Cult mom Lori Vallow’s new husband Chad Daybell cashed in $430,000 after his previous wife died in mysterious circumstances, two weeks before he married Vallow in Hawaii.
Vallow has been charged with desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She is currently in custody in Kauai, fighting extradition to Idaho where police want to know where her children JJ, seven, and Tylee, 17, are.
The kids have not been seen since late September and there are grave concerns for their well-being but Vallow is refusing to answer questions on their whereabouts.
In a probable cause affidavit for Vallow’s arrest and why she should be denied bail, Detective Ron Ball said she and her new husband have significant ‘resources’ as a result of his first wife’s death.
‘Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell have significant financial resources.
Lori Vallow in court in Hawaii on Friday (left) and her husband Chad Daybell supporting her (right)
Chad and Tammy Daybell were married for 23 years before she died mysteriously in October. Her body has been exhumed but the results of that autopsy have not yet been released
‘I am aware that Chad Daybell received at least $430,000 in life insurance proceeds upon the death of his wife Tammy.
‘As such Lori and Chad have resources sufficient to help them travel and hide from law enforcement and the court,’ he said.
Daybell’s wife Tammy died in mysterious circumstances in October – two weeks before he married Vallow in a beach ceremony. At first, it was ruled that she had died of natural causes.
But as suspicion encroached on Daybell and Vallow, authorities in Idaho decided to exhume Tammy’s body to perform more tests.
The results of that autopsy have not yet been released.
Lori failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on January 30 in Madison County. Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in Idaho in September in Rexburg, Idaho and authorities are still searching for them
Lori’s estranged husband Charles Vallow (pictured together) was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 11, 2019
Retired FBI agent explains the case against Lori Vallow
Retired FBI agent Frank Montoya Jr
Frank Montoya Jr, who retired from the FBI in 2016 after serving since 1991, explained to DailyMail.com on Friday morning that the authorities in Idaho had been forced to hold off until there was any evidence of a crime which, in Vallow’s case, there has not been, because both children remain completely unaccounted for.
‘What’s frustrating is the kids are missing.
‘When the parent herself is not cooperating.. it isn’t enough to arrest them.
‘What’s the charge? If it’s just child endangerment and she refuses to talk, how do you prove the children have been harmed or more tragically if they’re dead? You can’t.
‘A judge and jury have no choice but to say there’s no evidence to hold her in cases like this you’ll hugely dependent,’ he said.
Montoya went on to explain what will likely happen now to Vallow. He also speculated over the various strands of investigation the police in Idaho now have to look at.
‘It’s a combination of things that the kids are still missing and the fact she’s in Hawaii and they want to talk to her in Idaho. She can either waive or contest – if she contests it then there’ll be a hearing, Idaho authorities will present their case. There’s little chance that the judge won’t extradite.
‘[But] there’s a number of things they’re working through here; the death of her husband, Daybell’s former wife, for instance. They’re exhuming her body to perform an autopsy.
Lori in her mugshot on Thursday
‘He has not been arrested, interestingly. Will he accompany her to Idaho or stay in Hawaii or move on?’
He added that she likely will not be quizzed over the whereabouts of Lori and JJ until she is back in Idaho and that even then, police may want to hold her in a cell for as long as possible to try to break any resolve she may have.
‘They’ll attempt to talk to her – of course she can invoke her right to silence.
‘They have leverage – even though there’s a lot of craziness, suspicious behavior and strange stuff, this is not a hardened criminal. She’s never spent a few nights in jail.
‘What’s the prospect of going to jail for 10-14 years. It remains to be seen whether she will cooperate.
‘After spending time in a jail in Kauai, they want to maybe bring her to Idaho and let her sit in an Idaho jail.
‘My guess is that they’ll wait until they gather back to Idaho,’ he said.
He added it will likely not emerge what has happened until her arrest warrant is unsealed.
‘This is just another step – this is just another step,’ he said.
Another theory he says police may have been worried about is that Vallow and Daybell were obsessed with the Doomsday culture and resurrection.
‘The backup in all this is her peculiar ways… there’s a bit of a time crunch.
‘People like this – what exactly is their intent? Part of these end of the world scenarios is that everyone gets resurrected. Are her kids the test case of that? Until she starts talking who knows… maybe this is the step to get her to start talking,’ he said.
It has also emerged that Lori had both Tylee and JJ’s birth certificates with her along with Tylee’s bank card and JJ’s iPad when police searched their car.
Lori also had her teenage daughter’s cell phone with her.
Tammy and Chad had been married for more than 20 years before she died suddenly.
Lori’s brother Alex Cox died under mysterious circumstances on December 12
According to relatives of Lori’s, she had become fascinated with his religious books about his near death experiences.
Some say the pair were fascinated with the end of the world.
Lori’s estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead by her brother in July.
Charles had a life insurance policy too which would have given Lori $1million if he hadn’t changed the beneficiary to his sister before his death.
When Lori learned she would not get the money, she sent an angry text to the sister about it.
In November – after the kids disappeared and both their ex-partners had died – Lori and Chad got married.
The following month, the brother of hers who had killed her estranged husband died in similarly mysterious circumstances to Chad’s wife.
Since Lori’s arrest, it has been claimed that her niece knows where Tylee and JJ are but that she is refusing to tell anyone.
Melani Pawlowski was tied to the kids’ disappearance when her ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, claimed that she’d followed her aunt into a dangerous doomsday cult and suggested their radical religious beliefs played a role in the case.
Brandon and Melani have been embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their four young kids since the mother suddenly filed for divorce over the summer.
In a new court filing, Brandon states: ‘Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies.
He further alleges that his ex-wife knows where JJ and Tylee are but is refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
‘Melani’s knowledge of the whereabouts of her aunt’s two missing children and her unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement is daunting,’ the filing obtained by FOX10 states.
It also claims that Melani’s current husband Ian Pawlowski, whom she married on November 30, had told law enforcement that she ‘says sometimes children are full of light and then just like that they go dark’.
Brandon has long held that Lori’s alleged cult ties were linked to the disappearance of her children and the three deaths, as well as an attempt on his own life last fall.
He was targeted in a drive-by shooting on October 2, just as he arrived home from the gym in Gilbert, Arizona.
Brandon told investigators he saw a rifle with a silencer emerge from the backseat of a 2018 Wrangler Jeep seconds before a bullet shattered the driver’s side window of his Tesla, missing his head by inches.
Police later determined that the Jeep was registered to Charles Vallow, Lori’s former husband who was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in July.
The new court filing states: ‘Brandon believed Melani, his wife at the time, had a million dollars of reasons to have him killed … hoping to cash in on the policy to help support the cult that she is believed to be a part of.
‘Melani left Arizona almost immediately after the attempt on his life, leaving without a trace and leaving her children behind.’
The filing was in response to a recent petition Melani filed to amend their custody agreement.
Brandon alleges that Melani is seeking the amendment now because ‘she feels that the suspicious death of her uncle, Alex, … has somehow freed her from her role in the attempt on Brandon’s life.’