The mother of two kids missing since September was found in Hawaii with her recently wed husband and arrested Thursday on warrants out of Idaho for desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.
Lori Vallow, 47, was being held on $5 million bail until an extradition hearing can be held, Kaui police said. Besides the desertion and nonsupport charges, she also is accused of resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.
Police said they had no indication the children, 7-year-old Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, were in Hawaii.
The children reportedly were last seen on Sept. 23 in Rexburg, Idaho, but their disappearance came to light in November when J.J.’s biological grandparents, Karry and Larry Woodcock, called police to say they hadn’t heard from him in months.
MORE: Man Who Killed Child Rapist in Jail Executed by Electric Chair
Authorities in Idaho have said they “strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger.”
Vallow reportedly had moved the children from Arizona to Idaho in August but did not tell the Woodcocks or other family members where they were.
Rexburg police said they went to the home of Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, on Nov. 26 for a welfare check and were told by the couple that J.J. was staying with a family friend in Arizona. When that turned out to be not true, police returned to the home to discover Vallow and Daybell had fled Rexburg.
Rexburg police declared the children missing on Dec. 23 and asked the the FBI for help. Besides the statement about J.J.’s whereabouts, police said Daybell told one person Vallow had no children, and Vallow told another that her daughter died more than a year earlier.
The case also involves several mysterious deaths, including the killing of Vallow’s estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in July by her brother, Alex Cox. He claimed the shooting was in self-defense.
Cox himself died of unknown causes in December after being found unresponsive.
Additionally, Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died in October of what her obituary said was natural causes.
Daybell and Vallow married two weeks later, raising the suspicions of law enforcement.
Authorities exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body.
Test results on Tammy Daybell’s remains and autopsy results of Cox have not been released.
MORE: Somali Community Leader Confirms Reports That Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother
The Idaho warrants stem from Vallow’s failure to comply with a court order to produce her children to a Madison County Court in Idaho on Jan. 30.
In December, Kauai police were asked for help from Rexburg authorities in locating Vallow. Kauai police executed a search warrant on a rented vehicle and condo Vallow and Daybell were renting in Princeville, a resort town on Kauai’s north shore.
Besides the mysterious deaths, there are accusations of a Vallow and Daybell being involved with a doomsday cult.
Before his death, Charles Vallow filed for divorce claiming his wife believes she is “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020.” Additionally, Daybell has written several apocalyptic novels based loosely on Mormon religious theology. Both were involved in a group that promotes preparedness for the biblical end-times.
About Post Author
