Is Lori Vallow a cold-blooded killer? The case against her is strong
One of the most bizarre and complicated cases in recent history, the deaths of Tylee Ryan & J.J. Vallow continues to become even more complicated. Their mother, Lori Vallow, is the prime suspect in the case due to her suspicious behavior leading up to their disappearance.
With more information coming out on a daily basis, this case continues to form an increasingly confusing web of murder, theft, conspiracy, and even doomsday predictions. Buckle up! This case is a wild ride that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
Background
Tylee Ryan was born in 2002 to Lori Vallow & Joseph Ryan. The couple divorced in 2005. In 2006, Lori Cox married Charles Vallow. They adopted Vallow’s grandnephew J.J. in 2014. After Charles Vallow died in July 2019, Lori Vallow married Chad Daybell in November 2019.
Tylee and J.J. were last seen in Idaho in September 2019. Lori unenrolled J.J. from elementary school, claiming she would homeschool him. Lori started to hire a nanny to help with J.J. However, a couple of weeks later, Lori told the nanny J.J. was in Hawaii with his grandparents for a month. While the nanny tried to contact Lori again, Lori did not respond.
On June 9th, 2020, police searched Chad Daybell’s Idaho house, where they discovered human remains. On June 10th, the family announced that they were Tylee & J.J. The police later confirmed that statement on June 13th.
Conspiracy theories & doomsday predictions
While conspiracy theories do not necessarily connect directly with the crime, it’s worth mentioning Lori Vallow’s obscure ideas. To start, she and her family are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This comes more into play later, but it’s worth mentioning for some background as to why she suddenly became so interested in the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse.
In 2018, Lori Vallow appeared on a podcast with Chad Daybell, on which they discussed the end of the world. This was their first public appearance together.
In February 2019, Charles Vallow filed for divorce, declaring that Lori was threatening to kill him and stole $35,000 from him. While Charles was on a business trip, Lori cancelled his flights, threw out his belongings, and locked him out of his house.
Charles voiced his concerns to the police, fearing for his children’s safety. He even asked for a mental health evaluation for Lori. While she did eventually get evaluated, she was ultimately released.
Then, Lori Vallow disappeared for 58 days. There is still no word on where she went.
Tylee & J.J.’s grandparents revealed that Lori Vallow thought she was the reincarnation of Joseph Smith’s wife. Charles Vallow also said that Lori was preparing for the end of the world, which she claimed will happen when Christ returns in July 2020.
Charles Vallow’s death
Charles Vallow eventually stopped filing for divorce. However, he found out about a possible affair between Chad Daybell & Lori and emailed Lori’s brother, Adam Cox.
On July 11, 2019, Charles went to the Cox family home to take J.J. to school. Alex Cox, Lori’s other brother, was also visiting the house. At one point, Charles & Alex got into an argument. After striking Alex Cox with a baseball bat, Cox went to his bedroom, got a gun, and shot and killed Charles. Cox claimed the act was in self-defense and was not convicted for Charles Vallow’s death.
Alex Cox has a history of violence: he had previously been arrested for tasing Lori’s third husband Joseph Ryan and threatening to kill him. For this Cox was convicted of aggravated assault.
Hours after Charles Vallow’s death, Lori was found on police body camera footage going to a pool party. Thirty-six hours after Charles Vallow died, Lori texted his family about the news, but did not reveal any details about how Charles died.
Days later, Lori called Charles Vallow’s insurance company to ask about his $1 million life insurance policy. However, unbeknownst to Lori, Charles had already taken her off the policy in June 2019 and made his sister, Kay Woodcock, the sole beneficiary.
Moving to Idaho for Chad Daybell
At the end of August 2019, Lori Vallow took Tylee & J.J. to Rexburg, Idaho to be with Chad Daybell. Daybell is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has written books about his faith and the end of the world.
As stated earlier, Chad Daybell & Lori Vallow didn’t meet until 2018, but Lori had first heard about Daybell when she read his work in 2015 and, according to a friend, became obsessed with his books.
At the time, Daybell was married to Tammy Douglas. They had been married since 1990 and had five children. On October 9th, Tammy called 911 after being shot with a paintball gun by a masked man. On October 19th, 2019, Tammy died. According to her obituary, she died in her sleep; however, her autopsy results have not been released.
Though the coroner claimed Tammy’s death was not suspicious, due to these extraordinary events, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office requested her body to be exhumed for an autopsy. While her autopsy was finally conducted in December 2019, the results have not been released to the public.
Two weeks later on November 5th, 2019, Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow. Due to released photos of the ceremony, it is believed they were married in Hawaii. At the time, sources have said that the couple told people they had no children.
A storage locker & a suspicious Amazon order
Rewinding back to October 2019, Lori Vallow rented a storage locker. Vallow & Alex Cox were found on video footage moving children’s clothing, toys, and photos into the locker. It was abandoned after Daybell & Lori Vallow left for Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Kay Woodcock, Charles’s sister who had been granted control of the life insurance, was setting up a printer and happened to find orders made on Charles’s Amazon account. These orders were made after his death and were shipped to Lori’s house in Idaho.
While Woodcock found these orders on November 8th, one item was bought on October 2nd: a wedding ring. Woodcock also saw in the browser’s search history that Lori had searched for a wedding dress & suit. These items were searched & bought before Tammy Daybell had died.
Woodcock had also noticed that there hadn’t been an order for Vallow’s children since July 2019. Because of the worrisome purchases, Woodcock requested a welfare check for Tylee and J.J.
Official people of interest
This seems to be what got police and the FBI acutely interested in the case. In December 2019, the Rexburg Police Department officially released a statement about the missing children’s case.
Lori Vallow & Chad Daybell left Idaho on a flight to Hawaii, once again without Vallow’s children. They were officially declared people of interest on December 21st, 2019. Police obtained search warrants and found Vallow’s storage locker containing her children’s possessions.
What happens now?
As stated earlier, Lori Vallow was arrested in Hawaii in February 2020. She was extradited back to Idaho in March 2020 and has since gone through a number of trials in court. In March 2020, court documents state that Lori Vallow & Chad Daybell believed that Tylee & J.J. were possessed and became zombies.
Daybell was arrested on June 9th, 2020 when human remains were found on his property. Because Tylee & J.J.’s remains have been found, the police investigation will now be focusing on Lori Vallow & Chad Daybell’s motive.
Vallow & Daybell’s bails were both set at $1 million, so it’s unlikely they will be released anytime soon. Vallow requested a reduction to her bail, but the judge denied her request.
There is no word on what will happen in relation to Tammy Daybell’s death.
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