Innate locals who communicate in grunts, one mansion and a church are the main features of a quiet community in West Virginia.
Odd – about 75 miles from Charleston – is a small coal mining district in Raleigh County that is home to just 779 people.
It is an unincorporated community, meaning there is no local government or elected officials in the area.
When trying to choose a name for the area, the local community wanted something quirky and unique, and so they chose Odd, and it stuck.
There are only two buildings in the entire area that are not residential – a post office and the Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
Freddie and Ray, siblings, pictured with their nephew Timmy who lives at the family home in Odd, West Virginia
A couple of YouTubers decided to explore the small community, showing off several twisting, single-track roads that were almost covered in wild, overgrown greenery.
They find the home of the Whitaker family, which has been described as one of the most intermarried families in the United States—protected by neighbors with hunting rifles.
Real Appalachia films their journey across the dashboard, crossing the trailer, two homes, and a small outbuilding that makes up the Whitaker family’s base.
There is also an abandoned unchartered colliery in the area, along Odd Road, which is enclosed, but would have been where John Whitaker, who had 15 children with first cousin Gracie, worked.
Shane and Melody, who run a YouTube channel, came across an old primary school on Odd School Road – which has since been converted into a family home.
In the distance, the couple found a four-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion, valued at $600,000, though most of the homes are modest.
Throughout the video, they describe the area and the people as “very nice” and the area as “very peaceful”.
They passed by the Whitaker home and spotted some family members but decided not to explore further.
There are only two buildings in the entire area that are not residential – a post office (pictured) and the Mountain Valley Baptist Church
In the distance, the couple stumbled upon a four-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion, valued at $600,000, though most homes are modest.
Several generations of the family live on the property, with the inbred group beginning with two sets of first cousins who marry and have children.
DailyMail.com revealed that a group of identical twin brothers sparked the family’s history of incest, with sons Henry and John Whitaker marrying and having their first child in 1937.
Director Marc Laeta sheds light on the family in a short documentary as some of them suffer from mental and physical disorders.
He has described the inbred family as something out of the 1972 thriller, Deliverance.
One family member, Ray, seems to suffer the most and communicates with Laita through noises rather than words and points to show him items in their home.
In April last year, he returned to the Whitaker family, whom he first met in 2004 and filmed in 2020 and talked about on the channel.
Laita says the family’s genetic complications have caused a host of behavioral problems, which she describes as “out of control.”
The first time he approached them was in the early 2000s when “protection” neighbors met him with a shotgun.
Shane and Melody, who run a YouTube channel, came across an old primary school on Odd School Road – which has since been converted into a family home.
There is also an abandoned uncharted coal mine in the area, along Odd Road, which is enclosed, but would have been where John Whittaker, who had 15 children with first cousin Gracie, worked.
DailyMail.com has tracked several birth certificates that show that the Whitaker family’s marriage began with twin brothers John and Henry Whitaker in 1887.
John married his first cousin Ada Riggs – daughter of Mary Perkins who was the sister of John and Henry’s mother Eliza.
Ada and John had nine children, including Gracie Irene Whitaker, who was born in 1920.
John’s brother Henry married Sally Burton, and they had seven children, including John Emory Whitaker, born in 1913.
Gracie and John were first cousins, but they married in November 1935 and had their first daughter in 1937 before having 14 more children.
Danny Ray Whitaker, better known as Ray, makes up a large part of the documentary.
It seems he and Lauren are both unable to speak, and only grunt – but the other family members are able to speak for them.
It is an unincorporated community, meaning there is no local government or elected officials in the area
John Wade Whitaker (left) died in 2022, after being born in 1950. He had five children, many grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Born Barbara Whitaker (R) in September 1940, she didn’t appear to be married before her death after a brief illness in October 2008
Nanny Lou Whitaker, born in 1942, is still alive and remarried after losing her first husband, William
Michael ‘Stevie’ Whittaker passed away in July 2001 at the age of 40, while Jodi passed away in August of 2021 — though it’s unclear how they both died.
One of the director’s most recent videos from 2021 showed the family’s deteriorating conditions, with the group living in a small house crammed with a number of animals.
In the last installment, he was eager to show Laita the new things they had on the property, and seemed excited to have him back.
The family didn’t know their genetic issues were caused by inbreeding, they told the director, adding that they couldn’t remember much about their parents or other family members.
To help improve Whittaker’s living conditions and make home improvements, Laita previously created a GoFundMe in 2022 which has since raised $46,433.
One of the director’s most recent videos from 2021 showed the family’s deteriorating conditions, with the group living in a small house crammed with a number of animals.
Laeta said he came home on a whim to see how the family was doing.
Then he decided to pick up his iPhone and take pictures of their “poverty level” and their living conditions.
