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A friend of “America’s most inbred family” has addressed cruel rumours that one of the most severely disabled members has died.
The Whittaker clan, who live in a run-down shack in Odd, Virginia, suffer from numerous birth defects after their ancestors married each other.
Ray, now 70, is among the most severely affected and can only communicate by grunts.
READ MORE: Doctor explains why inbred 'Deliverance' family may communicate through barks
A cruel rumour emerged online over the last few days that he had died but a pal of the group, Lauren, has said he's still very much alive.
The former marijuana smuggler told her YouTube followers: “What we need to start doing is sending him love because he is having some pain in his leg.”
Lauren says Ray's problems are just the general aches and pains associated with old age.
“It's just sad how many people think that he's dead and we still have him here,” Lauren continued.
“It’s not like he has outlets where he can say that he's still alive, so it's up to people like me that have visited him to let you know that he's doing okay.”
Alongside rumours of Ray’s death sweeping the internet, Luaren had also seen reports that his older sister Betty had died as well.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are watching these videos, so obviously people are believing it but they're still alive," she said.
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The family’s unique story began in the early 1900s, when two twin brothers – Henry and John Whittaker – allowed their children to marry each other.
The couple had some 15 children together, although many of them suffered from severe genetic defects and didn’t survive infancy.
Now the current generation of Betty, Lorene, Timmy, Larry and Kenneth live together with Ray in a run-down shack in Odd, West Virginia.
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Ray has inherited the most severe disabilities as a result of his heritage. He is nonverbal, communicating mainly with grunts and barks, and there’s speculation that he suffers from nonverbal autism.
Film-maker Mark Laita described his first meeting with the family: “Ray was uncontrollable, he would stand right next to my camera, like right next to it, two inches away from the lens, I said I needed him to stand with his brothers, and then as soon as I corrected him, he would just flip out and start screaming, running off.
“His pants would fall down around his ankles, then he would go and kick a metal garbage can”.
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