Chad Daybell

Tylee Ashlyn Ryan (September 24, 2002 – September 9, 2019) and Joshua Jaxon "J. J." Vallow (May 25, 2012 – September 23, 2019) were two American children from Chandler, Arizona, who disappeared in September 2019, later being found buried in shallow graves in Rexburg, Idaho on June 9, 2020. Their remains were located in the backyard of Chad Daybell's, who was their mother's lover at the time of their death and her husband when the bodies were found. Tylee was last seen alive at Yellowstone National Park on September 8, 2019, while her younger adopted brother J. J. was last seen alive on September 22, 2019.

In November 2019, police questioned the children's mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, about the children's whereabouts and welfare. Lori and her newest husband Chad Guy Daybell claimed that J.J. was staying with family friend Melanie Gibb in Arizona, their previous residence before moving to Idaho in early September 2019. However, Gibb later denied this claim. As police searched for J.J., they discovered that Tylee was also missing.

Amid the disappearances was a string of suspicious deaths involved. Lori's estranged fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in July 2019 by Lori's brother, Alexander Cox, who claimed self-defense; Cox later died in December 2019 due to a blood clot. In October 2019, Brandon Boudreaux, the then-estranged husband of Lori's niece, was shot at from a vehicle registered to Charles Vallow. That same month, Tammy Daybell, Chad's wife, was attacked in her driveway and died ten days later on October 19 under what was initially recorded as "natural causes". After Chad and Lori's marriage, Tammy's body was exhumed by law enforcement officials under suspicion, revealing that she had been asphyxiated by someone else.

On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested in Kauai, Hawaii, and charged with desertion and nonsupport of her children. She was extradited to Idaho and transported there on March 5, 2020. On June 9, 2020, police discovered the remains of Tylee and J.J. during a search at Chad's home. Chad was arrested later that day on charges of destruction or concealment of evidence. On May 25, 2021, Lori and Chad were charged with the first-degree murders of Tylee, J.J., and Tammy.

On May 12, 2023, Lori was found guilty of all charges related to the killing of her children.

Background

Chad Daybell

Chad Guy Daybell (born August 11, 1968, Provo, Utah) married Tamara "Tammy" Douglas (May 4, 1970 – October 19, 2019) in Manti, Utah, on March 9, 1990. He graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1992 with a B.A. in journalism, and worked as a cemetery sexton, or gravedigger, among other jobs. In 2004, Chad founded Spring Creek Book Company, which he used to self-publish his end times fiction and other religious books. His partner in this venture was a man identified in media only by the name Douglas, a graphic artist and manager. Chad and Tammy had five children: Garth, Emma, Seth, Leah, and Mark.

In 2015, Chad claimed he heard a voice telling him to relocate to Rexburg, Idaho. He and Tammy moved there from Springville, Utah, that June.

Lori Vallow Daybell

Lori Ryan Daybell, also referred to as Lori Vallow Daybell, was born Lori Norene Cox on June 26, 1973, in Loma Linda, California. In 1992, at the age of 19, she married high school boyfriend Nelson Yanes, but the marriage ended in divorce shortly afterwards.

Past marriages

In October 1995, Lori married William Lagioia when she was 22 years old. They had a son named Colby in 1996, before divorcing in 1998.

In 2001, Lori married Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr., who legally adopted Colby. The couple's biological daughter, Tylee, was born in 2002. They divorced in 2005. In 2007, Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, attacked Ryan, claiming he had been abusive to Lori and the children. Cox was sentenced to jail for the incident. Ryan was later found dead in his apartment in 2018 from a heart attack. Lori, listed as his next of kin, was notified, but his family was not informed until five weeks later when no one had claimed his body.

In February 2006, Lori married Leland Anthony Vallow, commonly going by the name Charles, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charles, who was a lifelong Catholic, converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) for Lori. Charles had two sons from a previous marriage, and in 2013, they adopted his grandnephew, Joshua Jaxon "J.J." Vallow. The couple later moved to Kauai, Hawaii in late 2014.

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell meet

Around 2015, Lori became interested in Chad Daybell's ''Standing in Holy Places'' series of books. The Vallow family moved back to Arizona in 2016, and in the fall of 2018 Lori met Chad for the first time at a "Preparing a People" event. Chad claimed to Lori that they had been married in seven previous lifetimes. They started communicating privately afterwards.

After their initial meeting, Lori's husband went in a business trip, giving her the opportunity to hold a small overnight gathering at her home. Chad and Gibb were among the attendees, with Chad captivating Lori and the group by sharing his unique religious beliefs. He claimed to have lived 31 different lives on different planets and categorized people as “light” or "dark," based on their affiliation with Jesus Christ or Satan. Chad referred to Lori as an "eternal being" of 21 separate lives, five of which coincided with his own experiences on Earth. This belief system fascinated Lori, leading her to develop a strong attachment to Chad and his teachings.

On December 5, 2018, Chad and Lori appeared together on the ''Preparing a People'' podcast episode "Time to Warrior Up". Chad later stayed at the Vallow residence in Arizona.

Chad and Lori shared a well-documented obsession with certain Mormon-influenced apocalyptic beliefs, which Chad discussed in numerous books and podcasts. Melani Boudreaux, Lori's niece, reportedly shares these beliefs. According to a 2020 affidavit, Vallow's beliefs extended to a belief in zombies. Vallow and Daybell reportedly told close friend Melanie Gibb that they belong to the Church of the Firstborn, a fundamentalist Mormon group that is often identified as a doomsday cult.

Killing of Charles Vallow

By February 2019, according to Charles Vallow, Lori informed him that "she no longer cared about him or J.J.". She claimed to be the reincarnated wife of Joseph Smith and vanished for 58 days. The same month, Charles filed for divorce, citing threats to his life, as well as the theft of US$35,000 from their joint bank accounts and his truck. He sought a protective order against Lori at the advice of his attorney.

On July 11, 2019, Charles was shot and killed in Chandler, Arizona, by Lori's brother Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense. Cox alleged that he confronted Charles about abusing his sister and retrieved his gun in response to being struck with a bat. Police did not pursue the matter further, and Tylee and J.J. witnessed the incident. In June 2021, Lori was indicted for conspiracy to murder Charles.

After Charles' death, his attorneys stated he had been primarily concerned for J.J.'s safety and well-being, as he needed a consistent routine due to his special needs. Charles was also concerned for Tylee, but he was unable to include her in the filings as she was not his biological daughter and thus he had no legal standing. He withdrew the petition one month later, saying he "wanted to try to make the marriage work."

Death of Tammy Daybell

On October 9, 2019, Tammy reported being shot at in her driveway by a masked man with a supposed defective paintball marker. The perpetrator was not identified. Ten days later, Tammy was found dead in her home, apparently from natural causes. Chad claimed that she had retired the previous night "with a terrible cough" and died in her sleep.

Tammy's body was not autopsied initially due to Chad’s refusal and the coroner’s acceptance of his decision. However, two months later, Tammy's body was exhumed and examined. The autopsy results, completed by February 2021, were publicly revealed in April 2023 during Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial. It was determined that Tammy Daybell had been asphyxiated by someone else.

Shortly after, the Fremont County prosecutor's office announced they would be handling the case going forward. In a subsequent interview, one of Tammy and Chad's children, Emma, said that her family had not been contacted regarding the results of her mother's autopsy.

Death of Alexander Cox

Alex Cox (who changed his surname to Pastenes, the surname of his wife) died on December 12, 2019. His death was attributed to blood clots and high blood pressure.

Disappearance of Tylee and J.J.

On September 23, 2019, a doorbell video captured J.J. playing with a friend, the last known footage of him. His final confirmed sighting was at Rexburg's Kennedy Elementary School. The next day, on September 24, Lori contacted the school to inform them that she was withdrawing J.J. from classes to homeschool him. Tylee was last seen on September 8, 2019, at Yellowstone National Park with her brother J.J., her mother Lori, and her uncle Alex Cox.

In October 2019, two Venmo payments were made from Tylee's account to her older half-brother, Colby Ryan, with love-expressing messages attached, which was the last time Colby had heard from Tylee. When he expressed concern towards Tylee via text, he received responses from her cell phone indicating she was safe but too busy to talk. After repeated calls to Tylee went unanswered, Colby became more worried.

Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow's marriage and flight

Chad and Lori were married in Hawaii on November 5, 2019, two weeks after the death of Chad's first wife, Tammy Daybell. During this time, they falsely told others that Tylee had died in 2017 and/or that Lori had no minor children. On November 26, police visited Lori's townhouse in Rexburg for a welfare check on J. J. at the request of his grandmother. Lori claimed that J.J. was in Arizona with a family friend, Melanie Gibb. However, when contacted by police, Gibb stated that J.J. had not been with her for several months. That night, a neighbor observed Lori and Alex Cox packing a truck outside her home. The following day, when the police and FBI arrived to search the house, it was abandoned. Chad's home was also searched by investigators.

Gibb eventually contacted the police, revealing that both Lori and Chad had asked her to lie about J.J.'s location, but she refused. Police efforts to locate J.J. led to the discovery that Tylee was also missing. From December 2019 to January 2020, law enforcement agencies intensified their investigation into the disappearances of the children, as well as Tammy's death and Chad and Lori’s departure from Idaho. Evidence was collected, and Tammy's body was exhumed for an autopsy. Colby and J.J.'s grandparents pleaded with the Daybells to return the children, even offering a $20,000 reward. Investigators expressed concern for the children’s safety, asserting that they were not with Chad and Lori and that Lori had refused to cooperate with the investigation, opting to leave the state with Chad instead.

The Daybells’ lawyer stated that "Chad Daybell was a loving husband and he has the support of his children in this matter,” adding that Lori was a “devoted mother” who “resents assertions to the contrary.” The lawyer expressed the intention to “addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor."

Storage locker

Authorities focused on a storage locker in Rexburg that was rented by Lori in October 2019. They discovered belongings linked to Tylee and J.J., including clothing, bikes, and photographs. These items had been left behind when Lori abruptly left Rexburg in late November 2019. Video footage captured Lori and her brother, Alex Cox, moving items to and from the locker before her departure.

Arrests and criminal charges

On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested in Hawaii by the Kauai Police Department. She faced charges in Madison County, Idaho, including two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, as well as three misdemeanors. Her bail was initially set at $5 million, but was later lowered to $1 million after being extradited back to Idaho. In May, Lori appeared in court in Rexburg to request a further reduction of her bail, which was denied. Multiple local bond companies were reportedly unwilling to work with her.

On March 24, NBC News reported on documents showing that Chad and Lori became convinced that Tylee and J.J. were "possessed" and had become "zombies."

On June 9, police found human remains buried in what was believed to be a pet cemetery at Chad’s home during a search warrant. Chad was arrested later that day for obstruction or concealment of evidence, and later charged with felony murder. His bail was set at $1 million the next day. On June 10, the Woodcock and Ryan families confirmed that the human remains found on Chad's property were those of Tylee and J.J. This finding was officially confirmed by Rexburg police on June 13. On July 2, prosecutors dropped two charges against Lori related to desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, and instead charged her with obstruction or concealment of evidence regarding her children's remains.

On July 17, in light of the two felony counts against Lori having been dropped, her bond was lowered by Madison County judge Michelle Mallard. The bond was set at $50,000 for each charge, totaling $150,000. It was further noted that Chad would still need to post $1 million in Fremont County to be released from jail. A jury trial for the Madison County charges against Lori was set for January 25–29, 2021. On May 25, 2021, Chad and Lori were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the deaths of Tylee, J.J. and Tammy. Lori was also charged with grand theft related to "Social Security Survivor benefits.” Chad faced an insurance fraud charge "related to a life insurance policy he had on Tammy Daybell for which he was the beneficiary and received funds after her death". On May 27, 2021, Lori was found incompetent and unfit to stand trial, and her case was stayed. She has since been deemed competent to stand trial after mental health treatment, incompetent, and again competent.

On May 12, 2023, Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty of all criminal charges in a Boise, Idaho courtroom.

See also

* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
* List of unsolved deaths

Notes

References

External links

*
*''Dateline: Where Are the Children?'
"Keith Morrison previews Dateline special on Daybell case that is ‘nothing like anything else’ he’s ever seen"
Nate Eaton, '' East Idaho News'', February 13, 2020.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallow, J
2010s missing person cases
Deaths by person in Idaho
Formerly missing people
Missing person cases in Idaho
People murdered in Idaho
September 2019 crimes in the United States
2019 in Idaho
Murdered American children
Filicides in the United States