Did this Doomsday mother kill her children?
LORI VALLOW WAS PART OF A ‘CHURCH’ THAT BELIEVED THE WORLD WAS ENDING – AND THEN TWO OF HER OWN CHILDREN WERE KILLED…
Lori Vallow is currently in a US prison awaiting trial, but she first hit the news in early 2020. Two of her children – daughter Tylee, 17, and son JJ, seven, had not been heard from for many weeks, and family members were concerned. Vallow’s eldest son Colby, 24, begged his mother to let him know his siblings were OK, and she was repeatedly questioned by reporters before being ordered by the police to divulge their whereabouts. At first, Vallow gave differing accounts about where her children were, followed by a deafening silence. Then, in June 2020, charred remains were found buried at her husband Chad Daybell’s rural Idaho property. Tragically, it was Tylee and JJ. Before long, a dark and tangled tale unfolded, as it transpired both Vallow and Daybell belonged to a doomsday cult – and had left a number of mysterious deaths in their wake.
MULTIPLE MARRIAGES
Vallow, now 47, was born in California to a devout Mormon family. Beautiful,
popular and outgoing, she was a cheerleader at school, and later a beauty queen. In 1992, aged 18, she eloped and married her childhood sweetheart Nelson Yanes, but the marriage didn’t last long. By 1995, she had tied the knot with husband number two, William Lagioia, and had son Colby. But this also fell apart, and in 2001, she married again, this time to Joseph Ryan.
People who knew them back then remember an impossibly glamorous couple – gregarious, fun and in love. But behind closed doors, the story was quite the opposite. Joe was an abusive man who physically and sexually assaulted Colby, who he’d officially adopted. Despite this dysfunction, the couple had a daughter, Tylee. They divorced in 2004, and in 2018, Joe died of a heart attack. Vallow was unmoved and said God had taken him because he was a bad person.
Her next husband was Charles Vallow, who she married in 2006. Her mother and sister – who were both interviewed for ABC 20/20 documentary Married To A Gravedigger – said Charles
‘THEY HAD LEFT A NUMBER OF DEATHS IN THEIR WAKE’
was a wonderful husband and the couple were great together. Charles adored his wife, and would do anything to make her happy, including moving to Hawaii for a better quality of life and year-round sunshine. After a few years, they returned to mainland USA and set up home in Arizona, where they adopted a baby called Joshua, nicknamed JJ, who was the grandson of Charles’ sister Kay. JJ was autistic and everyone said Vallow was the perfect mother for a child with additional needs, as she was so patient and loving. Colby and Tylee loved JJ and life was good. But it wasn’t to last.
By 2018, it became obvious to Charles that Vallow’s feelings had changed, and no matter what he did to fix things, she moved further away from him emotionally. She had become obsessed with a religious writer called Chad Daybell. She read all his books and became, according to one friend, a “superfan”. Daybell believed he was a prophet, and was an advocate of doomsday teachings, or end-of-theworld Christianity. He believed the Second Coming of Christ was imminent and that – in accordance with the Book of Revelation –
144,000 people would be saved, while the rest of the world would perish.
Vallow met Daybell at one of his sermons in 2018, and the pair forged a close bond. They spoke every day on the phone, and she began travelling with him to his sermons. She had a dedicated “dancing room” in her home – something Charles facilitated to make her happy – and she would film herself dancing to Christian music and send it to Daybell.
Vallow and Charles became estranged
‘CHARLES SUSPECTED LORI OF AN AFFAIR – AND HE WAS SCARED’
and talked divorce, but on 11 July
2019, Charles was shot to death at their home. His killer was Vallow’s brother, Alex. But police were immediately suspicious of Alex’s version of events. Alex claimed he, Vallow and Tylee had been at Vallow’s house, when Charles grew angry during an argument. Alex claimed Charles had grabbed a baseball bat and was about to attack them, so Alex shot him in self-defence. Vallow and Tylee then left to take JJ to school, stopping at Burger King on the way.
When police arrived at the scene, Alex was calm and talkative. They also noted he had no blood on him, despite telling the 911 operator he’d performed CPR. When Vallow returned home, she seemed utterly unbothered by her husband’s violent death. She also believed she was the beneficiary of Charles’ will and multimillion-dollar insurance policy, so was furious to find out Charles had changed it, leaving everything to his sister Kay, who he knew would look out for JJ financially. Charles had cut his wife out because he believed they were heading for a divorce. He also suspected she was having an affair with Daybell
– and he was frightened of her.
By now, Vallow was telling Charles and others that people were either “light” or “dark”. Charles, she said, was “dark”, he was evil. He told police she’d threatened to murder him. Charles was so worried – both for his safety and her mental health – he called police to request an urgent mental assessment of his wife. When police visited, she seemed rational and complained that he was simply angry and jealous. She’d lost none of her charisma and the police seemed positively charmed by her. She agreed to a psychiatric test and passed with flying colours. At this point, Charles told his divorce lawyer that if anything were to happen to him, it would be down to Vallow.
Shortly after Charles’ death, Vallow moved to Idaho without telling Colby or the rest of her family, and taking JJ and Tylee with her. Idaho was
where Daybell lived with his wife Tammy and their five children. But this didn’t deter the smitten pair, who were walking around town arm-inarm. Then, in October 2019, Tammy – a fit and healthy 49 year old – died in her sleep after suffering from a cough. Ten days earlier, she had told police that someone had tried to shoot her at her home. There was no autopsy at the time, and Tammy was ruled to have died of natural causes.
DARK BELIEFS
Two weeks later, Vallow and Daybell were married in a romantic ceremony in Hawaii. None of the pair’s eight children were there, and none of their family members knew it was taking place. At the time of the wedding, neither Tylee nor JJ had been seen for weeks. JJ was last seen at school on 23 September, but his mother then withdrew him, saying she would be homeschooling from then on.
Tylee was last seen on a family trip to Yellowstone Park on 8 September.
Disturbingly, a close friend told authorities that Vallow had described both children as “zombies”. According to the Church of the Firstborn – the couple’s church, which many saw as a cult – zombies meant people who were possessed by evil spirits. Their bodies were hosts to these spirits, and they were no longer their former selves. They were “dark”. In reality, Tylee was a normal, volatile teenager – and one who had grown to resent and mistrust her mother – and JJ was the same as he’d always been, with some difficult behaviours due to his autism. Meanwhile, Daybell and Vallow believed themselves to be “elevated beings”, who would survive the end of days and could not be killed. When the 144,000 were saved, they would become leaders.
Vallow’s brother Alex – who had always been her biggest protector, and was suspected of attacking and threatening others allegedly at her behest – died of apparently natural causes in December 2019. After JJ’S grandparents reported JJ missing days later, police arrived to serve Vallow with a court order to produce the children – but she and Daybell had fled to Hawaii. When she was found, she refused to say where the children were, and was arrested on 20 February 2020 on two counts of desertion of dependent children, as well as charges of contempt. Meanwhile, Alex’s mobile phone had yielded clues to their potential whereabouts. His data showed he’d been on Daybell’s land in Idaho on two separate occasions in September – both of which coincided with the dates the children were last seen. In June 2020, police got a warrant to dig up the land and found the remains of Tylee and JJ. According to testimony by Rexburg police detective Ray Hermosillo, JJ had been placed inside a black bag, with his ankles and wrists bound by duct tape. Tylee’s remains were found to be burned flesh and bone, and a partial skull.
At the time of going to press, Vallow and Daybell were in jail, but had not been charged over Tylee and JJ’S deaths. Instead, both face several counts including child desertion, and destruction and concealment of evidence. They’ve pleaded not guilty and are expected to go to trial this summer. Tammy’s death is now being investigated and an autopsy was carried out in February, but police have kept the results sealed while
‘THEY THOUGHT THEY’D SURVIVE THE END OF DAYS’
the case is ongoing. Alex’s death is also being investigated.
There is also a shroud of suspicion over Vallow’s two deceased exhusbands, although she has not been accused of or charged with any wrongdoing in connection to their deaths. It is not yet known how Tylee and JJ died, what filled their last hours and minutes, or whose was the last face they saw. All that is known for sure is that two children died in harrowing circumstances, breaking the hearts of all those who loved them.