Chandler death part of tangled mystery
Missing Idaho kids, cult tied up with Valley case
At the time Chandler police began investigating the fatal shooting, it was deceptively simple: An argument between a man and his brother-in-law ended in a gunshot.
But that death would become entwined in an increasingly complex tale involving a couple, possible ties to a religious cult and, chiefly, the disappearance of two children.
Chandler police released reports and body-camera video of the July shooting on Monday, adding pieces to a puzzle that stretches from Arizona to Idaho, where the two missing children were last seen.
The dead man in the Chandler case, Charles Vallow, was the adoptive father of one of the missing children and the stepfather of the other.
Alexander Cox, the man who told police he killed Vallow in self-defense, died in December under still-murky circumstances.
The children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, have not been seen
since September and have become the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
Their mother, Lori Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, are wanted for questioning in connection with the children’s disappearance.
In divorce paperwork filed in February, Charles Vallow raised concerns about the mental stability of his wife, Lori Vallow. He said she claimed to be a “god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020.” She threatened to kill him if he got in her way, the paperwork says.
Five months later, Charles Vallow came to his estranged wife’s home to pick up his 7-year-old son.
That was the day, July 11, when he was fatally shot.
In the reports released Monday, Chandler police say Alexander Cox, Lori Vallow’s brother, shot Charles twice in the chest during a fight.
The reports show detectives were investigating the case as second-degree Cmouxrddeier.dBiunt,twheitnhetihgehcbaosreinsgticllitpyenofdiGnigl-, bert. The cause of his death is not yet known, according to officials there.
What happened that day in Chandler
Chandler police say officers responded about 8:20 a.m. to a home near Chandler Heights and Gilbert roads to investigate a shooting, which was reported to them by Cox.
In a recording of a 911 call released by Chandler police on Monday, Cox said he was in a fight with his brother-in-law Charles when he shot him in the chest with his .45 caliber gun in self-defense. Cox told a dispatcher that Charles “came at (him) with a bat” and that he’d never seen him that enraged before.
“Yeah, there’s blood, he’s not moving,” he told the dispatcher. Cox also performed CPR on Charles with instruction from a dispatcher.
When officers arrived at the scene, Cox could be seen on body-camera video exiting the home with both of his hands up. He sat on a curb in front of the home, where he was recorded on video telling a police officer what happened.
Cox, who lived in San Tan Valley, told police he had stayed overnight at his sister’s home because he was on vacation from his job and they had something planned for the day. On the morning of July 11, Lori Vallow’s estranged husband, Charles, arrived to take his 7year-old son to school, which was planned ahead of time, Cox said.
Cox told police Lori and Charles had been separated since last January. At the time, Lori had recently moved back to Arizona while Charles lived and worked in Houston, Cox said.
An argument began between Charles and Lori, Cox told police. Cox said Charles “was getting physical” with Lori when his niece grabbed a bat to defend herCmhaormlesantodouksethdeitbtaotpaowkeayChfraormlesh. is niece, according to Cox.
Cox said he eventually broke up the “tussle” between the estranged spouses, and Lori Vallow and her two children left the home. The reports do not identify the children by name.
Cox told police Charles then came at him with the bat and hit him in the head. Cox had a 1-inch cut on the back of his head but declined treatment, police said at the time.
Afterward, Cox went to the room he slept in to get his gun, returned to the hallway and told Charles to put the bat down, he told police.
Charles instead moved toward Cox, who then shot him twice, he told police. Police found Charles’ body lying on the home’s living room floor.
Video from an officer’s body camera of an interview between police and Lori Vallow, who was with a girl, was redacted. An additional police report was also redacted.
“We are still investigating this incident as the reason why the police investigation and report is still open,” Chandler police spokesman Sgt. Jason McClimans told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday. “These types of cases are normally sent to the county attorney for review upon the investigation being completed. The investigation was and is still open.”
One of many deaths surrounding family
Charles Vallow was Lori Vallow’s second husband to die in the past two years. Joseph Ryan died of an apparent heart attack in 2018 in Gilbert, Fox 10 reported. Ryan was Tylee’s father.
Lori Vallow married Chad Daybell weeks after the death of Chad’s wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in October. Authorities initially believed the woman died of natural causes but have since determined it may be suspicious. Tammy Daybell’s remains have since been exhumed and autopsy results are pending.
On Oct. 2, one of the children’s relatives, Brandon Boudreaux, was shot at in Gilbert while driving home from the gym. The bullet missed his head.
The Jeep that his would-be killer was driving was registered to Charles Vallow.
The case received national attention on Tuesday when the grandparents of the missing children appeared on the syndicated “Dr. Oz Show.”
The children’s grandmother, Kay Vallow Woodcock, pleaded with their mother to bring them home.
“Lori, tell them where they are,” she said, directly addressing the children’s mother and her daughter. “All this can end right now with our cooperation.”
Larry Woodcock addressed the youngest of the two missing children.
“JJ, please call Pop Pop,” he said. “You know how to do it. You know how to get a hold of Pop Pop.”