Wrong turn: how an American family degenerated into frightening monsters (6 photos)

This unpleasant story of a family who “talk” like animals began with twin brothers. For the Whittaker family, genetic defects have become a real tragedy, leaving some of them unable to communicate as humans. Instead, their communication resembles a cross between the wheezing of a patient and the barking of a dog.





A strange family lives in their cabin in West Virginia. The small village of Odd is located 120 kilometers from Charleston. Isolated by choice from civilization, the Whittakers remember little about their parents or other family members. Also, they are not at all aware that their genetic problems are related to incest.

One of the daughters, Betty, did not want to reveal whether her parents were related when asked by reporters. However, she later confirmed that her mom and dad are cousins.



Some family members communicate only through wheezing

Inbreeding is the practice of marriage or reproduction between relatives. For example, between siblings, cousins, etc. This can lead to increased genetic similarity between offspring and a high likelihood of rare recessive genetic defects.

The Whittaker inbreeding began with twins Henry and John, whose children married and had more than a dozen children. Henry and his wife Sally had seven children, including John Emory Whittaker, born in 1913. Henry's brother John and his wife Ada Riggs, who was his cousin, had nine children, including Gracie Irene Whittaker, born in 1920.

Their descendants, John and Gracie, who were also first cousins, married in 1935 and had 15 children. Many of their children had severe physical and mental disabilities, apparently due to inbreeding.

Their first child, Emery, died a month after his birth in 1938 from pneumonia. The eldest daughter, Eileen, died in June 1997 of a heart attack.



Some of the Whittaker family members

Betty, born in 1952, took on the role of head of the family and promised her mother that she would not marry so she could care for her 14 brothers and sisters.

Ray and Lauryn, who have a son named Timmy born in 1979, are virtually unable to speak and can only communicate through animal sounds. However, they easily understand each other, even if it may sound completely incomprehensible to an outsider.

"They understand what you're talking about," one relative said. "If they don't like something, they start screaming - letting you know they don't like it."

Timmy is the only member of the Whittaker clan to graduate from high school.



Ray, Timmy and Freddie Whittaker

The documentarian documented the family's life after his first visit in 2004 and found them living in a cramped hut with several dogs. Photographer Mark Laita didn't get a warm welcome when he first showed up as he was threatened at gunpoint by an angry neighbor.

The Whittakers' neighbors are very protective of them, driving away anyone who comes for curiosity or ridicule. But Mark Laita was able to gain their trust and began a relationship that lasted two decades. Giving an interview to a journalist, he explained that his first impressions of the family were like a scene from a thriller.

"We drove along the road, which gradually turned into a bumpy rural road, then we went to a scary, flimsy hut... And there these strange people were walking, and their eyes were looking in different directions. They literally began to bark at us. I looked into the eyes of one one of them said hello, but he just screamed and ran somewhere. His pants slipped down as he ran, and then the guy hit the trash can with force. The craziest thing I've ever seen."

In the end, the Whittakers allowed the guest to take some photographs. He came up with a trick: he offered to make a portrait so that the family would put it on the grave of a recently deceased relative.



Over the years, Laita returned to visit the family and in 2020 made a documentary about their lifestyle. When asked why their eyes looked in different directions, another relative, Kenneth, replied: “Maybe because of the coal industry nearby.”

Mark Laita is back in 2022 after his filmcollected $55,000 in donations for the unfortunate family. The Whittakers have already spent some of that money, buying a new car, upgrading their home with kitchen renovations, a new roof and a heater.

One of the grateful relatives gave Mark a tour of their cramped home. The documentarian saw two adult men sharing one bed, and an elderly woman sleeping on the living room sofa all year round.



Laita explained that his goal is to draw attention to problems in remote parts of the country that most people in the United States are not even aware of.