The Disappearance of Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow
In September 2019, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Idaho. At the time, their mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, had recently moved to Rexburg, Idaho, following the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who had been shot and killed by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, earlier that year. While Charles’ death was ruled self-defense, it raised concerns among family members, especially after Lori’s strange behavior and her radical religious beliefs began surfacing.
JJ, who was adopted and had special needs, had been attending school in Idaho. Tylee was last seen during a family trip to Yellowstone National Park on September 8, 2019. Soon after, JJ was also pulled out of school. By November, their grandparents and extended family became deeply concerned, as they hadn’t been able to contact either child for months.
When Idaho police conducted a welfare check on November 26, 2019, Lori and her new husband, Chad Daybell, claimed that JJ was staying with family friends in Arizona. However, this was a lie. By the time the police returned the next day, Lori and Chad had fled. Authorities launched a nationwide search, but there was no trace of the children. Lori and Chad’s sudden disappearance, paired with their evasive behavior, added to the growing suspicion that something terrible had happened to Tylee and JJ.
This section sets the stage for the chilling investigation that would follow and how the couple’s increasingly bizarre religious beliefs began to influence their decisions. In this phase, both families and investigators grappled with the unsettling mystery of the missing children.
The Unraveling Investigation and Arrests
As the investigation into the disappearance of Tylee and JJ progressed, unsettling details about Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, came to light. Chad was a self-proclaimed author and religious leader, heavily involved in promoting apocalyptic beliefs, specifically those connected to the end times. His writings focused on the return of Jesus Christ and an impending apocalypse, a belief system that increasingly consumed both him and Lori. Lori, in particular, began to see herself as a divine figure chosen to lead a group of 144,000 believers into the apocalypse, an idea linked to the Book of Revelation.
Following the November 2019 welfare check, authorities learned that Lori and Chad had lied about JJ’s whereabouts. Suspicion intensified as police found no signs of Tylee and JJ at any family members’ homes, despite Lori’s repeated assurances that they were safe. Lori and Chad’s extreme religious beliefs, which included a belief in “zombies”—individuals whose souls had left their bodies and who were now possessed by evil spirits—were noted by several witnesses. Lori had even claimed to friends and family that Tylee and JJ had become zombies, a term she used to justify their disappearance.
In January 2020, Lori and Chad were tracked down in Hawaii, where they were living a carefree lifestyle with no sign of the children. This blatant disregard for their missing status led authorities to suspect foul play. On January 30, 2020, Lori was ordered by an Idaho court to physically present the children within five days, but she failed to comply. This led to her arrest in February 2020 on charges of child desertion and obstruction of justice.
Chad, meanwhile, was not immediately arrested but remained under suspicion. As authorities searched deeper into Chad’s background, they discovered a string of deaths connected to Lori and Chad. This included Lori’s former husband Charles Vallow, who had been killed in a confrontation with her brother Alex Cox in July 2019. Additionally, Chad’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, had died under mysterious circumstances just weeks before Chad and Lori’s marriage in November 2019. Though initially deemed natural, Tammy’s death was later re-investigated, and authorities exhumed her body in December 2019 to determine if foul play was involved.
With Lori in custody and the search for the children intensifying, the case gained widespread media attention, and a nationwide call for answers mounted. The disturbing nature of Lori and Chad’s beliefs, particularly their focus on apocalyptic teachings and death, became a focal point of the investigation. The next critical step was finding out what had truly happened to Tylee and JJ.
The Discovery of the Children’s Remains
The search for Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow reached a critical juncture in June 2020, when law enforcement officials uncovered the children’s remains on Chad Daybell’s property in Idaho. This tragic revelation followed months of escalating suspicion and investigation into the couple’s actions and their extremist beliefs.
After Lori’s arrest in February 2020, authorities began to piece together the timeline of events leading to the children’s disappearance. As investigators dug deeper, they discovered inconsistencies in Lori and Chad’s accounts, particularly regarding their movements and claims about the children. Witness testimonies from family and friends painted a disturbing picture of Lori’s changing mental state and her increasingly radical beliefs, especially her assertion that Tylee and JJ had become “zombies”.
In early June 2020, police obtained a search warrant for Chad’s property in Salem, Idaho. On June 9, investigators made the heartbreaking discovery: JJ’s remains were found buried in a pet cemetery, while Tylee’s body was located in a fire pit, having been dismembered and burned. The conditions of their remains shocked the nation and led to public outrage. As details emerged, it became clear that Tylee had been killed shortly after her last sighting in September 2019, while JJ had been murdered shortly thereafter.
The nature of the children’s deaths and the state in which their remains were found pointed to a deliberate attempt to conceal the truth. Following the discovery, both Lori and Chad were charged with multiple felonies, including destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence, and later first-degree murder. The revelations about the children’s deaths brought a media storm, as the public struggled to comprehend how a mother could commit such heinous acts against her own children.
In the aftermath of the discovery, the legal proceedings against Lori and Chad gained national attention, with many following the trial closely as more details about their bizarre beliefs and the events leading up to the children’s deaths continued to emerge. As the case unfolded, it became apparent that the couple’s extremist ideology had played a significant role in the tragic fate of Tylee and JJ, leading to a wider conversation about the dangers of radical beliefs and their potential consequences.
Legal Proceedings and Cultural Impact
The legal proceedings against Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell began in 2021, bringing national attention to a case that had already shocked the public. Both were charged with multiple felonies, including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder for the deaths of Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow. The trial of Lori Vallow Daybell was particularly scrutinized, characterized by its bizarre twists and turns, including claims of mental instability and the influence of extremist religious beliefs.
Lori’s defense attorneys argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity, attempting to establish that she was unable to understand her actions due to her mental state. However, prosecutors painted a different picture, suggesting that Lori had orchestrated the deaths of her children as part of her apocalyptic beliefs. Testimonies from friends and family revealed a disturbing narrative of how her ideology evolved over time, ultimately leading her to perceive her children as threats who needed to be eliminated.
Chad Daybell’s trial followed closely behind Lori’s, and both cases sparked widespread media coverage. The public was captivated not just by the details of the crime but also by the religious overtones that surrounded the couple. Their beliefs were linked to a fringe group within the Latter-day Saint community, emphasizing apocalyptic prophecies and notions of “zombies” and the “end times.” This highlighted a broader societal concern about how such radical beliefs can influence individuals to commit acts of violence.
The Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow case also raised important questions about the responsibilities of law enforcement and social services in safeguarding children. Critics pointed out that the warning signs were evident, and many felt that more could have been done to intervene before the tragedy unfolded. The case has since prompted discussions on how to better recognize and respond to signs of potential child endangerment, particularly in families influenced by extreme ideologies.
Ultimately, the case of Tylee and JJ serves as a harrowing reminder of the potential consequences of radical beliefs and the importance of vigilance in protecting vulnerable individuals, especially children. As the legal proceedings continue to unfold, their story remains a poignant cautionary tale that resonates deeply within communities and highlights the tragic intersection of faith, family, and loss(Wikipedia)(Global News)(Global News).