The stranger and stranger case of Lori Vallow: Where are the kids?

Lori Vallow has left a mess behind her long before she was arrested for the disappearance of her two children. Between the rumors of being in a cult, being on her fifth husband, and accused of killing his first wife, there’s a lot to question about this woman. 

Now, with Vallow’s legal council trying to lower her bail from $1 million to $10,000, the court said they’d agree on one condition: produce her missing children. So the question remains: where are Lori Vallow’s children?

Missing children relating to murder

In September of 2019, the Vallow family saw their nephews Joshua, age 7, and Tylee, age 17, for the last time. By November, extended family members were concerned as no one could contact Lori or had heard from her two children. A welfare check on November 26th found out that the “family friend” Lori said Joshua was staying with was a lie. 

On the 27th, police got search warrant to search all location associated with Vallow and her new husband Chad Daybell, but could turn up nothing. At that point, police assumed Vallow and Daybell had left Idaho, or at least their hometown of Rexburg.

What made their sudden disappearance even more interesting was Daybell’s ex-wife turned up dead in October. Initially ruled a death by natural causes, her corpse was exhumed so police could perform an autopsy. Daybell and Vallow married within weeks of Daybell’s death, so police ruled her death suspicious.

A runaway vacation to Hawaii

It was clear Vallow was not willing to cooperate with investigators in regards to her children’s disappearance. She sent police on a wild goose chase about Joshua, and she refused to return phone calls, on top of fleeing the state. So, police gave her until January 30th to produce her children to avoid arrest.

Naturally, she ignored the rules, and continued her runaway trip to Hawaii. But once February struck, police in Hawaii were no longer being friendly. She was arrested by Kaua’i police on February, and after a search, police revealed that the children were not on the island. Not long after, she was expedited to Idaho for her hearing. 

Fifth times the charm?

Looking back at Vallow’s marital history, it’s no surprise police are considering her a prime suspect in Daybell’s ex-wife’s death. Starting with her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was killed by her brother in 2019. Mysteriously, her brother passed away not long after Vallow’s death. 

Her third husband and Tylee’s father, Joseph Ryan, died of an apparent heart attack in 2018, but the prosecution is asking for the toxicology report in his death in relation to the murder of Daybell’s ex. Their custody battle over Tylee pointed towards Vallow as an unstable individual, as a social worker noted she once said she’d rather kill Tylee before letting Ryan see him. 

But what’s really of note is the restraining order Charles Vallow filed against her before his death. Claiming Vallow viewed herself as a god, sent to Earth to lead the people for the second coming of Jesus in July 2020, she threatened to kill him if he stopped her plans. Her spiritual visions and obsession with near-death experiences were becoming too much. 

Where are Joshua and Tylee?

As the preliminary hearings for Vallow begin, police are still questioning where the children are. They know that Vallow knows either where the children are, or what happened to them. As Vallow and her attorney fight to get the bail lower, they’ve been given a choice: give up the location of the children, or keep the bail at a million dollars. 

At one point, Vallow told police that Tylee died, but didn’t give police any information about his death. It’s still unclear if that was an attempt to say that she only had one missing child, or if she killed Tylee herself. Though it’s sad to say, it wouldn’t be a surprise if in her delusions, Vallow killed her children. 

It’s clear that whatever religion she believes in has Vallow brainwashed. She threatened her former husband that she would kill him if he got in her way. If one of her children were starting to affect her plans, she may go the extra mile to take them out. It’s sad to see, but in the bizarre case of Lori Vallow, it wouldn’t be hard to believe.

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