…Researched and contributed by Jack Sylva for TDPel Media.
The Whittaker family, known as America’s most inbred family, has been given fresh haircuts and appears to be transformed.
The family rose to fame in 2004 after their complicated family tree was exposed in a YouTube documentary.
The family’s story began in the early 1900s when twin brothers Henry and John allowed their children to marry each other and have 15 children together.
Most of the children did not survive their early years. The five living family members, Ray, Betty, Larry, Lorene, and Lorene’s son Timmy, all live together in a dilapidated house in the West Virginia town of Odd.
The family has several physical and mental issues, probably due to their genetics, but Ray appears to be the most affected, speaking only in grunts and non-verbal exclamations.
The family recently received haircuts from Appalachian Barbershop and Salon in Beckley, West Virginia, about 20 miles north of Odd. Betty, Lorene, Ray, and Timmy all received a trim, and Ray and Timmy had a fresh shave.
Betty and Lorene had their hair washed and styled.
The family members all appeared to be delighted with their new haircuts, and Ray even shaved off his iconic beard and opted for an eye-catching mustache.
Fans were quick to praise the family’s transformation, with one person describing the video as “human kindness at its best.”
The Whittaker family’s story is one of inter-family marriages that may have led to their physical and mental conditions.
Despite their isolation, the family still receives visits from relatives.
Larry and Ray’s cousin, Jason, who visits them, says that despite their unusual circumstances, the family is like everybody else and would give the shirt off their back for someone in need.