Killings of Tylee Ryan and J. J. Vallow
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. On October 9, 2019, Tammy reported on her Facebook profile and to police that she had been shot at, in her driveway, by a masked man with what she believed was a defective paintball marker. The Fremont County sheriff's office did not find the perpetrator. Ten days later, Tammy was found dead in her home, purportedly from natural causes. Chad claimed that she had retired the night before "with a terrible cough" and died in her sleep. No post-mortem or autopsy was performed on Tammy's body at the time, as Chad had declined to do so and the county coroner did not overrule his decision. Two months later, Tammy's body was exhumed and autopsied. The results were completed by February 2021 but have not been made public. 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 in an interview that her family has not been contacted regarding the results of her mother's autopsy. Lori Ryan Daybell, also referred to as Lori Vallow Daybell, was born Lori Norene Cox on June 26, 1973, in San Bernardino, California. In 1992, at the age of 19, she married high school boyfriend Nelson Yanes, but the marriage ended in divorce shortly afterwards. At age 22, she married 23-year-old William Lagioia in Travis County, Texas, on October 22, 1995. She and Lagioia had a son, Colby, in 1996, before divorcing on February 25, 1998. In 2001, Lori married Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr., who legally adopted Colby. The couple's biological daughter, Tylee, was born in 2002. Ryan filed for divorce on August 13, 2004, which was finalized on May 18, 2005. In 2007, Ryan was attacked by Lori's brother, Alexander Lamar "Alex" Cox, based on allegations Ryan had been abusive to Lori and the children. Cox tasered Ryan and threatened to murder him. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which he served in Austin, Texas.
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. On February 24, 2006, Lori married Leland Anthony Vallow (born August 17, 1956, Calcasieu, Louisiana – died July 11, 2019, Chandler, Arizona), and commonly known as Charles Vallow, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vallow, a lifelong Catholic, became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), converting to his new wife's faith. Vallow had two sons from a previous marriage, Nicholas and Zachary Chase. In 2013, the couple adopted Vallow's grandnephew, Joshua Jaxon "J.J." Vallow (2012–2019), before moving to Kauai, Hawaii, in late 2014. Around 2015, Lori read Chad Daybell's "Standing in Holy Places" series of books, reportedly becoming "obsessed" with them. In 2016, the Vallow family moved back to Arizona. In the fall of 2018, Lori and her friend Melanie Gibb attended a "Preparing a People" event, where Lori was introduced to Chad for the first time. According to Gibb, by the end of the weekend, Chad told Lori the two had been married in seven previous lifetimes. The two soon began a private communication. Several weeks after their initial meeting, Lori's husband left town on a business trip and Lori held an intimate overnight gathering at her home. In attendance were both Gibb and Chad, who was speaking at another conference in Mesa, Arizona. Gibb later recalled Chad lavishing attention on Lori and expounding upon his unusual religious beliefs and "the deeper mysteries of God" with a small group of the overnight guests. According to Gibb, Chad stated that he had lived 31 different lives on various earth-like planets. He referred to others as “light” or "dark" and various gradations in between. Chad believed the "Dark" individuals were from this earth but were followers of Satan. Those who were "light" were "followers of Jesus Christ". Chad Daybell referred to Lori as an "eternal being" of 21 separate lives, only five of which had occurred on this planet; the same five he had lived on this planet. Lori was both thrilled and attracted to this belief system and became increasingly fixated on this newfound "purpose" and on Chad. 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. By February 2019, according to Charles Vallow, Lori was informing him that "she no longer cared about him or J.J." and claimed that she was the reincarnated wife of LDS founder Joseph Smith, then vanished for 58 days. The same month, Charles filed for divorce, stating that his wife had to murder him", taken US$35,000 from their joint bank accounts, and stolen his truck. He filed for an order of protection against Lori at the advice of his attorney, citing a "genuine fear for his life". After Charles' death, his attorneys stated he was 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". On July 11, 2019, Charles Vallow was shot and killed in Chandler, Arizona, by Lori's brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense. Cox alleged that he went to confront Charles about abusing his sister, whereupon "Charles Vallow struck him in the head with the bat, so he went to get his gun." Both J.J. and Tylee witnessed the incident; according to an unidentified son of Charles' from a previous marriage, Lori did not inform the family about the shooting and he learned about it from the news. Lori was indicted in June 2021 for conspiracy to murder Charles. A wedding ring was purchased on Amazon from the deceased Charles' account for $35.99 on October 2, 2019, seventeen days before the death of Chad's wife Tammy. Another factor contributing to the mystery was Chad and Lori's well-documented obsession with certain apocalyptic beliefs, which Chad had discussed in numerous books and podcasts. Melani Bourdeaux, Lori's niece, reportedly shares these beliefs. , a doorbell video of J.J. playing with a friend is the last known video of him taken. His last confirmed sighting was at Rexburg's Kennedy Elementary School. On September 24, 2019, Lori contacted the school to tell them that she was withdrawing J.J. from classes, claiming she would be homeschooling him. Tylee was last seen September 8, 2019, at Yellowstone National Park with her brother J.J., her mother Lori, and her uncle Alex Cox, Lori's brother. In October 2019, two Venmo payments were made from Tylee's account to her older half-brother, Colby Ryan. One payment was sent on October 10, with a message that read "we love you", and the second payment was sent on October 16, with a heart emoji. Colby has said he had not heard from Tylee since these texts. After text-messaging Tylee indicating he was worried, he received responses from Tylee's cell phone that indicated she was safe but too busy to talk. After repeated calls to Tylee went unanswered, Colby became more worried. Chad and Lori were married in Hawaii on November 5, 2019, two weeks after the death of Chad's first wife, Tammy Daybell. There they told others that Tylee had died in 2017 and/or that Lori had no minor children. Back in Rexburg, on November 26, police visited Lori's townhouse at the request of J.J.'s grandmother, Kay Woodcock, to conduct a welfare check on J.J. Lori told police that J.J. was in Arizona with family. That night, a neighbor saw Lori and Alex Cox packing a truck outside her home. When Rexburg police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrived the next day to search the home, it was abandoned. Chad's home was also searched by investigators. From December 2019 to January 2020, Rexburg police, the Fremont County sheriff's office, and the FBI intensified the investigation into the disappearances of the two children, as well as the investigation into Tammy's death and the flight of Chad and Lori from Idaho. Evidence was collected, and Tammy's body was exhumed for autopsy. Colby and J.J.'s grandparents pleaded with the Daybells to return the children, with the latter offering a reward of . Investigators contended that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger.', [...] the children are not with Chad and Lori. [... Lori] knows where they are or what has happened to them, but she has 'completely refused to assist this investigation, [choosing instead to leave the state with her new husband]. Through their lawyer, the Daybells stated that, "Chad Daybell was a loving husband and he has the support of his children in this matter. Lori Daybell is a devoted mother and she resents assertions to the contrary. We look forward to addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor. " Authorities soon turned their attention to a Rexburg storage locker rented by Lori in October 2019. Inside they discovered items belonging to or associated with Tylee and J.J., such as clothing, bikes, and photographs, all of which had been abandoned when Lori suddenly left Rexburg at the end of November 2019. Video footage shows her and her brother, Alex Cox, moving items in and out of the locker prior to her departure. On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested by the Kauai Police Department in Princeville, Hawaii, and charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children by prosecutors in Madison County, Idaho. She was also charged with three misdemeanors: resisting or obstructing officers; criminal solicitation to commit a crime; and contempt of court. Lori was held on US$5 million bail. She later agreed to be extradited back to Idaho to fight the charges. The judge lowered her bail to $1 million. On May 1, 2020, Lori appeared for a court hearing in Rexburg to request a reduction of her $1 million bail. The judge denied her request. At least two local bond companies were reportedly unwilling to work with her. On March 24, 2020, 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, 2020, police executed a search warrant at Chad's home, where they discovered human remains buried in a purported pet cemetery. Chad was booked into jail later that day on obstruction or concealment of evidence; he was later charged with felony murder. On June 10, his bail was set at $1 million. On July 2, prosecutors dropped two of the charges against Lori two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children and instead charged her with obstruction or concealment of evidence in regards to her children's remains. Trial has since been postponed until early 2023 in the hopes Vallow is able to be deemed competent by that time. On July 17, 2020, in light of the two felony counts against Lori having been dropped, her bond was lowered by Madison County judge Michelle Mallard. Judge Mallard decided to decrease bond to US$50,000 on each charge, totaling US$150,000, but noted that Chad would still need to post US$1 million in neighboring Fremont County to get out of jail. In addition to the bond reduction, 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 the charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree murder, and grand theft by deception for the deaths of Tylee, and J.J., and Tammy. Lori was charged with grand theft related to "Social Security Survivor benefits over $1,000 allocated for the care of minors Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow that were appropriated after the children were missing and ultimately found deceased". Chad was charged with insurance fraud "related to a life insurance policy he had on Tammy Daybell for which he was the beneficiary and received funds after her death". On June 10, 2020, 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. Since their children's remains were found, they are no longer considered missing and the investigation is now focused on determining the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Background ; Killing of Charles Vallow
Lori's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in July 2019 by her brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense; Cox died of a blood clot on December 12, 2019.