SPEAKER 1
But you know, I am interviewing Miranda Wright. Before we start, we're just going to kind of ask you a few questions about your involvement. Okay, so first you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. Okay, you have the right to an attorney or to have him or her present while questioning. If you cannot afford to hire one, one will be hired to represent you. If you decide to answer questions, you can stop at any time. Okay? Do you understand me right?
SPEAKER 3
Well,
SPEAKER 3
How about this, we're going to ask you some questions and if you don't want to answer them, you just say, hey man, I'm not going to answer that. Sure. Or you just say, hey, I'm not going to talk, that's not beneficial to you, and then we're done, we're going to go where I want to learn.
INTERVIEWEE
Sure.
INTERVIEWEE
Kevin William Frankie. How to spell that? K -E -V -I -N -W -I -L -L -I -A -N -F -R -A -N -K -E.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 1
you
SPEAKER 1
you
INTERVIEWEE
So
SPEAKER 1
you
SPEAKER 1
Bye.
INTERVIEWEE
From who? From my wife and family. What's your wife's name? Ruby. Freaky. When's the last time you saw Ruby? The last time I saw her?
SPEAKER 3
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
was the 18th of this month. We met to, she requested me to sign over vehicles, or the titles to the vehicles, the vehicle that she drives that were all in my name.
INTERVIEWEE
45
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
So from my understanding that at least one of your home here in Canton, Isons, have you been to that home? No. You've not been to that home?
SPEAKER 3
like this is good man, like I would love to be able to help you out with this and like I'm seeing the light of day in the tunnel because I'm unaware of your involvement in what's really going on so for you to say that you're unaware of the status of your kids kind of makes, I know that sounds kind of crummy to you but it sounds kind of good to me like who lives in that home with your, is it ex -wife? Is it currently a separated wife? Like who lives in that home with your children?
INTERVIEWEE
To be honest, I don't know. I know that she's there with four of the children, and our two older children.
SPEAKER 3
Wow.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
They're not at your home in Springville? And I'm not trying to trip you. I can see you're hesitant to talk to me. I understand that. Well, where I live? No, I haven't seen them for over a year.
INTERVIEWEE
Yeah.
SPEAKER 3
Okay. That's tough. I can only imagine how that feels, man. I actually, it's not been seen for that long. That was a terrible piece of my heart out.
INTERVIEWEE
I received a message that I needed to come pick up my kids from the police department in Highland.
SPEAKER 3
I'll try to figure out who reached out to you, because it makes sense that that would happen. I'm just not aware of anyone who did that from our department. Right.
INTERVIEWEE
15
SPEAKER 1
to what was your separation?
INTERVIEWEE
What was your operation?
INTERVIEWEE
while I thought about the choices that I have made in my life and the way that I have treated her.
INTERVIEWEE
Okay.
SPEAKER 1
And during your marriage, how was disciplining your kids? How would you discipline your kids?
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
Have you been separated or since they lived here in the city of Ivins, have you communicated with your wife regarding discipline with your kids or their care or their physical well -being?
SPEAKER 3
So is she giving this on her own and just telling you how your kids are? She's not telling me anything about the kids.
SPEAKER 3
Do you value what she says and how she treats it? Is your wife a client of hers? Is your wife a partner of hers? Is your wife a roommate with her? Your kids are living in her house is what I'm trying to say.
INTERVIEWEE
I'm not aware of that, but I know that they've been in business for the last year filming
SPEAKER 3
Excellent. Excellent.
INTERVIEWEE
So every week a podcast goes up and I listen to it. What's the name of it? Connections with an X.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
I support their business efforts, I think it's a good thing. Are you involved with their business efforts? No. So just Rudy and Jody? In their business? Yes.
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
Yes, I was in the videos and that's what you mean. I briefly learned about this two hours ago.
SPEAKER 3
you
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
She started the channel in 2015 and as far as I'm aware, the time I left, the last video she uploaded was towards the end of 2021. But again, I'm not aware of anything she's done since our separation. I don't visit a fast food church anymore.
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
through text and if there's anything considered an emergency we agree that we would communicate through a phone call.
INTERVIEWEE
Well, I don't know how often or long she was down here. We've communicated maybe four times in 2023 since January.
SPEAKER 3
So are you aware of how she does it for the kids or how she handles the kids' behavioral issues or anything like that? No. So you're unaware of how she does that? Yes. Okay. Are you aware of the physical condition of your children? No.
INTERVIEWEE
No, I've chosen to trust my wife with the children. That was part of the agreement of our separation.
SPEAKER 3
is that you allow her to physically provide for the needs of the child. You're just removed from that. I mean, you say support. I know this is personal questions?
SPEAKER 3
I was trying to figure out how much of a role do you play in the caretaking of specifically, is it Russell and Eve? Of those two kids?
INTERVIEWEE
I...
INTERVIEWEE
I pay the bills. With my job, I provide the money, goes into a shared bank account, and that's my only involvement.
SPEAKER 3
There's a whole bunch of things I want to talk to you about but I still can't get over the fact that someone notified you to come here to pick up the kids. My guess is, was that Jody?
SPEAKER 3
Well, you said you trusted her. You said that you think she's... I asked you if you placed a value on her, but you obviously...
INTERVIEWEE
She is an honest, I know her to be an honest and trustworthy individual. And so, yeah, I trust her.
INTERVIEWEE
I'm going to drop down here. That's all I know. I've come to pick up my kids and to take them home with me.
SPEAKER 3
Yeah, there's custodial paperwork that says that you're like a... There's not custodial paperwork denying your rights, correct?
INTERVIEWEE
There's no custodial paperwork at all. Period. So the kids are yours? They are mine. Okay. Yes.
INTERVIEWEE
This was just a verbal agreement between my wife and I when we said we were going to do it last year.
INTERVIEWEE
and
INTERVIEWEE
What questions do you have? Oh, I want to know what's going on and why I was asked to come down and pick up my two kids.
SPEAKER 1
Well...
SPEAKER 3
And then all that kind of hinges on who asked you, because if we had been the one, like, I'm not going to say you fit, but I'm confident a cop didn't call you because we wouldn't have wanted you down here at this point in our investigation. So having said that, I think it's time we be honest with you, right?
INTERVIEWEE
No.
SPEAKER 1
Well,
SPEAKER 3
Sure.
INTERVIEWEE
And I didn't lie. Someone contacted me, but I don't want to say without a... You said someone from your office said, okay.
SPEAKER 3
don't
SPEAKER 3
you
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
Well, I don't know the legal ramifications of inflicting individuals who contact me. So without a lawyer here, I don't want to answer that question.
SPEAKER 1
That's okay. But you want to know specifics of the case, which we can't share right now because it's under investigation.
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
Okay.
SPEAKER 1
So...
SPEAKER 1
Yeah, so we would like to ask questions about where you found out, but we'll reset that if you don't want to share that information. But I am curious, when you guys had the previous 8 Passengers YouTube channel, you guys got a lot of heat for neglect and child abuse. A lot of people commented those things on there. Why were they commenting those things?
INTERVIEWEE
That's a good question. We had a son who was acting out in very selfish behavior. Was this Chad? Yes, this was Chad. And none of this is strange or odd. You can get on YouTube and find out all sorts of stuff on this. Like a double -edged sword? you can get on YouTube and find out all sorts of stuff on this. There was even an article written in Newsweek magazine in 2020 on it.
INTERVIEWEE
you know, business insider, where we were interviewed and we were pretty straightforward and we talked about it and we shared our piece in that. Basically it boils down to he was being very cruel and mean to his sibling that he shared a room with and so we removed him from the room. that he shared a room with and so we removed him from the room and we said you can sleep anywhere you want sleep on the couch sleep on the pull -out bed sleep on the floor for all we care but you're not sleeping in that room with your brother he chose to sleep on a bean bag. So, nine months later, he had made a lot of changes in his life. And he was ready to effect of, I've been sleeping for nine months on a bean bag.
SPEAKER 3
that.
SPEAKER 3
What did you guys do to help with his behavior? Is that something you and Rumi talked about
INTERVIEWEE
together.
INTERVIEWEE
I supported it. And so together we held boundaries for our son, Jeff, to support his choosing honest and responsible choices. And when he chose honest and responsible choices consistently is when he began to get his privileges back. And that was... That was the other work, right? And so...
INTERVIEWEE
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
separation boundary that I agreed to with my wife, but I understand that he's 18, living on his own somewhere in Provo and working and supporting himself.
INTERVIEWEE
Oh, we didn't send chat down to spend time with Jody. They would meet on Zoom. Ah, I see. Yeah, we were in a screen. Well, even in 2019.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
So when did Ruby and Jody, to your knowledge, decide to collaborate, come together and mesh life? Because that's what's happened.
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
into
INTERVIEWEE
Yeah, but at that period it was pretty nebulous, I don't know. What's that word mean? It was just a lot of talk and everyone had solid plans.
SPEAKER 3
Cut.
INTERVIEWEE
Let's start by doing podcasts together. That's all I know. I know that they published a book together recently you can find on Amazon. It's a secret.
SPEAKER 3
Well, at some point, and again, I'm not digging into your life, but I'm trying to understand this. At some point,
INTERVIEWEE
When you talk about a business thriving in terms of business and money, when we stopped passengers on YouTube, we lost 90 % of our income. So to say that business was thriving, in my perspective, no. I don't think it ever was.
SPEAKER 3
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
Bye.
INTERVIEWEE
And some of my own addictions that I was working through and seeking help on with pornography.
SPEAKER 3
you
SPEAKER 3
Is that something you came to the realization that you needed help and weren't doing things right? Or is that something that like Jody helped you guys recognize that?
INTERVIEWEE
that's
SPEAKER 3
maybe Ruby needed more, I'm trying to understand her involvement in your guys' life. She's my focus, I just...
INTERVIEWEE
I understand and I can perceive that. Jody and Ruby have a close relationship and Jody saw the need for me to get help. And frankly I agree. The space has been exactly what I need to face my own addictions and receive the support and help that I've needed. And so this space has been very, very good for me.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 1
So when you stated that you and Ruby had this no contact that you guys just verbally agreed upon, was that an idea given by Jolie that she recommended you guys have that space and not contact one another?
SPEAKER 3
But that was while Jody and Ruby were friends and collaborating and doing podcasts and sure. Well, you're the custodial parent of these children. I don't see why we can't explain to you why you were involved. So I don't recall the exact time, but sometime before 11 o 'clock today, we received a phone call from 911 on our dispatch. That a 12 to 13 year old boy was knocking on doors in a neighborhood asking for food and water. That he was severely emaciated, that he had... What does emaciated mean? Skinny, scrawny, malnutritioned, not enough food, not enough water to sustain life. So he had... I'm sorry, what? He had duct tape on his extremities, on his hands, on his ankles, and those were covering rope burns that were used to tie him down. Take a second and think about what I just said. That's the condition of your son. Given that information, your son was taken to the hospital. A warrant has been applied and granted by the Department of Child and Family Services to remove both Russell and Eve from your wife's care. So no one right now is going to have access to these two children based on their physical condition. Do you understand that? I understand. Do you... would you condone that behavior? Would I condone that behavior?
INTERVIEWEE
Um,
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
No, again, I don't know the details or I don't know where it comes from, but as you described that, that sounds...
SPEAKER 3
you
SPEAKER 3
Horrible, horrible, disgusting. No human being should be treated like that. That's my thoughts. But again, we might be different on that. We're going to let you sit here for a second, okay? We're going to go on top. I'm not saying you're still not free to go. Are you under arrest? Absolutely not. We just have lots of questions related to your slots. Okay? Okay. Because... Your children are under medical care right now.
INTERVIEWEE
Okay.
SPEAKER 3
And what does that mean? It means that you don't have access to them. My understanding is that they are, what is that? They're in the custody of DCFS. And they will be for the next?
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
17.
SPEAKER 1
based on our understanding.
SPEAKER 1
observation, you're being watched. DCFS is going to provide you that information and they can better answer your questions along those lines. That's handled through them. Okay?
SPEAKER 1
Bye.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
So I have no idea where they're at. Oh, I don't either. But, um... Okay, we're going to hop out here. We'll be back in a minute, okay? That's still recording audio and video, okay? So if you would, don't make any phone calls. Sure.
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
I don't know. I'm being honest with you. I don't know. I haven't had any of you. I don't know if I've started this against my wife. Possibly.
SPEAKER 3
I think given the circumstances, that's highly appropriate, but again, I don't know your wife. I was hoping to gain some insight from you, but I don't necessarily know that that's something you wanted to... I trust her.
INTERVIEWEE
But really you wanted to travel down with me, so... And all without legal representation. Yeah, alright, I get it. But I love my wife, and I trust my wife. And so, I mean, this feels like, you know, run over by a steam truck while you're sharing with me today. Yeah. You actually tell your caught up car? I thought I was just coming here to pick up my kids, and for kids. I don't know what or why. And I was finally able to take it back with me. I mean, I'd love to have a
SPEAKER 3
I'd love to have a candid conversation with you, I just don't know how it's going to be received by you. I don't know you, but I can tell you my perception of how this happened.
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
Well,
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
You have a child. Because he's emaciated, malnutritioned. And has marks. I didn't spend any time with him. Sergeant Tobler did. Did any of you spend time with him? I have not.
INTERVIEWEE
because
SPEAKER 3
Russell, based on their condition.
INTERVIEWEE
along
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
you realize that I have a picture of my family on my wall. And I look at it every day. And I work. I work. Every day. So I can get back to my family. Save my family. Everything you're sharing to me just sounds like a made up stories. I have no idea what you're talking about. It sounds like a horror movie.
INTERVIEWEE
I get it. You're all doing your jobs. I get it. I understand. And this is my life. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids. I just want my kids.
INTERVIEWEE
Bye.
INTERVIEWEE
I don't know what's going on. I don't know why these things that you describe happen. I don't know. It's almost like, I want to say, I'm sorry, you must have somebody else because... Am I in the right conference room here? That's what I feel like it's reality, you know. I'm having a hard time accepting that.
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
Okay.
INTERVIEWEE
to transfer the titles of the car to my name or we're going to cancel these credit cards and stuff like that. So just stuff related to the finances really is our only communications over the past year.
INTERVIEWEE
her.
INTERVIEWEE
I've had no reason to believe or think that there was anything going on. For all intents and purposes, I woke up this morning looking at the picture of my family and making my commitment today, as I do every day, that I'm going to live an honest, a virtuous, and a responsible life today. And what you're sharing with me just feels like a sucker punch. Just imagine. Brianna, do you have
INTERVIEWEE
Yeah.
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
Well,
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
INTERVIEWEE
separate
INTERVIEWEE
I know you're all doing your jobs. And I know you all have the best interest in my kids, don't I? I appreciate that. Thank you. That means a lot. I just want my kids back. I want my family back. I want my wife back.
INTERVIEWEE
Okay.
SPEAKER 3
you
INTERVIEWEE
you
SPEAKER 3
I don't want this to sound rude, Kevin. We've got some things to do, but we're not kicking you out. Put the buildings closed. Okay, no, I need to go. Okay. You're going to be okay side of the room. Do you drink Red Bulls?
SPEAKER 3
You