Siblings Joshua “J.J” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in September and their mother, Lori Vallow, was arrested Thursday night on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i where she escaped to after her children disappeared.
She faces two counts of desertion of a child and other charges. Despite the police in Kaua’i stating there is “no indication” the children are there, they remain unaccounted for.
Prior to her kids vanishing, Loria had recently married Chad Daybell — a religious author who writes about the end times. In addition, multiple people who are close to Lori and Chad have died under mysterious circumstances.
The following are key points to follow as the investigation of the case continues.
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8. Lori Disenrolled J.J. from School, Claimed She Had Job Offer In Different State
J.J. was last seen attending classes at Kennedy Elementary School in Rexburg on September 23 — a school that he had attended for just three weeks. Lori claimed in an email to the school how they had to “move quickly” as she needed to accept an out-of-state offer.
Principal Josh Wilson told East Idaho News that recalls Lori coming to the school on Sept. 24, and informing administrators that she planned to homeschool the child, filling out the proper paperwork to disenroll him.
“It’s a common process,” Wilson shared with the newspaper. “There was nothing at the time that would cause us any alarm.”
Pictured: Joshua “J.J” Vallow and Tylee Ryan
7. Odd Assortment of the Children’s Belongings Was Found in an Idaho Storage Unit Just After Lori Left for Hawaii
Lori rented and later abandoned a storage unit where she kept items that appeared to belong to the children, according to East Idaho News.
Based on surveillance video, police report she rented the unit on October 1, and was seen checking on the belongings multiple times. But when the credit card on file to pay for the unit was declined in January, the owner of the unit called police.
Police discovered bikes, a scooter, winter clothing, a photo album with pictures of J.J. and Tylee, sports equipment, along with a backpack with J.J.’s initials in the storage unit. In addition, there were also blankets showing photos of the children.
6. Currently, Cops Are Investigating Multiple Deaths Involving Lori and Chad
Tammy Daybell, Chad’s wife, was found dead in her bed last October. Authorities believed her death as “natural,” despite her having zero preexisting medical ailments at just 49-years-old. When the police learned of the other multiple and odd deaths, they exhumed her body and performed an autopsy. The results are pending and may not be available for several more months.
Tammy’s death was followed months after Lori’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot to death in July 2019 by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox claimed he shot Charles in self-defense at Lori’s home and was never charged.
Then, on December 12, 2019, Alex Cox was found dead in his girlfriend’s bedroom. The cause of his death is also pending.
Pictured: Chad Daybell
5. Authorities Reveal How Not Only Has Lori Has Been Uncooperative, She Also Missed Deadline to Produce Her Children
Just last month, Chad and Lori were found in Hawaii but the children could not be located. Authorities gave Lori five days to produce the children but missed the deadline on January 30. Authorities did not take action until Feb. 20 when they arrested her.
J.J.’s grandfather, Larry Woodcock, gave a comment to PEOPLE prior to Lori’s arrest regarding her lack of cooperation.
“She didn’t comply with a court order,” he says. “She belongs in handcuffs.”
4. Police Believe the Children Are Not Safe
After learning the children were missing, authorities released a series of statements stating that their lives were (and currently are) in danger.
“We know that the children are not with Lori and Chad Daybell, and we also have information indicating that Lori knows either the location of the children or what has happened to them,” the Rexburg police shared in a statement.
“It is astonishing that rather than work with law enforcement to help us locate her own children, Lori Vallow has chosen instead to leave the state with her new husband.”
3. Lori Would Fantasize About Driving Kids off Cliff
“It’s like she wanted me to be afraid of the end times,” Annie Cushing, Tylee’s aunt, revealed in an interview with KSL TV.
Recalling Lori’s statements anticipating the end of the world, Cushing recalled:
“There was one time where she was talking about it and she says, ‘sometimes, I think it would be better just to put my kids in a car and go off the side of a cliff.’”
2. Lori Believes She is a God
When Charles Vallow was killed, he was seeking a divorce from Lori.
According to his legal filings, he described Lori’s extreme religious beliefs and alleged that Lori believed she was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020 and that if Father [Charles] got in her way of her mission she would murder him.”
Lori shortly moved to Idaho and married Chad.
1. Lori Faces 14 Years in Prison for Each Count of Child Desertion
According to the Kaua’i Police Department press release, Vallow has been charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. In addition, she has also been charged with arrests and seizures — resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court — along with willful disobedience of court process or order.
Chad has not been arrested.
Currently, Lori is being held on $5 million bond and faces a maximum sentence on each count of 14 years in prison.
This is an on-going investigation.
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