MFM Minisode 438

This is exactly right.

How could popular Mormon family vlogger Ruby Frankie end up being convicted for child abuse?

The answer to that question is Jodi Hildebrand.

But Jodi's manipulation extended far beyond the Frankie family, seemingly leaving a trail of victims in her wake.

This ID documentary event features never-before-seen interviews from survivors who found the courage to expose her systematic abuse.

Ruby and Jody, a cult of sin and influence, premieres September 1st at 9 p.m.

Eastern on ID.

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Hello, and welcome to my favorite murder, the mini-sode.

That's right, here we are.

Here we go, reading you your meals you sent us.

Thank you.

You go first?

Yeah, we do.

Thank you.

I'll go first because I have for you a badass grandma story.

Awesome.

And then it says in parentheses, name reveal at the end.

Great.

Beautifully structured.

It says, hi, ladies, longtime listener, first-time writer, inner.

Let's get to the stories.

My grandma is a badass bitch and didn't take shit from anyone.

To set the scene, my grandma is six foot, married to a dairy farmer, a strong son of a bitch who also worked full-time outside of the farm.

Who even has the time anymore?

My lord.

Yeah, that's fucking insane.

A farmer with a full-time job that isn't farming.

Right.

No.

My grandparents have the most precious love story.

They met when they were four, lived down the street from each other, started dating in high school, and have been inseparable ever since.

They have three daughters, my mom, the oldest, my aunt, let's call her aunt number one in this story, and the youngest aunt, let's call her aunt number two.

Aunt number two has multiple sclerosis and can't feel her legs she didn't use a walking aid but her legs tend to look a little wobbly one day grandma aunt number one and aunt number two went to walmart to grocery shop aunt number two went off on her own to get a few items as she was shopping around a man came up to her and got really close to what she was also looking for she didn't think much of it until she looked down and saw the man touching her legs and butt area

She was so frazzled, she just went to find aunt number one and my grandma without saying anything to the man.

When she found them, she told them what the man had done to her.

My grandma tracked the guy down, made sure he was alone in the aisle, and blocked him in with both carts, making sure that no one else could go down the aisle.

My grandma went to town on this man.

She was hitting him with her purse, and I'm sure some swear words were being thrown into the mix.

She eventually told the man to leave before doing any further damage.

The 90s were a beautiful time.

Wow.

So she fucking blocks off the aisle like a mafia oso

and is just like, yeah, you guys leave aisle six to us.

Look away.

We're going to take care of some business down here.

Story number two.

My grandma was on her normal route to work.

She would drive by this house, and no matter rain or shine, there would be a dog chained to the tree out front.

The dog was starting to look more and more malnourished and neglected.

My grandma was starting to get more and more angry as she drove by the house.

On one rainy day, my grandma said to herself, If that dog is tied up when I'm on my way home, I'm taking it.

And sure as shit, when my grandma was on her way home, the dog was outside grandma pulled over and stole the dog oh my god yes the dog was the sweetest little thing and the family named her sadie may she lived out the rest of her years being loved on and getting every single table scrap until her final days yay

for the long-awaited name reveal the perfect small town kansas grandma name ladonna

la donna wow ladonna was so remarkable she ended up passing in 2016 after a long battle with cancer She left a long-lasting legacy of fucking politeness and not taking shit from anyone.

Grandma's three daughters end up having four daughters of their own, and she taught every one of us to stand up for ourselves and what we think is right.

Also, grandma had a hitman show up to her funeral.

I guess she was friends with him.

SSDG on Megan.

Oh my God, I want a hitman showing up to my funeral.

Like, it could be an actor, but I want it to be like,

why is there a hitman?

I'm here to pay my respects to Georgia and the life that she lived.

But I have to be an old lady, though.

It can't be now.

No, it can't be now.

We have some stuff to do.

Please.

Oh, LaDonna.

That was amazing.

LaDonna.

LaDonna.

Yes, kicking ass in Walmart, taking care of business.

Okay, this is called Trash Dad on Safari is my first one.

Okay.

Hello from Melbourne, Australia.

In 2005, I was lucky enough to do a safari in Zimbabwe with my family.

It was me, around 13, my sister, around 15, and brother, around 8, and my my mom and dad.

The trip was amazing.

It was a walking safari, so a bit different to the usual driving safari when you get a cruise around in an open-top Jeep.

As a nerdy, science-obsessed teen, I was in heaven.

I badgered the guides all day and night, asking questions nonstop about all the different animals we had been lucky enough to see.

The guides were amazing, and there was a lot of emphasis on safety since we were on foot most of the time.

What a bummer.

Yeah.

We were told over and over again how the most dangerous animal we could encounter would be a mother with her young, as she'd be extremely protective and aggressive towards us.

So, cut to one morning when we're on our first walk of the day, we would always walk in single file with one guard with a gun at the front, followed by my mom, my siblings, and me, then my dad, and a second guide at the back of the group.

We were walking up a small hill when the front guide suddenly stopped us.

Awaiting us on the other side of the hill, only about 20 meters, and then it says 65 feet.

Oh, thank you,

away was a truly pissed-off mother elephant with her baby.

The guide told us to slowly and calmly walk backwards down the hill and out of the elephant's eyesight so that she would calm down and not charge us.

We did as he instructed, and once we were back down the hill and a bit safer, I turned around and can't believe what I saw.

About 50 meters

away is my dad, all caps, running for his life away from the angry elephant, completely abandoning his wife and three children.

Oh, no.

He had pushed past the guy at the back of the line and just made a break for it.

My dad is a wonderful man and a loving father, but he has never lived this day down.

That's fucking, what's that movie called?

Yes, The Avalanche of Gov.

Yeah, Force Majeur.

Yes.

It's my mom's favorite story to tell on any occasion, really.

And he always reacts the same bashful way.

Anyway, thanks for keeping me entertained every week.

Love your work, ladies.

Stay sexy and don't leave your family to get trampled.

H.

I mean, H, you're right about that.

We're in full agreement.

It seems unfair.

He's fucking later date.

Right out of there.

I'm so sorry.

I must go.

You guys can hang out here.

It's not like I could do anything if this elephant fucking comes after you.

I feel like I would fall for, because I thought you were going to say the most dangerous animal, which is a hippopotamus, because they say that that's the thing that tourists never get, which is you don't.

Hippopotamuses aren't nice.

They're fast.

And they're fast as fuck.

They're not little little ballerinas with pink lipsticks there's a fucking mfm animated about oh yes that's right so god it's one of the best yeah so good

look that one up but i would think that if i saw a mom elephant and a baby elephant i would be like oh i toward it nope turns out no no no no

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Goodbye.

How could popular Mormon family vlogger Ruby Frankie end up being convicted for child abuse?

The answer to that question is Jodi Hildebrand.

But Jodi's manipulation extended far beyond the Frankie family, seemingly leaving a trail of victims in her wake.

This ID documentary event features never-before-seen interviews from survivors who found the courage to expose her systematic abuse.

Ruby and Jodi, a cult of sin and influence, premieres September 1st at 9 p.m.

Eastern on ID.

This email subject line is Stupid Kids with Sharp Pencils Story.

Greetings, friends.

As soon as Karen started telling her story about stupid kids throwing pencils at each other, Billy Bertalucci and Jimmy Martin, I knew my time had finally arrived to share a story of my own, or rather, a story of my mom's.

The time, the early 70s, the place, a seventh grade classroom in Downey, California.

The carpenters lived right around the corner.

Young Young love, as we know, is very confusing.

And when a boy in my mom's class asked himself the age-old question of, how do I get my crush to notice me?

His pubescent brain came up with a foolproof plan.

This is wonderfully laid out.

He got up from his desk, walked over to the wall pencil sharpener to make sure his pencil of choice was as sharp as humanly possible, sat back down at his desk, and took aim.

No.

Like Cupid's arrow itself, his pencil arced over the heads of his unsuspecting classmates and sunk itself straight into my mom's hand as it rested on her desk.

Oh, he liked her.

It's like I was bullied a lot in elementary school, and I wonder if any of those boys

actually, because I thought they were just mean.

No, they were trying to get your attention.

They didn't know how.

She immediately went to the nurse's office and got bandaged up.

But to this day, she still has a small black dot between her index and middle side.

My friend Doug Jones has a fucking lead in his hand still.

Yes.

From childhood.

Many of the 70s do.

Yeah, that's true.

To remind her of the love that could have been.

To his credit, the boy definitely did not go unnoticed and is still memorable some 50 years later.

What if he got married?

Meaning he did it.

He did what he wanted to do, which is become memorable to her.

Oh, oh, yes.

Okay.

I thought it was a very highfalutin way of saying they got married.

Oh, yeah.

No, that would have been sweet.

Let's pretend.

Let's pretend.

Stay sexy and check for lead poisoning.

Chelsea.

Chelsea with an EY.

That was great.

Chelsea.

That was beautifully put together.

And also,

like, the plan of it, but then doing it and he didn't poke someone's eye out, which you would think.

It's like it actually works.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And she has this, like, her first tattoo from her first boyfriend.

Yeah.

Send us more stories of like first dates gone wrong or like getting attention gone wrong, but then like they, but the couple works out then, like your parents or whatever, your husband or your whatever.

Yeah, it's a pretty tall order.

We don't want to hear these ones where it just kind of falls apart.

No.

And the guy that perfectly throws a pencil into Chelsea's mom's hand disappears.

That's marriage material right there.

Land that man.

He could have been a pilot or something.

Okay.

I wanted to redo the title of this so bad because it's hilarious, but I'm not going to.

Remind me to do it after.

Hi, Karen in Georgia.

Longtime Marta Reno, first time with a hometown, although technically my twin sister got here first when she wrote in years ago just to roast me for proudly telling people she went on conjugal visits during law school while working with the innocence project.

What the fuck?

Can you read that whole thing again?

It needs to be unpacked.

First time with a hometown, although technically my twin sister got here first when she wrote in years ago just to roast me for proudly telling people she went on conjugal visits during law school while working with the innocence project.

So she was probably lying about the conjugal visits, but she did work with the innocence project.

Okay.

That sounds like something my sister would do.

Yes, to add a, like, she's not just helping at the innocence project.

Yeah, no, she goes for conjugal visits, too.

She's really helping us.

I know you think she's a saint, but she's actually

kind of a slit.

A sinner saint.

Okay, because I had absolutely no idea what that actually meant.

Oh, okay.

Conjugal visits.

Oh, she thought it was like going to talk to them in the prison.

Was that quick innit for the innocence project?

Oh, my God.

Okay, now I get it.

That's good.

That's real good.

Anyway, enough with my public shaming.

On to my story about laughter at inappropriate times.

So this happened about 15 years ago at a funeral for a close family friend's mother.

She was 94, had lived a long and lovely life full of telling us all we were too skinny and needed to eat, and giving us stories of her younger years growing up in Ukraine.

And honestly, the vibe should have been more a celebration of life than Shakespearean tragedy, but alas, the energy was grim.

Funeral.

The energy was, the energy was off.

Your Yelp review for the cemetery.

I love the cemetery.

Maybe too, Grim, but who are we to judge?

Grief is weird.

Uh-huh.

We're all graveside.

The casket is set up over the hole, concealed by one of those green velvety drapes that screams, pay no attention to the abyss below.

The grandson stands up to give a heartfelt eulogy, and his two-year-old breaks free from his mom's lap in the front row and runs towards his dad like a baby linebacker, except he misses.

He goes full toddler torpedo straight past his dad's legs and disappears into the grave.

Oh, like poof, gone.

Okay, this is, I'm gonna read you the title now.

The time a toddler yeeted himself into the afterlife.

Yeet it.

Immediate screaming echoes out of the hole, which thankfully meant he was totally fine, just shocked to find himself in the center of the plot.

My dad and I immediately lost it.

I mean, truly unhinged laughter.

You can't laugh at a toddler falling in the grave at a future.

You are required to.

It is the most insane visual of all time.

The kind where you physically can't stop.

I had to bury my face in his chest pretending to sob because it was either that or getting excommunicated.

This is still hands down the funniest thing I have ever witnessed.

And yet no one in the family will speak of it.

It's like it never happened.

The now 18-year-old child, blissfully unaware, I think.

But part of me wants to casually ask, hey, ever have any weird childhood dreams about falling into a void surrounded by folding chairs and cold finger sandwiches?

Stay sexy and don't fall into graves.

See.

Yeah, good advice.

Kid, a little toddler, ate it into a fucking open grave.

Running.

It's like a prank.

It's almost like that when they put the sticks over the hole in the forest type of thing.

And also, did they just run and pull that green blanket back up and just like flip him back out of there real quick?

Oh my god.

Okay, that's like that's lifelong trauma.

Yeah, it is.

How could popular Mormon family vlogger Ruby Frankie end up being convicted for child abuse?

The answer to that question is Jodi Hildebrand.

But Jodi's manipulation extended far beyond the Frankie family, seemingly leaving a trail of victims in her wake.

This ID documentary event features never-before-seen interviews from survivors who found the courage to expose her systematic abuse.

Ruby and Jodi, a cult of sin and influence, premieres September 1st at 9 p.m.

Eastern on ID.

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Goodbye.

Well, I think you're really going to enjoy the subject line of the

that time I made Guy Fieri apologize.

Ready?

Yes.

And just for anyone who's first joining us, Georgia has worked with Guy Fieri.

Guy Fieri also lives either in Petaluma or very close to Petaluma.

So everyone in my town has a story about how much they absolutely adore Guy Fieri.

He is a true hometown hero.

So no one's talking shit about Guy Fieri on this show.

No.

But apparently he had something to apologize for and we will tell those stories.

Let's hear it.

Hello to my gents, gals, and non-binary pals.

On a recent episode, you joked about meeting Guy Fieri.

And since you sometimes feature stories of fun celebrity encounters, I thought I'd share mine.

Great.

In the summer of 2024, I had the honor and privilege of attending the Paris Olympics.

Wow.

My in-laws are big donors to the Olympic Foundation, so we all got tickets.

Wow, is that how you do it?

I guess so.

You get a shit ton of money, and then you get an invite?

That makes sense.

Yeah, just buddy up to some billionaires.

Yeah.

They're great.

Not only that, but we got into the VIP rest areas.

As a public school teacher, this was all a little overwhelming.

At the rest area for equestrian jumping was Guy Fieri.

He was just trying to enjoy his day with his wife, so I really didn't want to bother him, but I had to try to get a picture with him for my sister.

Just a month before, my sister had attended a bachelorette party where they all dressed up as Guy Fieri.

Oh my God, that's brilliant.

My sister is an emergency room doctor, so when one of the women passed out from really bad food poisoning, she took the charge and called the ambulance.

The paramedics came and my sister attempted to give them important medical information, but she was still dressed as Guy Fieri, so they didn't take her seriously.

What?

Come on.

They got the sick woman to a hospital and she made a full recovery.

So I approached Guy Fieri and I awkwardly asked him if I could possibly get a picture with him.

He was incredibly nice and said, sure.

That's right.

That's nice.

That's what we know him to be in Petaluma, California.

I tell him I'm sorry to bother him, but I had to ask because my sister went to a bachelor art party where they all dressed up as him.

His response, I'm so sorry they chose to do that.

How weird.

Hey, they all dressed as you.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, that's right.

Your own very distinct look, whatever.

He says, I'm so sorry they chose to do that.

I said, they're not.

I, of course, texted this encounter and the picture to my sister, who shared it with the Bachelorette girls.

Apparently, it made their week.

I love that Guy Fieri is not only incredibly kind, but also used self-depreciating humor.

He truly is America's sweetheart.

Stay sexy and dress up like Guy Fieri, Katie.

That's so good.

So good.

That's so good.

It's like.

like the group of Santas that go bar hoving.

It should be a group of Guy Fieri.

It's like a great hop.

Yeah, I mean, like, and I love that it's like a bunch of women going to party yeah but they're like here here's what we're gonna look like tonight are we gonna be wearing sashes and like dildo hats no we're gonna take it into different dress no we're doctors okay

doctor's party like i'm not gonna read you the subject of my last one hi karen georgia and mfm crew my mom being a single parent often let my sister and i run wild and play at a little playground across the street from her work at a nursing home we'd walk there after school and we were either delegated some art task to occupy our time if the weather was bad, or if we were good, we could go play outside.

I was in fourth or fifth grade and as the older sister in charge, we lived in MN at the time, Minnesota, right?

Yep.

And the snow had finally melted and my mom didn't want us distracting her for the last hour of the day.

It was a really warm day, so ditching our winter jackets, I proposed we play a game where we pretended to be leaping horses.

I have no idea why, call it an act of imagination.

So my sister and I would run two steps and leap, run two steps and leap, all while neighing like we were majestic four-legged horses.

I see it.

I can clearly picture my old white sorrel boots sailing over grass and puddles.

We were almost at the playground equipment when I happened to glance down as I was leaping.

Right below my stretched out leg was a whole pile of writhing garter snakes.

Oh my god.

In my child's mind, it seemed like hundreds, but in actuality, it was probably only 30 to 50 snakes.

That's still bad.

That's 10 times the amount I could handle.

Absolutely.

I landed on the other side, just barely missing, stepping on the ones at the edge.

You know the feeling when something happens that you just can't quite believe is true?

I remember thinking that.

Why would there be a bunch of snakes all together in a great big pile?

I turned around to check, and sure enough, it was not a nightmare, but a group of writhing snakes.

I screamed, grabbed my sister's hand, and booked it back over to my mom's work at top human speed.

For the longest time, I assumed it was just snake mating season and was always super careful at the playground for the next year.

But today, I looked up some garter snake facts, and I guess in cold weather climates, snakes will hibernate in dens with up to a couple hundred snakes at a time.

Then they get to the mating business since they are all conveniently there.

Handy if you are a snake, I guess.

Terrifying if you are a horse human child.

And then, the title of this one is called Snake Orgy.

Thank you for keeping me sane on my drive to work.

SSDGM.

And always wear your boots when leaping around in the springtime.

Yeah.

Lindsay.

Lindsay, such good advice.

Also, if you're going to act like a horse, then act like a horse.

You would have seen those snakes from 15 paces.

Right.

But you would have startled and like jumped.

And then gone

and killed it.

Like, remember in the black stallion when the black stallion kills that cobra?

Oh, no.

Such wonderful films.

Careful.

Send us your stories of when you were doing stupid shit as a kid and nature got the better of you.

I mean, I think we could ask for childhood snake stories and probably get a ton.

Definitely.

Cause

you guys have them.

I drove up to the reservoir in Hollywood.

This is not a child story.

You know, that road up there, that parking lot.

As I was driving up that road, a no-joke, like a 10-foot snake went across the road in front of my car.

And I just, like, it went like that and made it.

And then I kept going.

But I was like, how is a snake that big?

No, I don't want that.

I don't want that.

This is why I stay at home.

It was 2005.

Oh, okay.

One.

Okay.

So it's probably even bigger now.

It's probably, it's probably 55 feet long and it lives inside the Hollywood sign.

Send us your story at my favorite murderer at Gmail.

And stay sexy.

And don't get murdered.

Goodbye.

Elvis, do you want a cookie?

This has been an exactly right production.

Our senior producers are Alejandra Keck and Molly Smith.

Our editor is Aristotle Aceveda.

This episode was mixed by Liana Spolachi.

Email your hometowns to myfavorite murder at gmail.com and follow the show on Instagram at MyFavorite Murder.

Listen to MyFavorate Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And now you can watch us on Exactly Right's YouTube page.

And while you're there, please like and subscribe.

Goodbye.

Bye-bye.

How could popular Mormon family vlogger Ruby Frankie end up being convicted for child abuse?

The answer to that question is Jodi Hildebrandt.

But Jodi's manipulation extended far beyond the Frankie family, seemingly leaving a trail of victims in her wake.

This ID documentary event features never-before-seen interviews from survivors who found the courage to expose her systematic abuse.

Ruby and Jodi, a cult of sin and influence, premieres September 1st at 9 p.m.

Eastern on ID.

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Goodbye.