Inside America's 'most inbred' family's 'disgusting' death scam for 'drug money'

The lives of the Whittaker's , dubbed " America's most inbred family ", have fascinated millions since they rose to fame after photographer Mark Laita began chronicling their unusual lives in 2020.

But earlier this year a scandal in the family left fans in shock after it was revealed Larry Whittaker, who'd been reported dead , was very much alive. Mark had announced on March 21 via his YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly that the 67-year-old had died, seemingly from a heart attack.

However, a shocking plot twist came in a video just days later titled "The Death of Larry Whittaker" in which Mark filmed Larry alive and well, casually discussing his own "death" on his porch. About a quarter hour into this video, released on March 25, an alive-and-kicking Larry talks about just finding out his supposed demise the previous night through a video.

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When questioned whether he had heard about the reports of his death, he responded: "No, I just heard of it last night on a video." Mark went on to reveal that he'd handed over $1,000 to Larry's daughter, BJ, for the non-existent funeral costs that the family pleaded for to arrange the ceremony.

Mark confronted BJ about tricking him, and she expressed remorse. "I'm not proud of what I've done, I'm not," she told him. Admitting the fraud tied to her drug issue, she said: "I shouldn't have done it. I'm trying to get help for my drug addiction."

Mark declared that he had forgiven BJ for misleading him, yet the audience's fury lingered. Amongst viewer comments, one stated: "Faking Larry's death to scam money is just.... disgusting."

Another echoed the sentiment, remarking: "BJ is not sorry that she lied, but she's damn sorry that she got caught." The Whittakers, a family from Odd in West Virginia, US, have a complex history of intermarriage.

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The pattern began when identical twins Henry and John's offspring married each other and had children. Harry and his wife Sally had seven children, one of whom was John Isom Whittaker, born in 1882.

John fell for his first cousin Ada Rigg, and they had nine children together, including their daughter Gracie Irene Whittaker in 1920. Gracie later married her double cousin, John Emory Whittaker, in 1935. They share both sets of grandparents.

The couple had 15 children, including Larry. Unfortunately, many of the children born from these unions suffered severe disabilities due to the inbreeding.