Man who uncovered America's 'most inbred family' recalls his 'crazy' first encounter with them
The man who unveiled 'America's most inbred family' has recalled what they first encounter was like.
Photographer Mark Laita first met the Whittaker family in 2004 when he went to their home in Odd, which is located around 75 miles from Charleston.
He maintained a relationship with them for many years, but is believed to have since cut ties with the Whittakers after discovering that they'd been lying to him.
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It wasn't easy for Mark to get in touch with the Whittakers as they have fiercely protective (and armed) neighbors making sure nobody stops by to take advantage of them.
With this in mind, Mark has urged people not to try and seek out the family for themselves as visitors aren't welcome.
On one of his visits, one of the family members, Betty, admitted to him that her parents were double first cousins.
Recalling his first encounter with the Whittakers, Mark compared to something from the 1972 movie Deliverance.
"We came around to this road, which turns into a country road, which turns into a dirt road," he said on the Koncrete KLIPS podcast.
"Then we come to this trailer and then a little shack on the other side of the road. And there’s these people walking around and their eyes are going in different directions and they are barking at us."
Mark went on: "And then one guy, you would look him in the eye or say anything and he would just scream and go running away, and his pants would fall around his ankles, and he would go running off and go and kick a garbage can.
"And this would happen over and over. It was out of control - the craziest thing I have ever seen."
Of the large family, Mark met three siblings and a cousin who were all living together.
Other Whittaker family members are said to be either non-verbal or were too physically or mentally ill to chat to the photographer.
Earlier this year, the Whittakers reportedly made a GoFundMe page to raise money for Larry Whittaker's funeral - but it turned out that Larry hadn't died at all.
Mark donated $1,000 to Larry's daughter, BJ, who later apologized for her deception.
Then Larry asked the photographer for $700 to take BJ to North Carolina to start a new life. He kept the money for himself, however.
This sparked Mark to 'walk away' from those family members for good.
Niamh Shackleton