all that a therapist would move into her client’s home," she said. "I was moving out to college, and I hadn’t even left the house yet and she is in my room and in my bed.”

Shari was disowned and cut off by Ruby shortly after she had connected with Jodi, but she saw enough of their relationship to know that something didn't feel right.

“Ruby tried to be secretive about it, and so I don’t know all the details,” Shari said. “The vibes I was getting was that something was strange between them.”

In an excerpt from her memoir that she shared on GMA, Shari revealed that she found messages on Ruby's laptop after her arrest that seemingly confirmed "the truth about the nature of her relationship with Jodi and how it had spilled over into physical."

"Ruby, expressing her frustration about having to cater to Jodi’s needs for physical affection without getting anything in return," she wrote.

However, when asked to elaborate on GMA, she said that she "never saw anything specific about that" and wasn't "sure" if they were more than friends.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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