Lori Vallow, mother of two missing Idaho children, found in Hawaii with new husband
Estranged husband was shot and killed by the woman's brother in Arizona last summer.
Police in Hawaii say the mother of two missing Idaho children has been found in the state, along with her new husband, but the children still have not been located.
The Kaua'i Police Department announced Sunday that Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell had been staying on Kaua'i and that they were served with a legal document on Saturday ordering Lori Vallow to produce the children. On Sunday, police executed a search warrant.
Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, have been missing since September 2019. Police say their mother, now named Lori Vallow Daybell, and her new husband initially lied to investigators about where the children were. When police returned to their home in Idaho to question them, the adults had disappeared.
Lori Vallow's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona last summer. Cox also died in December of an undisclosed cause.
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Daybell's last wife, Tammy Daybell, died in October of what the family called “natural causes,” but police in Idaho have since exhumed her remains for further investigation. The findings of that investigation have not been released. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were married two weeks after Tammy Daybell's death.
Neither Lori Vallow nor Chad Daybell has been charged or arrested, Kaua'i police said Sunday.
Officials with the Madison County and Rexburg police, both in Idaho, confirmed in a statement on Monday that they have obtained a court order asking that Lori Vallow present the children within five days to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
"Child protection actions are normally confidential and sealed to protect the anonymity of the parties," the statement said. "The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office asked the Court for permission to unseal and disclose the existence of the Child Protection Action and the above-mentioned Order to alert the public and anyone with knowledge of the location or health and safety of the children."
Possible link:2 Idaho children have been missing since September. Their stepfather's ex-wife is dead. There could be a link, police say
Vallow's estranged former husband, Charles Vallow, was killed in Arizona in July. Charles Vallow, 62, came from Texas to visit Lori Vallow and their children. But after he arrived to pick up his son, Charles and Lori Vallow started arguing.
Lori Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, intervened and killed Charles Vallow, police said at the time. On Dec. 12, Cox died. Police were awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause of death.
The children lived, at least for a time, in Arizona. And, when initially questioned about Joshua Vallow's whereabouts, Rexburg police were told he was staying with a family friend in Arizona, which ended up being false, police said.
On Dec. 20, the Rexburg Police Department , posted on Facebook that it, along with the Fremont County (Idaho) Sheriff's Office and the assistance of the FBI, was investigating possible ties between the two missing children and the death of a Fremont County woman.
The woman, Tammy Daybell, was Chad Daybell's wife. She died in her home at age 49.
On Nov. 26, Rexburg police tried to do a welfare check on Joshua Vallow, who is adopted and has special needs, at Lori Vallow's home. Family from outside Idaho had not been able to speak to Joshua since September and were concerned, police said.
On Nov. 27, Rexburg police searched locations associated with Lori Vallow in an attempt to find Joshua. During these searches, investigators discovered Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell had "abruptly vacated" their home and left town, police said.
Joshua did not appear to be with them, police said. He last attended school in Rexburg on Sept. 23. Tylee Ryan, Lori's 17-year-old daughter, also has not been seen or heard from since September, police said. Investigators contacted extended family members, none of whom had been in contact with the children since September. The children had not been reported missing.
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Friends and family members have spoken out in the media with their concerns over Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell's religious beliefs and focus on the end of the world.
A Facebook post by Kay Woodcock, Joshua's grandmother, says Lori was a "wonderful, loving, attentive mother" until things started changing in the past 18 months because of her involvement with a new religious group, which Woodcock called a "cult."
Chad Daybell, who says on his website that he is a Latter-day Saint, has written and self-published more than 25 books, some of which focus on near-death experiences, including Daybell's own. Other books fictionalize the end of the world.
Both Daybell and Vallow were involved in an organization called "Preparing A People," which has said it is "not a 'group' and is not a 'Cult' or something people join" in a posted statement on its website.