Case File: Lori Vallow Daybell

Lori Vallow Daybell grew up in a large, close-knit California family with five siblings. Friends and relatives described her as cheerful and deeply tied to her Mormon faith, though in her younger years she displayed a fascination with the spiritual idea of divine missions.

She married multiple times and had three children: Colby Ryan from her second marriage, Tylee Ryan from her third marriage and JJ Vallow. JJ, the biological great-nephew of Lori’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was adopted by the couple after his birth parents could not care for him.

By the late 2010s, Lori’s beliefs had begun shifting away from mainstream teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) toward more extreme, fringe beliefs. Through this circle she learned of Chad Daybell, a self-published author of novels centered around the apocalypse.

Chad said a near-death experience as a teenager had allowed him to have visions of the afterlife. He claimed to have been repeatedly reincarnated and told Lori that they had been married during previous lives. Despite both being married, Lori and Chad began a relationship soon after meeting in person at a religious conference in October 2018.

The pair began telling confidants that they had been chosen to lead a group of “144,000” who would survive the apocalypse. They recruited several of Lori’s family members to their group, including her older brother, Alex Cox.

As the group’s beliefs grew darker, they explored extreme spiritual ideas, including that some people and children could become “zombies” whose bodies were inhabited by evil spirits and had to be destroyed. In the weeks before his death, Lori’s then-husband, Charles, repeatedly warned friends, family and police that his wife’s apocalyptic beliefs were escalating. He told authorities she believed he had been possessed by a demon and expressed deep fear for the safety of himself and the children and began divorce proceedings.

On July 11, 2019, Charles arrived at the family home in Chandler, Ariz., to take JJ to school. An argument broke out between Charles, Lori and Cox. During the confrontation, Cox shot Charles. Cox claimed self-defense after Charles confronted him with a baseball bat, but police noted inconsistencies in Cox’s version of the events and were aware of Charles’ fears about his own safety. However, Cox was not charged.

Two months later, Lori relocated with Tylee and JJ to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Chad. Tylee was last seen during a September 8 outing to Yellowstone with Lori, JJ and Cox, and JJ was last seen by elementary school staff on September 23. Relatives and former friends later testified that during those weeks, Lori and Chad described the children as “dark spirits” or “zombies,” claiming their souls had been overtaken by evil entities. Family members soon grew alarmed. JJ’s grandparents in Louisiana repeatedly contacted authorities after losing communication with him.

On October 2, Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Lori’s niece, was shot at in the driveway of his Gilbert, Ariz., home. Boudreaux had been a vocal critic of Lori and Chad’s doomsday beliefs. Investigators would later link the crime to Cox.

Then, on October 19, Chad’s wife Tammy Daybell died suddenly at home in Salem, Idaho. Weeks later, Chad and Lori secretly married in Hawaii. Photos showed the couple smiling on a beach with her children conspicuously absent.

In late November, Rexburg police attempted a welfare check at Lori’s townhouse. Lori and Chad claimed JJ was staying with friends in Arizona, but when police followed up, the couple and Cox abruptly left town.

By December, police in Idaho announced that JJ and Tylee were officially missing and considered endangered. Their disappearance quickly gained national attention, as reporters uncovered the string of deaths surrounding Lori and Chad. On December 12, Alex Cox died suddenly at his home, a death attributed to a blood clot, though some family members and observers have questioned the timing, since it occurred just as law enforcement's investigation intensified.

In January, Lori and Chad were located on Kauai, Hawaii. Lori was served with a court order demanding she produce proof of Tylee and JJ’s whereabouts within five days. She failed to comply. In February 2020, she was arrested and extradited to Idaho on charges of child abandonment, resisting officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.

Meanwhile, authorities re-examined the earlier deaths of Charles and Tammy, reclassifying Tammy’s death from natural causes to homicide by asphyxiation.

In June, police executed a search warrant on Chad’s rural Idaho property. In the backyard, investigators found human remains later identified as JJ and Tylee. JJ had been bound and buried in a shallow grave; Tylee’s remains had been dismembered and burned. Chad was immediately arrested.

The case against Lori and Chad was repeatedly delayed by competency evaluations and pandemic-related court slowdowns.

Lori’s first trial began in 2023, where Idaho prosecutors presented testimony from investigators, relatives and friends, along with digital records in which Lori and Chad described the children and others as “dark” or “zombies.” Lori has suggested Tylee was responsible for JJ’s death and took her own life afterward. Prosecutors flatly rejected this, pointing to the condition of Tylee’s remains (dismembered and burned) as evidence she was murdered and her body concealed.

The jury found Lori guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of JJ and Tylee, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Tammy’s death and related conspiracy and theft charges. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

At her 2025 trial in Arizona, in which she acted as her own defense attorney, Lori was convicted of conspiring to murder Charles and Boudreaux with both crimes carried out by Cox. She was sentenced to two more consecutive life terms.

During Chad’s 2024 trial, prosecutors argued that his apocalyptic teachings and desire to remove obstacles to his relationship with Lori—including Tammy—drove the conspiracy with her and Cox. The jury convicted him of the murders of Tammy, JJ and Tylee as well as conspiracy charges, and he was sentenced to death. Chad and Lori have each filed appeals in their cases.

In the wake of the convictions, attention has remained on court appeals and civil cases brought by the families of Tammy and Charles. Authorities have also re-examined the 2019 death of Cox. Some family members suspect his death may not have been accidental, though no charges have been filed.

Surviving relatives, including JJ’s grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, have become outspoken advocates for child safety and earlier intervention when relatives raise concerns about child welfare.

The case has resonated far beyond Idaho, touching on broader issues of mental health, religious extremism and systemic gaps in child protection. Critics have questioned why authorities in Arizona and Idaho did not act more swiftly after repeated red flags, including Charles’ fears for the children’s safety and other reports from concerned relatives.

The case also sparked conversations within LDS communities about how fringe apocalyptic groups can exploit religious language and manipulate followers. While church leaders have stressed that Chad and Lori’s beliefs were far outside mainstream doctrine, the case exposed the risks of unchecked charismatic figures promoting visions of divine missions.