had extremely pale skin.
Some exhibited an unusual sensitivity to sunlight.
Others displayed hereditary traits suggesting generations of close family ties.
The investigation quickly expanded beyond child protection.
The question then became one of genetics, isolation, and history.
How long had this family been separated from the outside world?
And how many generations had lived like that?
The answers were buried deep within old documents.
Researchers who have examined the history of the Dalhart family have discovered patterns that have raised serious concerns.
For generations, marriages had taken place almost exclusively within the same small group of relatives.
The family had remained genetically isolated for decades.
The children found in the barn were not the result of a supernatural phenomenon.
They were the result of repeated human decisions from generation to generation.
The isolation had had consequences.
The mountains had protected the family from the outside world.
But they had
