48 Hours - The Final Days of Lori Vallow’s Children

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

Lori Vallow Daybell is currently on trial for the murder of her two children, “J.J.” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell, the late wife of her husband, Chad Daybell. 48 Hours revisits how investigators found Lori Vallow Daybell's missing children – buried on Chad Daybell’s property. "The Final Days of JJ and Tylee” originally aired on October 3, 2020. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who is also charged in the killings, have pleaded not guilty. Chad Daybell will be tried separately. Prosecutors say the couple’s so-called doomsday beliefs played a role in the murders.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. There is one backhoe on the scene, and police are digging right now in the backyard of this hole. It was the ending everyone feared. On June 9, 2020, authorities executed a search warrant

here at Chad Daybell's home and property. They were looking for the two children. Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow disappeared in September of 2019. For months, their mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, and her new husband, Chad Daybell, refused to talk to investigators or tell anybody where the kids were.

Can you tell me where your kids are? There's people around the country praying for your children, praying for you guys. Why don't you give us answers? That's great. That's great. Even after Lori was arrested, she still refused to say anything about where the kids were. Lori, where are your kids? How come you're not telling anybody where your kids are? All of this builds up to this morning and this action in this quiet neighborhood.

Chad Daybell was sitting in his vehicle, watching investigators digging up his backyard. In one of those strange coincidences, Lori calls him on the phone from jail. Are they saving us again? They're searching. It's like these two star-crossed lovers who know the end is near. That it's just a matter of time now that investigators are going to find the children. Once they removed some soil, there was what I can best describe as a black plastic bag. described as a black plastic bag. It was a what appeared to be a small body tightly wrapped.

A lot of people had held out hope that the kids were alive and this seemed to be the morning where reality set in. Detectives and investigators have recovered what's believed to be human remains. That was a rough day because yeah we had been so hopeful. My name is Echo Ita-Aihau and my daughter Vicia and Tylee were best friends. I just always had that hope that they were alive and so so when I heard the news, I was just like so dumbfounded. I just completely believed that they were alive. Shortly after the remains were discovered, Chad Daybell was taken into custody and booked into the Fremont County Jail.

The first thing I felt after shock was just like anger. If you could talk to Lori now, what would you tell her? Assuming she would even answer me, just like, why? I feel like that's the only question anyone wants to know is just why. Thank you. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have urged it.

It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X.

In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. Say hi. No, no, no, no, no, no no no no jj say hi when i think of tylee and jj i just think of fun and love they both had unconditional love for each other happy family i'll always remember them like that

I'll always remember them like that. By the time the remains of 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and his 16-year-old sister, Tylee Ryan, were found, buried in shallow graves on Chad Daybell's property, they had become two of the most famous missing children in America. Everyone wanted to know what happened to them. No one wanted this. what happened to them. No one wanted this. What happened to those kids is horrendous. Investigative reporter and CBS News consultant Morgan Lowe has covered this story since the beginning. In 30 years, I've never covered a story quite like this. This one sticks.

This one is bad. Raise your right arm and face the clerk. Investigators at Chad Daybell's preliminary hearing in August described in chilling detail finding the remains of the two children in Daybell's backyard. JJ's grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, could barely contain their grief as they listened. A warning to our viewers, what you are about to hear may be disturbing. They began pulling up the sod and topsoil. Pulling up the sod and topsoil. They started by removing a top layer of earth on a four foot by two foot patch of grass that was shorter than the rest.

Which revealed three large white rocks, flat rocks. Beneath the rocks, they found thin pieces of wood paneling. Below that, a layer of black plastic. One of the crime scene investigators cut a hole in the top of this plastic and beneath the black plastic was some white plastic, like plastic bag. And they cut through that. And what did you observe when they did that?

I observed what looked to be brown human hair. The same color hair as J.J. Vallow. It was what appeared to be a small body tightly wrapped in black plastic, covered in duct tape. It was J.J. A second team of investigators were searching a different part of the yard. This is an area of the Daybell family called the Pet Cemetery. They dug up a cat. They dug up a dog. But as they dug further, they found some things that were strange.

They found a melted bucket. Under the bucket was a partial human skull. What turned out to be the remains of Tylee Ryan. Because of the condition of Tylee's remains, it's hard to tell what happened to her. remains, it's hard to tell what happened to her. The only thing we can know for sure is that at one point, whoever did this dismembered her body and burned it. The thought of Tylee ending up that way was almost too much for Echo Ita'aio to bear. How did you hold it together? I didn't. I didn't hold it together at all.

Yeah. I didn't hold it together at all. I'm still not holding it together. Neither is Echo's daughter, Vicia, one of Tylee's best friends. I just always had that hope that they were alive.

I never even considered that they were because I didn't want to. that they were alive. I never even considered that they were, because I didn't want to. The discovery of the children in Chad Daybell's backyard was the result of a complicated six-month investigation that unraveled a sordid tale of murder,

greed, and religious fanaticism, a story that began with their mother, Lori Vallow. To her friend, April Raymond, a woman who once seemed incapable of harming her own children. She did everything for JJ, everything for Tylee. They were the center of her world. And so I'm not sure what hijacked that priority. April met Lori in 2015 in Hawaii. At the time, Lori was married to businessman Charles Vallow. The couple was raising two children, Tylee, Lori's teenage daughter from a former marriage,

and their adopted son, JJ, the grandson of Charles' sister, Kay Woodcock. JJ had autism, and Lori seemed the ideal mother for him, says April. JJ was very difficult to take care of. So I really admired how patient she was with him and how much care she took of him. how patient she was with him and how much care she took of him. But it was Tylee's bond with JJ that Vysia will always remember. I loved being around JJ and Tylee.

Tylee was really protective over JJ, and she was kind of like another mama to him. Are you taking a video of my child? Your child? Your child? My child. I just kind of loved how she would just play with him and just always have like a really good time with him. And I really love JJ. He's the sweetest soul I've ever met. But around 2017, friends say Lori's relationships with her kids began to shift. About the time she started reading the books of Chad Daybell. I've recently released my autobiography.

Daybell was a former gravedigger turned novelist and podcaster from Rexburg, Idaho, who some say was something of a local cult leader, says Morgan. He tapped into this prepper element out there, people who wanted to prepare for Armageddon. Daybell was married to this woman, Tammy, and had five children. He reportedly believed he had numerous past lives and could talk to angels. He also claimed he could read light and dark auras. Chad had this belief that some people who were on this earth weren't really the people they were supposed to be. They were zombies. Their souls had left them and evilness took over their bodies. And the only way to release their spirits to heaven

was to kill the bodies. Sometime in 2018, Lori met Chad Daybell and spent time with him away from her family. She was a fan of his writing, and when she actually got to talk with him, yeah, just escalated from there. Lori started doing podcasts with Chad and began telling people she was a supernatural being appointed by God to lead the 144,000 chosen into the millennium. She also believed she had been

appointed another more ominous role, says April. Part of her mission on Earth was to eliminate the darkness, the demonic, the evil. April says Lori told her one of those evil beings was her own husband, Charles Vallow. The way she had explained it to me about Charles was that Charles was already dead and that there was a demon living inside of him. What did she say yesterday? She said, you're not Charles. I don't know who you are, what you did with Charles. Charles was so spooked by Lori, he went to the police. Come over here. Their conversation was recorded on the officer's body cam.

She thinks she's a resurrected being and a god. He was worried about his safety and the safety of his children. So what makes her a danger to herself and to others? She threatened me, murdered me, killed me. She threatened to murder you? Yes. In the winter of 2019, Charles changed the beneficiary of his $1 million life insurance policy Charles changed the beneficiary of his $1 million life insurance policy from Lori to his sister, Kay Woodcock, JJ's biological grandmother.

After almost 13 years of marriage, Charles filed for divorce. Charles Vallow had good reason to be scared. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario,

the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party.

So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror.

Candyman. Candyman? Now, we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America.

If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. Why don't you come over here? Why don't you come over here? By the summer of 2019, Charles Vallow had gone to the police twice, claiming there was something desperately wrong with his estranged wife, Lori Vallow. She's psychologically, she's gone. Something's happened to her. But no one acted on it, and Charles Vallow let his guard down.

On the morning of July 11th, Charles went to Lori's rental home in Chandler, Arizona, to pick up JJ and take him to school. He goes into the house. Lori and Tylee and JJ are there, and so is Alex Cox. Alex Cox, Lori's brother. Alex was Lori's protector. He never hesitated to resort to violence if he believed he was defending his sister. Within an hour of entering the house that morning, Charles was lying on the floor in a pool of blood shot in the chest by Alex Cox. 911, where is your emergency? the chest by Alex Cox. At 8.36 a.m., Alex calmly called 911. He said, I need to report a shooting. I shot my brother-in-law in self-defense. The police arrived and shot this video of Alex on the curb outside the home.

Alex told them Charles and Lori got into a fight. So you get in an argument, what is it over? Well, it's over my sister. He was getting physical with her. Alex says Tylee came out of her room with a bat. She came out to defend her room with a bat. Alex said Charles grabbed the bat from Tylee and came at him. Alex says he came back and shot Charles Vallow dead. Tylee, who had gone outside with JJ, and Lori, who says she was in another room, both said they heard the shooting but didn't see it.

Lori later told police that she walked past Charles on the floor and went outside. Lori, at that point, takes JJ to school, and she comes back later with Tylee. The police blurred Tylee's face because she was a minor. Hi, who are you? Okay, just stand over there for just a second, guys. What was striking about the footage that we saw was that there's no remorse, there's no, oh my gosh, my husband's dead. How long have you lived here? Like three weeks. Oh, geez. Yeah. Okay. That's why the neighbors didn't ask. Gotcha. Like, hi neighbor, sorry. Are you working at all? No. Lori, Alex, and Tylee were questioned at the

police headquarters. All told similar stories of self-defense and were sent home. And a troubling sign of the deception to come, Lori told a completely different story to JJ's school, Lawrence Institute for Education or Life, co-founder Margaret Trevelyan. Our administrator came into my office and she's like, Margaret, you're not going to believe this. Lori just told us that Charles committed suicide last week. I can only say it didn't feel right. They Googled Charles Vallow's name and learned the truth. It just didn't make any sense. Why would you tell us he committed suicide last week and he's been gone for two weeks and he was actually shot by your brother.

What is happening? A month later, Lori told them she got a new job in California and sent an email saying she was taking JJ out of school. What did you think when you read that email? That it made sense. They wanted to start over. They wanted to start fresh. It was a fresh start, all right, but not in California. Around September 1st, Lori, Tylee and JJ moved into this townhome in Rexburg, Idaho, not far from where Chad Daybell lived with his wife, Tammy. Lori's brother, Alex Cox, the man she considered her protector, moved into the same complex. Lori sort of viewed Alex as the destroyer of bad things in her eyes.

He was there to take care of the problems. It appears the first problem was a 16-year-old girl, Tylee Ryan. We know that in the spring of 2019, Lori started referring to Tylee as a zombie to at least one of her close friends. One of those close friends was April Raymond. And she had described Tylee as having a dark spirit. Tylee spent what's believed to be the last day of her life at Yellowstone National Park with Lori, JJ, and Alex. Investigators were able to piece together what happened after this photo was taken thanks to Alex Cox. His cell phone left a digital map.

Around 6.45 that evening, they left Yellowstone and drove back to the apartment complex in Rexburg. That night, we know Alex was in his own apartment. And then police tracked his cell phone to Lori's apartment at 2.45 in the morning on September 9th. He's there for a couple of hours. Then he goes back to his apartment. And then after nine in the morning, his cell phone appears in Chad Daybell's backyard. He was at that property for over two hours that morning. After Alex Cox left the backyard, Chad Daybell wrote a text to his wife Tammy, who wasn't home, explaining why there was a new grave in the pet cemetery. That message reads in part, well, I've had an interesting morning. I spotted a big raccoon along the fence. I hurried and got my gun. One shot did the trick.

He is now in our pet cemetery. Fun times. That pet cemetery just behind that bush is where investigators found the charred remains of Tylee Ryan. The big sister who used to watch over her little brother was no longer there to protect him. If there is a picture book that captures the J.J. Vallow educators at Life School came to love, Margaret Trevelyan says, this is the one. Wherever you are, my love will find you. If you're working, or playing, or sitting with friends, you can dance till you're dizzy. You can dance till you're dizzy. JJ loved dancing.

Paint till you're blue. JJ loved blue. There's no place, not one, that my love can't find you. JJ's teacher, Julia Allen, says JJ made a big impression in a small amount of time. He was a spitfire, for sure. He had a lot of energy. When JJ was there, you knew he was there. When the little boy who loved to dance first came to life, a school for special needs students, he was a very different child than when he left, says Margaret. And I literally remember coming into the classroom in the beginning and him just being very closed off to then the later part of him being with us

just to, Miss Margaret! And just that growth of watching him come out of himself was just wonderful. And it was just the beginning. Just wonderful. And it was just the beginning. I just, I get so angry because he had so much possibility and so much potential and he had so much love, all that love, gone, wiped out in late September 2019, roughly two weeks after the big sister he adored disappeared. Are you familiar with J.J. Vallow? Yes. Melanie Gibb and her boyfriend, David Warwick.

How long have you known Chad Daybell? Both of whom testified at Daybell's hearing were staying with Lori and Rexburg the last weekend of JJ's life. They saw him several times during their stay. Where was he located when you saw him? He was in the family room, mostly, and then outside some. Sometime between 9 p.m. and midnight on September 22nd, the last night of their visit, Lori, Melanie, and David were in the kitchen doing a religious podcast when Alex Cox appeared. He brought JJ into the house during the middle of the podcast.

How did Alex Cox bring JJ into the house? He carried him in and he was asleep. Melanie and David testified that Alex put JJ to bed in Lori's room, but the little boy was nowhere to be seen the next morning. Lori explained why. She said that he was being a zombie and climbed up on the cabinets, climbed up on top of the bridge, smashed her picture of Christ down, and then climbed up onto the upper cabinets and got between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling.

Okay. And then what did she tell you? I asked to see him, and she just said that he was out of control. So she had Alex come and get him. Police learned what happened to J.J. by once again following Alex Cox's cell phone. At 9.55 a.m. on September 23rd, 2019, Alex returned to Chad Daybell's backyard. But this time, he was only there for 17 minutes. Somehow in 17 minutes, there was a grave dug and filled in.

That's not possible. Somebody else must have helped with that. This is Chad Daybell's backyard. helped with that. This is Chad Daybell's backyard. Chad Daybell was a grave digger for a profession when he was younger. That's an awful coincidence. At Chad's preliminary hearing, Detective Ray Hermosillo testified the child was covered head to toe in duct tape. He had duct tape continuously wrapped from elbow all the way around his arms, over his hands, all the way to his right elbow. Why do you bind somebody's feet and hands and mouth in duct tape? You do it to keep them from yelling or talking.

The way they found that body leads you to believe that JJ was still alive. Because you don't go through all that trouble to somebody who's already dead. It's the last moments of the children's lives that keeps Echo up at night. I just can't bear the thought of Tylee being scared and JJ being scared. Or knowing... what was happening and by who. I just can't bear that thought.

By the end of September 2019, Lori had a dead husband, Charles Vallow, and though no one yet knew it, two dead children. Now, the cold glare of death would shift focus to Chad Daybell's family. Roughly one month after JJ's death, Chad's 49-year-old wife, Tammy Daybell, died mysteriously in her sleep. Two and a half weeks later, the widower and the merry widow wed in Hawaii. Benjamin Hyde has known Chad Daybell since the two men were missionaries together when they were 19. What went on in your mind when, weeks after Tammy dies,

Chad and Lori get married? That was the number one thing that told me something was horribly wrong. Two weeks after she dies, he gets remarried? That was such a huge red flag to me. What did you think when you saw the photos of Chad and Lori in Hawaii, the ukulele in hands, all smiles? That gives me the willies.

Look at this. That's a real thing. It is horrifying. But the horror was only just beginning to unfold. Chad and Lori's hula dancing days were numbered. Soon after the newlyweds returned to Rexburg from Hawaii, JJ's grandmother, Kay Woodcock, sounded the alarm. Every time Kay Woodcock would call, there would be a different excuse about where the kids were. And finally, she had heard enough excuses, and she finally reached out to the police. On November 26, 2019, two months after JJ was last seen, Rexburg police

came knocking on Lori's door looking for the little boy. So we're here. This is a big mess. I just talked to the guy on the phone. The court released an audio only version of that conversation. Lori goes from saying people are out to get her... I feel like I'm being tracked all the time. I'm like, why are police coming to my door? ...to that big life insurance payout Kay Woodcock got from Charles Vallow. My husband switched his life insurance policy to her, right?

To... To his sister, who got a million dollars when he died, and we got nothing from you to raise JJ. to his sister who bought a million dollars when he died. And we got nothing for me to raise JJ. Lori finally gets around to JJ. He's in Arizona. Who's he with in Arizona? He's with one of my friends in Arizona.

Who's the friend he's with? My friend, Melanie. Police called that friend in Arizona, Melanie Gibb, to verify Lori's story, but she did not respond to their call. When the police returned to Lori's home, she embellished her story even more. They were going to Frozen 2 today, so they may be at the movies. Could you get a hold of her at some point and say, can you please call back the officer that's been trying to call you? Okay, sure. I think they are at the movies right now. at some point and say, can you please call back the officer that's been trying to call you? Okay, sure. I think they are at the movies right now. Ms. Gibb, you can be seated here at this witness chair.

In court, Melanie Gibb described getting a call from Lori, asking her to back up the Frozen story. And that she told the police that I had JJ, that I was at a movie called Frozen, that she asked me just to pick up my phone and take a picture, a random picture of kids running around. What did she ask you to do with that again? Take a picture of random kids to make it look like it was JJ. Lori told Melanie she was hiding JJ because he was in danger and his grandmother, Kay Woodcock, was the threat. Okay, what did she say about Kay? She said that Kay was trying to kidnap JJ. After receiving these phone calls, how did that make you feel? Horrible. I felt in shock. I was not okay with it because she told something to the police that was not true.

I had a really bad feeling in my stomach and I felt very shooken up by it. So shook up, she called Lori and Chad 12 days later and secretly recorded it. Hello, sweet Melanie. Hi, Chad. Hey, Lori. How are you guys? We're okay. How are you doing, babe? I'm doing pretty good, thanks. That taped phone conversation is when you can hear Chad and Lori go from, oh yeah, everything's great to that change where, okay, we've got a problem here.

Is JJ safe? He is safe and happy. And I'm just worried for you guys because, you know, he's missing and, you know. I know exactly where he is. He's perfectly fine. I think what Lori didn't bank on was that Melanie had a conscience and Melanie was really worried about what happened.

intention is on this phone call. I love you with all my heart and I have forever and I will always love you. I appreciate those words but if you really loved me you wouldn't have told the police that I had JJ with me. That's not that's not what a friend does. Melanie handed that secret recording to authorities and investigators launched a nationwide search but not just for JJ. It was then that they realized his sister Tylee was also missing. Everybody was hoping in the back of their minds that maybe there was a chance the kids were alive. Back then, the only two people who didn't seem concerned were Lori and Chad. Instead of helping search, they skipped off to another vacation back in Hawaii. They're in this Hawaii vacation. It's like not a care in the world. Reality and justice were not far behind. Police in Hawaii searched Lori's rental car,

looking for evidence of the kids. And on January 25, 2020, she was formally served in order to produce Tylee and JJ within five days. She ignored it and was arrested on the island of Kauai on child abandonment charges. Chad showed his support in the courtroom as Lori was extradited to Rexburg, Idaho. She looks like she has handcuffs on right there. Do you see? Where are your kids? With Lori now in jail, Chad returned home. I don't know that regular people could begin to understand how he could live in that house. All the while, those kids were buried 50 feet away in the backyard.

Soon, his secret was out. Police had followed Alex Cox's cell phone data to the children's graves, and on June 9, 2020, Chad Daybell was arrested. But what about the man who led them to Daybell's backyard, Alex Cox, Lori's brother? Incredibly, he too had died. He dropped dead six months before JJ and Tylee were found. The medical examiner performed an autopsy on Alex Cox and found that he died of natural causes. And with Alex Cox went a whole incredible amount of potential information that investigators could have used on this case. Lori and Chad were charged with the same crime, conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence. But not everyone believes they played equal parts.

Some believe Chad Daybell was the driving force. Others believe it was Lori. Lori hasn't been convicted of anything yet. Do you think she played an active role in the deaths of her children? I feel like it's difficult to conceive of a scenario where she didn't. It just seems very unlikely. The evidence, of course, will speak for itself, but I can't conceive of a scenario where she wasn't involved.

While JJ was missing, no one at his old school spoke his name, as if that somehow made it less real. They tied yellow ribbons around the trees and waited for his return. Then came the news that he was never coming back. I just started crying. And I just really thought he was coming home. There was this feeling at life when the remains were found. Kind of a heaviness on the campus because so many people were affected.

It was in every classroom, in every environment. After months of silence, they started speaking JJ's name and couldn't stop. Because he was amazing. And we're grateful that we were chosen to share and to be part of his life for the time that we did. And now we're going to talk about it. We're going to do it for JJ. There's no place, not one, that my love can't find you. The whole school turned out to celebrate the little boy who loved to dance. We're going to talk about JJ dancing in heaven because by golly, he has to be dancing in heaven. It was one of many tributes to the two lost children. Name 10 things you like about me right now.

Tylee's friend Vysia posted a kaleidoscope of memories online. She took beautiful pictures so we would just like go to the beach and just take pictures and kind of capture certain moments. She was just so clever. Just pick up a stranger from the streets. And really quick comebacks like so witty. There was so many times that I would just die laughing. April Raymond traveled from Utah to Rexburg, Idaho, where it all began. There were people from all walks of life at that memorial. And it didn't really matter our differences, but we were all there for Tylee and JJ. We reached out to Chad and Lori's attorneys to ask whether their clients had some involvement in the children's deaths. Lori's attorney had no comment and Chad's attorney

did not respond. But the questions don't stop there. The body of Chad's wife, Tammy Daybell, has been exhumed and investigators are now calling her death suspicious. Authorities in Arizona are also investigating the shooting death of Lori's former husband, Charles Vallow. It appears the Chandler police believe Lori had something to do with Charles's death. They are investigating her for conspiracy to commit murder. Despite all of Lori's talk about demons inhabiting Charles' body, Morgan Lowe says her motive may have been more mundane. Money. We know that shortly after Charles' death,

Lori tried to claim that life insurance policy. He had changed the beneficiary to his sister. We know that Lori was angry about that. So angry, she was still talking about it when the Rexburg police first came to her door looking for JJ. She got a million dollars. It's hard to discount the idea that a million dollar life insurance policy would be a motive for murder.

But that doesn't explain the children. Why do you think the children were murdered? I feel like they were a liability, especially Tylee was a liability for what she knew. All right, let me get your information. Remember, Tylee was a liability for what she knew. Let me get your information. Remember, Tylee was there the day Charles Vallow was killed. At the time, she went along with this self-defense story. But could she have changed her mind?

I feel like whatever story we were given about how Charles was killed was not the truth. And that Tylee knew the truth and Lori that that was a liability. In the end Chad and Lori's belief in evil may prove to be true but they got one thing wrong. Authorities believe it was they who embraced the darkness and the children who embraced the light. embrace the darkness and the children who embrace the light. They say it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community to raise one of our children. And JJ had a community and he had so many people that loved him and wanted him. Tylee had a network of people that really did love her, and I don't know if she knew that.

I wish that she had known that there were people that really loved her, even if her mother didn't. If I had one more day with JJ and Tylee, I would want them to know how much they did for me and just let them know that I love them and I've never met anyone like them and I'll always remember them like that. Lori Vallow Daybell is currently on trial for the murder of her two children, J.J. Vallow

and Tylee Ryan and Tammy Daybell, the late wife of her husband, Chad Daybell. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who was also charged in the killings, have pleaded not guilty. Chad Daybell will be tried separately. Prosecutors say the couple's so-called now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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