The mother of two missing Idaho children and her new husband — known as the “doomsday couple” — were located on Kauai over the weekend.
Lori Vallow has been described as having apocalyptic views, and her husband, Chad Daybell, has written blog posts about near-death experiences and published so-called doomsday books.
In addition to the suspicious circumstances surrounding her missing children, circumstances surrounding the 2019 deaths of the spouses of both Vallow and Daybell are under investigation. Vallow’s husband was gunned down by her brother in July, and the cause of death of Daybell’s wife in October is under investigation.
Vallow’s children, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, and 7-year-old Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, were last seen in September, although she never reported them missing.
Kauai police over the weekend stopped Vallow and Daybell in a vehicle near a resort in Princeville, according to authorities in Rexburg, Idaho. She has been served with a court order to bring the children to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare by Thursday. Vallow could face civil or criminal contempt of court charges if she fails to comply with the court order.
Rexburg police said Vallow and Daybell were together when Kauai police served her with the court order. “We can further confirm that Tylee and J.J. were not with Lori and Chad and there is no evidence that Tylee and J.J. were ever in Hawaii,” Rexburg police said in a statement Monday.
Kauai police seized the vehicle that Vallow and Daybell were in.
Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries in Idaho said family members contacted Rexburg police in November to conduct a welfare check on the children because they had not heard from them. Humphries said Vallow and Daybell lied to law enforcement about the children’s whereabouts and abruptly left Rexburg when police executed warrants in search of the kids.
Humphries said Monday that there is still no sign of the children. “That is the primary concern, is making sure that they are safe.”
Kauai police said Vallow and Daybell have been staying on the island for “an unconfirmed period of time.”
“KPD’s desire is to continue to assist the Rexburg police in whatever way we can with their efforts to locate the missing children,” said Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck in a statement. “It’s our sincere hope that the children have a safe return.”
Daybell is a person of interest in the case of the missing children and in the death of his last wife, Tammy Daybell. Rexburg police said Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow within a couple of weeks of Tammy’s death in October.
Tammy Daybell’s cause of death was originally ruled as natural causes. But a subsequent investigation by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office determined her death “may be suspicious,” police said. The sheriff’s office had her body exhumed in Utah in December and is awaiting laboratory results from her autopsy.
Lori Vallow moved to eastern Idaho with her children about a month after the death of her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, who was gunned down in Arizona in July by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox, who claimed self-defense, died in December. Toxicology results are pending to determine the exact cause of his death.
Extended family members grew concerned as their contact with Tylee and J.J. diminished and then stopped completely.
Earlier this month J.J. Vallow’s grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the children’s whereabouts. They say they believe Charles Vallow was killed, and said Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell had cultlike beliefs. They also said Charles Vallow was so worried that Lori would kill him during their divorce that he sought out a protection order.
Divorce documents filed by Charles Vallow in February claimed that Lori believed she was a “translated being” and “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020.” Chad Daybell has claimed in blog posts and podcasts that he had previously died or had near-death experiences that he said allowed him to receive visions about the future. He also wrote and published several books themed around the apocalypse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.