14/11/2025
Amid the rugged mountains of West Virginia lies a small village with a peculiar name — Odd.
In this place lives the Whittaker family, in an old house with no electricity, no water, and no trace of modern living. It’s as if they are stuck in the past, surviving in extreme poverty and almost completely cut off from society.
In 2004, documentary photographer Mark Laita visited the area to find out whether the stories about them were true. What he discovered was far more than he expected. The family did not communicate in a normal way — mostly grunts, murmurs, and sometimes even barking.
One of them, Ray, would often just stare blankly into space, as if he were seeing another world. There were physical deformities, mental impairments, and unusual behaviors resulting from generations of close-relative intermarriage and total isolation.
When Laita’s footage was released online, the world was shocked. 🌍
Many felt sad; others simply couldn’t believe what they saw. But behind the shock lies a deeper truth: they are not some strange spectacle — they are victims of severe poverty and neglect.
With no education, no medical care, and almost no contact with the outside world, their life reflects the heavy consequences of being completely separated from society.
They leave us with a lingering question: What happens to humanity when it is abandoned completely in the dark?
Fun fact: The village name “Odd” is real — it came from a post office established in the 1880s, and to this day, the name remains, adding to the mystery surrounding the place.