Parents of missing cult kids issue statement calling themselves ‘loving’ and ‘devoted’

The parents of two missing Idaho children have released a statement calling themselves ‘loving’ and ‘devoted’ people as they are named ‘persons of interest’ in the case. 

A multi-state police search is underway for seven-year-old Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, who were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, in September.  

The children were never reported missing by their mother Lori Daybell or her new husband Chad Daybell, whom she married just weeks after his first wife was found dead under mysterious circumstances. 

The couple themselves, who have been named persons of interests in the children’s disappearance, vanished the day after police conducted a wellness check on the children on November 26, after family members said they hadn’t seen them in months. 

Police say Lori and Chad repeatedly lied about the location of her children before going off the grid.

On Monday, the couple’s attorney, Sean Bartholick, issued a statement on their behalf, according to East Idaho News. 

‘Chad Daybell is a loving husband and has the support of his children in this matter. Lori Daybell is a devoted mother and resents assertions to the contrary,’ the statement reads.

 

Lori (right) and Chad Daybell (left), the parents of two missing Idaho children, Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, have released a statement calling themselves ‘loving’ and ‘devoted’ people 

Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, 7,

Tylee Ryan, 17

A multi-state police search is underway for seven-year-old Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow (left) and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan (right), who were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, in September

‘We look forward to addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor,’ the couple added in the statement.

No charges have been filed against Chad or Lori in Idaho or Arizona. 

Police said they are interested in speaking with the couple to ensure the children are safe. 

Investigators believe the children are in serious danger, and also suspect the disappearance may be linked to the October 19 death of Chad’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, at her home in Rexburg. 

Two of Lori’s ex-partners have also died in the past two years. Her ex-husband Joseph Anthony Ryan, Tylee’s father, died of a heart attack in 2018. 

In July, her husband Charles Vallow, 63, of Texas, was fatally shot by her brother, Alex Cox, in Chandler, Arizona.   

Cox himself was killed on December 12, the day after investigators exhumed Tammy’s body to conduct an autopsy. 

Now Brandon Boudreaux, who married into Lori’s family in 2008, has expressed suspicion that the four deaths and the children’s disappearances may be linked to her new religious beliefs. 

‘I spent the last 11 years of my life spending time with Lori and her now-deceased husband Charles,’ Boudreaux told Fox13.  

Investigators believe the children are in serious danger, and also suspect the disappearance may be linked to the October 19 death of Chad's (left) previous wife, Tammy Daybell (right), at her home in Rexburg

Investigators believe the children are in serious danger, and also suspect the disappearance may be linked to the October 19 death of Chad’s (left) previous wife, Tammy Daybell (right), at her home in Rexburg 

Lori Vallow (right) is pictured here with her previous husband, Charles Vallow (left), who was fatally shot 'in self defense' by Lori's brother in July 2019

Lori Vallow (right) is pictured here with her previous husband, Charles Vallow (left), who was fatally shot ‘in self defense’ by Lori’s brother in July 2019

Brandon Boudreaux (pictured), who married into Lori Vallow's family in 2008, has said he doesn't think it's a coincidence that two of her previous husbands, her new husband's ex-wife and her brother have all died since she allegedly joined a dangerous religious cult

Brandon Boudreaux (pictured), who married into Lori Vallow’s family in 2008, has said he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that two of her previous husbands, her new husband’s ex-wife and her brother have all died since she allegedly joined a dangerous religious cult

‘I don’t know what happened to those kids, but I know there’s people who do, and they’re not talking… I love them both. I hope they’re safe. They’re both just innocent and they didn’t deserve to be involved in any of this.’

Boudreaux said his wife Melani, Lori’s niece, followed her aunt in joining a ‘cult’ with Chad, a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who has written books detailing the end of the world, around 18 months ago.    

‘You can’t be a member of the church and believe those things,’ Boudreaux said of the cult. 

‘I think it’s an infatuation with the end of the world and an infatuation with power, and they’re using it to try to make money off of people’s beliefs.  

‘It just makes you sad. A lot of people I care about aren’t here anymore because of these ideas.’

Boudreaux said he does not think it is a coincidence that so many people close to Lori and Chad have died within such a short amount of time. 

His suspicion is driven by the fact that he believes his now ex-wife Melani used her family’s newfound religious beliefs to justify killing him.  

Boudreaux said his wife Melani, Lori's niece, followed her aunt in joining a 'cult' with Chad, a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who has written books detailing the end of the world, around 18 months ago. Boudreaux and Melani are pictured at their wedding in 2008

Boudreaux said his wife Melani, Lori’s niece, followed her aunt in joining a ‘cult’ with Chad, a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who has written books detailing the end of the world, around 18 months ago. Boudreaux and Melani are pictured at their wedding in 2008

Boudreaux accused Melani of trying to kill him 'a couple months ago'. He said she was using her family's newfound religious beliefs to justify taking his life

Boudreaux accused Melani of trying to kill him ‘a couple months ago’. He said she was using her family’s newfound religious beliefs to justify taking his life

‘A couple months ago there was an attempt on my life, so I went into hiding with my kids,’ Boudreaux said, referencing his four young children with Melani. 

‘All I could think was: “Someone’s shooting at me. What do I need to do? I need to hit the gas and get out of here.”‘

Boudreaux said an investigation into that incident is ongoing and declined to provide additional details. DailyMail.com has reached out to authorities to verify Boudreaux’s claim.  

Timeline of Joshua and Tylee’s disappearance 

July 11: Lori Vallow’s husband, Charles Vallow, killed in self-defense by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona following an argument between the three people

August: The last time Joshua’s grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, said they saw the boy via FaceTime 

August: September: Lori moved children Joshua and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho

September 23: The last time Joshua was seen at his school in Idaho

October: Activity found on a Venmo account that may belong to Tylee

October 19: Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell, dies at their home in Rexburg. Officials rule her death to be of natural causes

October 22: Tammy is buried in Springville, Utah

Late October:  Lori and Chad get married

November 26: Out-of-state relatives ask Idaho police to perform a welfare check on Joshua. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with a family friend. Police also learn Tylee has not been seen since September, either

November 27: Police execute a search warrant at Lori and Chad’s home, discovering the couple have fled the city

December 11: Tammy Daybell’s body is exhumed from the Utah cemetary

December 12: Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, believed to have died in Arizona

A FOX13 reporter asked Boudreaux: ‘You have no doubt in your mind, Chad and Lori are responsible for the deaths of their spouses?’ 

He got emotional as he replied: ‘I’m just a person, so what do I know? But yeah, I mean… I just wonder why you couldn’t just get divorced like normal people and just go be together if that’s what you wanted.

‘I don’t know what they’re doing. It doesn’t make any sense… If I could say anything to them, I would just say tell the truth, you know? They’re going to figure it out eventually anyways.’ 

Another family member also expressed suspicion that the children’s disappearance may be linked to their mother joining a cult.  

In a Facebook post, Joshua’s grandmother, Lake Charles, Louisiana-based Kay Vallow Woodcock, wrote that Lori was a ‘wonderful, loving, attentive mother’ to Joshua, who is Level 2 on the autism spectrum and had been adopted by Lori and Charles in 2013. 

‘Things started changing over the past 18+ months when Lori began spending all her time with a new religious group, that we refer to as a “cult”,’ she noted, without naming the group.    

Kay and husband Larry Woodcock told Fox 10 that they last saw Joshua via FaceTime in August and that Lori had moved the two missing children from Arizona to Idaho shortly before they went missing in September. 

Kay told the news station that Lori’s personality had changed over the last 24 months. 

‘To think that within the last two years she has completely changed into a monster, I’m making an understatement,’ Kay said.

She added: ‘Something happened to her. She just turned off and once she got involved with that cult with Daybell, she just turned off the person we knew just went away.’

The religious group is reportedly a radical offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

In online video interviews, Daybell describes how he began writing after leaving his job as an editor at the The Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah, and began working as a sexton at the local cemetery. 

Chad Daybell's previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died at their home in Rexburg, Idaho, in October and was buried in Springville, Utah. Chad's new wife, Lori, was also widowed in 2019 when her husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in July in Chandler, Arizona

Chad Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died at their home in Rexburg, Idaho, in October and was buried in Springville, Utah. Chad’s new wife, Lori, was also widowed in 2019 when her husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in July in Chandler, Arizona

The children's grandparents, Larry (left) and Kay Woodcock (right) said that Lori had changed after she got involved with Chad

The children’s grandparents, Larry (left) and Kay Woodcock (right) said that Lori had changed after she got involved with Chad 

Joshua's grandmother and other relatives have taken to Facebook to post about the children's disappearance, asking for help in locating them

Joshua’s grandmother and other relatives have taken to Facebook to post about the children’s disappearance, asking for help in locating them

He told how one of his books is about his time at the cemetery, including a story about the ghost of a homeless mad who would open locked doors and move objects around, until Daybell told him to ‘go to the light’.

Daybell talked about a book called ‘Led By The Hand of Christ’, that detailed his interview with a woman who claimed to have had a near death experience and met Jesus after ‘crossing the veil’ into the other side.

He also wrote a five-book fictional series about the end of the world and the prophecies of the Latter-day Saints. 

Daybell’s books also describe the Second Coming and the establishment of ‘New Jerusalem’ in America.

His series ‘Standing In Holy Places’ is described as helping ‘make sense of what awaits us before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ’. 

According to his website, Daybell has ‘worked in the publishing business for the past two decades and has written more than 25 books’. 

After working as the managing editor at publishing house, Cedar Fort, Daybell then started his own publisher in 2004 and is currently the president of Spring Creek Book Company. 

The firm’s website states: ‘Our primary focus is providing entertaining, uplifting literature that gives readers a better understanding and an emotional connection to the gospel of Jesus Christ.’   

Lori Vallow's missing son, Joshua 'JJ' Vallow (pictured), has not been seen since September

Joshua Vallow

Lori Vallow’s missing son, Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow (pictured), has not been seen since September

Joshua Vallow is pictured here in a still from a video in which he was signing on a bus with his grandparents. Joshua is said to be on the autism spectrum and was adopted by Charles Vallow

Joshua Vallow is pictured here in a still from a video in which he was signing on a bus with his grandparents. Joshua is said to be on the autism spectrum and was adopted by Charles Vallow

Joshua's (pictured) grandparents said they last saw the boy via FaceTime in August

Joshua’s (pictured) grandparents said they last saw the boy via FaceTime in August

Lori Vallow's daughter, Tylee Ryan, 17, hasn't been seen since September, either

Lori Vallow’s daughter, Tylee Ryan, 17, hasn’t been seen since September, either 

Authorities believe that Tylee (pictured) and Joshua's disappearance may be linked to the death of Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy Daybell

Tylee Ryan

Authorities believe that Tylee (pictured) and Joshua’s disappearance may be linked to the death of Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell

FAMILY ‘CULT’ TIES 

Two of Lori Vallow’s relatives have alleged that the mother joined a ‘dangerous religious cult’ around 18 months ago. 

The cult is said to be a radical off-shoot of the Church of Latter-day Saints, to which 98 percent of Rexburg residents belong.  

Lori and her niece, Melani Broudeaux, were allegedly drawn into the cult by Chad Daybell, the man Lori married just weeks after his wife was found dead on October 19. 

Daybell is a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who has written multiple books detailing the end of the world.

Lori’s former mother-in-law, Kay Vallow Woodcock, told FOX10 that Lori’s personality had changed drastically since she joined the cult. 

‘To think that within the last two years she has completely changed into a monster, I’m making an understatement,’ Kay said.

She added: ‘Something happened to her. She just turned off and once she got involved with that cult with Daybell, she just turned off the person we knew just went away.’

Melani Broudeaux’s now-ex-husband, Brandon Broudeaux, also confirmed that the pair joined the cult with Daybell. 

He said Melani used her newfound religious beliefs to try to have him killed in August. 

‘You can’t be a member of the church and believe those things,’ Boudreaux said of the cult. 

‘I think it’s an infatuation with the end of the world and an infatuation with power, and they’re using it to try to make money off of people’s beliefs.’ 

Police went to Lori and Chad’s home to conduct a welfare check on Joshua on November 26, after out-of-state relatives reported that they hadn’t spoken to the seven-year-old, who has special needs, since September. 

The couple told investigators that Joshua was in Arizona, staying with a family friend, police said.  

When that statement was proven to be untrue, police obtained search warrants on November 27 at Rexburg locations associated with Lori, in an effort to find the missing boy. 

It was then that they discovered that both Lori and Chad had fled their home and Rexburg. Police do not think that Joshua was with the couple when they left town. 

During the investigation into Joshua’s whereabouts, police learned that he was last seen at school on September 23 and that his sister Tylee hadn’t been seen since September, either. 

Rexberg Police Chief Shane Turman told EastIdahoNews.com that although they have been in contact with Lori and Chad, they do not know where the couple is and that they are not cooperating.  

‘They’ve told us several stories about where the children are, but when we investigate, the children don’t exist where they say they should,’ Turman told the newspaper. 

He added that police think the children are ‘in pretty serious danger.’  

Rexburg Assistant Police Chief Gary Hagen said Lori and Chad’s sudden departure set off alarms for investigators.  

‘I believe they were married within several weeks of when Chad’s wife had passed away, which is alarming and unusual as well,’ Hagen told Fox10. 

‘After they caught on that we were trying to do welfare checks into the children and were digging into it, they abruptly moved from their residence here.’ 

Fox 13 reported that they found Venmo transactions on an account that appeared to belong to Tylee, dating back to October.

The FBI – who has been enlisted in the search for the missing children – is said to be examining these transactions. 

Chad Daybell (left) and Tammy Daybell (right) are pictured in an undated image

Chad Daybell (left) and Tammy Daybell (right) are pictured in an undated image 

Tammy Daybell (right, with husband Chad Daybell) died mysteriously in her sleep in October

Tammy Daybell (right, with husband Chad Daybell) died mysteriously in her sleep in October

Investigators initially determined that Tammy Daybell (pictured) died of natural causes but are now treating her death as suspicious

Authorities have exhumed Tammy Daybell's (pictured) body for autopsy purposes

Investigators initially determined that Tammy Daybell (pictured) died of natural causes but are now treating her death as suspicious. Her body was exhumed on December 11 for an autopsy

Lori and Chad tied the knot just weeks after Tammy, 49, was found dead, supposedly of natural causes. She was buried three days later in Springville, Utah. 

Police now believe that the children’s disappearance is related to the death of Tammy, who married Chad at a Latter-day Saints temple in 1990.

They exhumed Tammy’s body on December 11 so an autopsy could be performed. 

The East Idaho News reported that the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner has conducted the autopsy, although it does not appear the results have been made public yet. 

Tammy’s father, Ron Douglas, told Fox13 he last saw his daughter about two weeks before her death. He said she appeared to be in good health and good spirits and was dancing in the living room.  

Douglas said his daughter’s estranged husband Chad called him ‘broken-hearted and sobbing’ on October 19, the day Tammy died.  

Chad explained that his wife went to bed in a coughing fit and never woke up.  

‘We speculate like everybody else,’ Douglas said. 

‘It’s hard to know that we lost our daughter and that our son-in-law of 30 years has stepped into this mess. 

‘We don’t know. We’d like to hope for the best. Every time you peel a layer off the onion it makes you scratch your head.’

Douglas said he did not know Tammy’s body was exhumed until police told him.  

‘We’re just waiting for the results [of the autopsy],’ Douglas said. ‘We knew nothing about the missing children.’

Chad’s new wife, Lori, was also widowed in 2019 when her husband, Charles Vallow was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, on July 11 in Chandler, Arizona.  

Authorities exhumed Tammy Daybell's body from her cemetery plot in Utah on December 11

Authorities exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body from her cemetery plot in Utah on December 11

The Arizona scene from when Charles Vallow was killed in 'self-defense' in July, after getting into an argument with Lori and her brother, Alex Cox, while picking up Joshua

The Arizona scene from when Charles Vallow was killed in ‘self-defense’ in July, after getting into an argument with Lori and her brother, Alex Cox, while picking up Joshua

According to a Fox 10 report from the time of the incident, Cox claimed that Charles had gone to estranged wife Lori’s then-home in Chandler to pick up Joshua, their adopted son. 

When Charles and Lori started arguing, Cox intervened on behalf of his sister. Charles and Cox then fought each other, with Charles supposedly hitting Cox in the head with a baseball bat. 

At some point during the fight, Cox was said to have shot Charles twice in the chest in self-defense, before calling 911.  

No arrests were made following the incident, although both Cox and Lori were questioned by police. The case was investigated by Chandler police and the Arizona’s Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. 

Cox himself is now dead, although it’s unclear how he died, as Rexburg officials declined to comment on the details regarding his death due to the ongoing investigation. 

Police in Gilbert, Arizona, told Fox 10 that they are investigating Cox’s death. 

Social media posts by Charles’ relatives indicate that Cox died on December 12 – a day after Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed. 

Police told Fox 10 that the two missing children could be in Idaho, Arizona or Utah and that even though Lori and Chad aren’t suspects in their disappearance, the couple is wanted for questioning.   

Joshua, seven, has brown eyes and brown hair. He is 4′ tall and weighs 50lbs. Tylee, 17, has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 5′ tall and weighs 160lbs.  

Lori Vallow, 46, has blonde hair and blue eyes and is 5’6.’ Chad Daybell, 51, has brown hair and blue eyes and is 6’3.’  

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Rexburg Police Department at 208-359-3000, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-THE-LOST. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk