Who are Julie Deru, Bonnie Hoellein, and Ellie Meacham? Ruby Franke's siblings issue statement in wake of YouTuber's arrest

As the controversy surrounding YouTuber Ruby Franke's arrest develops, her three sisters released a joint statement on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Julie Deru, Bonnie Hoellein, and Ellie Meacham pinned a statement on their respective Instagram accounts saying their sister's arrest needed to happen and added:

"For the last 3 years, we have kept quiet on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children. Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe. "

Ruby Franke, who ran the now-defunct YouTube channel Passenger 8, was arrested on Wednesday on two counts of aggravated child abuse. Along with the 41-year-old vlogger, her husband, Kevin Franke, and the founder of the parent counseling service ConneXions, Jodi Hilebrandt, were also detained on similar charges.

The sisters, who run their own YouTube channels as well, added that they did not feel right releasing their regular content without first addressing the controversy. The post has garnered over 85,000 likes in less than a day.

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Ruby Franke, Julie Deru, Bonnie Hoellein, and Ellie Meacham are sisters to Beau Griffiths

The five siblings were born in Utah and frequently featured on each other's channels. During their early blogging days, they made content together like a sibling Q&A, which was shared on Bonnie and Eliie's joint channel, Bollie.

Most of their content revolves around their daily life and family.

Deru launched her channel, Deru Crew Vlogs, back in November 2011, and her content focuses on her entire family. She boasts a following of over 220,000 and over 50 million views. According to her YouTube bio, the 35-year-old moved to Kansas City, Missouri, but was recently reunited with her extended family. She and her husband, Landon, have five children.

Bonnie, on the other hand, started her namesake vlog in March 2013. and shares posts about her everyday life with her family, travel, lifestyle, and food. Several of her videos feature important milestones in the lives of her children.

Bonnie's vlog has over 1.3 million subscribers and over 800 million views. She married Joel Hoellein in May 2007, and the couple has four children, Olivia, Cody, Lincoln, and Boston, together.

Ellie started her blog with her husband, titled Ellie and Jared, and shares content featuring her everyday life. The blog was initially created for personal use and called Stylebyellie.

It showcased lifestyle-themed content like makeup tutorials. The 32-year-old vlogger has four children after welcoming her daughter, Jennifer June, in January 2023.

Ruby Franke also has a brother, Beau Griffiths, who runs the channel, A Griffiths Life Vlogs, which boasts over 60,000 subscribers.

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Ruby Franke's eldest child, Shari, who is currently studying at Brigham Young University, had previously cut ties with her family in 2022 and was openly critical of her parents.

Following the arrest, she shared a picture of a police car with the caption "Finally" on her Instagram story. In a separate story, she wrote:

"Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up."

Franke faces up to 15 years in prison and is currently being held without bail.