By Jessica Castro | Reporter
In the world of true crime, doomsday cultist Lori Vallow Daybell is making a name for herself as the epicenter of a string of investigations, the largest of which being one by the state of Idaho on her two missing children. While at the very least a trial has begun to convict Daybell of the alleged abandonment of her children, the details of this story have thus far proven to be so mind-bogglingly rife with the dead that it’s best to start by explaining the connection to her fifth and current husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell. Chad and Lori’s first documented interaction together appeared in mid to late 2018, while Lori was still married to her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
“Early the next year, Charles files for divorce, citing Lori’s growing extremist religious philosophies as his reasoning, as well as what his attorney described as “genuine fear for his life”. ”
Early the next year, Charles files for divorce, citing Lori’s growing extremist religious philosophies as his reasoning, as well as what his attorney described as “genuine fear for his life”. He also obtained an order of protection against Lori. Unfortunately, only a few months later, after several failed attempts to see his own child, Charles Vallow was shot to death by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, in what he claimed was an act of self-defense. Cox was not charged, and later that year, Cox died with no known cause of death thus far. Soon after the death of her fourth husband, Lori made an abrupt move to Idaho from Arizona, pulling her children out of school and getting them enrolled at a place near Chad Daybell’s home. Not a full month passes before her children, 17-year-old Tylee and seven-year-old “JJ” are last seen in public. The date, September 23rd, also coincides with Tylee’s birthday, and it’s worth noting that the date goes unacknowledged by her on social media. Meanwhile, life moves on for Lori in the most celebratory sense. She marries Chad Daybell in Hawai’i less than three weeks after his own wife of 29 years dies under suspicious circumstances. The wedding ceremony is privately held, and as police finally conduct a welfare check on the missing children, they find out, in addition to the fact that JJ and Tylee had been missing since late September, that Lori had lied to witnesses about the statuses of her children. Firstly, she says her daughter had died over a year ago, which is blatantly untrue. Secondly, she denies having any minor children at all. As police investigate a false claim by Lori that “JJ” is staying with a family friend in Arizona, they find, on November 27th, that the couple’s home has been “abruptly vacated”. A warrant is issued for her arrest. The disappearance works for a month, but Lori is found by authorities in Kauai, who issue a court order for her to present her missing children. The deadline comes and goes with no sign of “JJ” or Tylee still, and Lori is arrested on February 20th of this year. A trial for Lori Vallow Daybell has begun in Idaho, where she was extradited to, and already there are a few court twists worth mentioning. After only getting her $5 million bail reduced to $1 million, Lori files a request for her judge to recuse himself from the case, and he agrees. Two of the members of her legal representation also plan to remove themselves from the case. Her next hearing has been postponed from Mid-March to May 7 and 8, and it’s likely Lori will be sitting in jail for the whole duration. As it stands, the local bondsmen in the area are refusing to bail her out, for fear of her fleeing again and skipping out on a $1 million prison tab.
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