Who is Faye Yager? Meet the subject of the new docu-series, 'Children of the Underground'

Faye Yager has devoted her life to protecting children. But this noble undertaking did not come without backlash, which we witness in Children of the Underground. 

Joining the lineup of 2022's true crime documentaries, the FX project is an exploration of Yager's retaliation against the legal system that failed her, as well as her desire to keep families safe.  

"If there's no other option, get in touch with Faye Yager. She's the one that can help," we hear a woman state in the series trailer. 

Here's what you need to know about Yager and her highly-debated efforts, which began with her service, Children of the Underground. 

Why did Faye Yager create Children of the Underground?

Faye had witnessed her first husband, Roger Jones, abusing their daughter, Michelle, at just two years old—an unimaginable atrocity. He retaliated by insisting she had experienced mental health issues, according to TIME, and the court ultimately granted him custody of his child. However, years later, he was found guilty of molesting young women in Florida. 

After experiencing something so unthinkable, Yager (who was born Billie Faye Wisen in West Virginia) decided to help women and children who experienced similar situations—families who were rejected by the court system she grew to hate. 

"I understood I wasn’t the only one. I saw this as my chance to change things, to make some sense out of what I had lived through," she told People in 1989. 

She assisted thousands of families escaping dangerous situations by relocating them to safe houses across the country and helping them to change their identity. She had a hotline that people could call and one in which she used to help gather information about callers' abuse allegations and custody battles. Her anonymous volunteers were oftentimes referred to as "Sally."

While most would find this as a selfless, courageous act, there were those who'd go against Yager with death threats and acts of violence like running her off the road and leaving dead animals on her front yard. 

In 1992, she was  charged with cruelty to children, interference with custody and kidnapping in connection, though charges were ultimately dropped. She was at one time even considered one of the most wanted people in America. 

Today, Faye and her third husband, Howard, run an inn in North Carolina, though the time in which she stopped championing for women and children's safety is not entirely clear. 

According to a three-star review on Roger Ebert's website: "Children of the Underground [is] as an intricate character study of someone who is scarred and flawed, but fixated on what we'd all want: for children to be safe. If mistakes are made in the process, does that negate those who are saved? 

How to watch 'Children of the Underground'

The five-part docuseries will air on FX on August 12, and episodes are available for next-day streaming via Hulu. 

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Should you be interested in other buzzy true crime docs, you can try I Just Killed My Dad, Netflix's August Skye Borgman release, and her July sensation, Girl in the Picture, which focuses on the astounding Sharon Marshall case. In September, Discovery+ will premiere the Armie Hammer documentary, House of Hammer, which focuses on the actor's abuse allegations and his family's generations of wrongdoing.