Police reiterate request for information on missing siblings as J.J. Vallow turns 8

Tylee Ryan and Joshua "J.J." Vallow. Photos: Rexburg (Idaho) Police Department

REXBURG, Idaho, May 25, 2020 (East Idaho News/Gephardt Daily) — Police in Rexberg are reiterating a request for information in the case of two missing Idaho children on the 8th birthday of the younger of the two, J.J. Vallow, Monday.

J.J. was last seen almost exactly eight months ago, on Sept. 23, 2019. His sister Tylee Ryan, 17, was also last seen in September.

Lori Vallow Daybell, the mother of the missing children, is currently incarcerated in Idaho, with her bail set at $1 million.

A Facebook post from Rexburg Police Department Assistant Chief Gary Hagen Monday morning said:

Good morning! I’d first and foremost like to formally thank each and every one of you who have reached out to our department over the last 7 months and have offered your assistance and help covering the case of the missing children from Rexburg Idaho, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan.

We can’t express enough how appreciative we are for all of the officers, the community, family members and news media outlets near and far who have dedicated thousands of hours in the search of J.J. and Tylee and that will continue to do so until we have resolve in this case.

We would like everyone to know that today (May 25th) is J.J. Vallow’s 8th birthday and that we continue to hope and pray for the safe return of both of these beautiful children each and every day. We urge the public to continue to be vigilant for J.J. and Tylee and if you have any tips or information regarding their whereabouts, please contact the Rexburg Police Department at 208-359-3008.

Daybell’s preliminary hearing is set for July 9 and 10.

Timeline

A timeline of events in the case follows below:

• J.J. Vallow was last seen on Sept. 23, 2019, when he was un-enrolled from his Rexburg elementary school by his mother, Lori Vallow, who said she would be homeschooling her adopted son. Daughter Tylee Ryan also was last seen in September.

• On Oct. 10, 2019, Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell, died suddenly outside the family’s home. It was initially believed the death was due to natural causes, but is now considered suspicious.

Within 14 days of his wife’s death, Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow, whose previous husband, Charles Vallow, had been shot and killed during an alleged domestic argument earlier in the year in Gilbert, Arizona. The man who killed him was Alexander Cox, Vallow’s brother.

Cox, who police say was injured in the violent confrontation, claimed he shot his sister’s estranged husband in self-defense. He was never charged in the case.

Cox died in early December 2019.

Chad Daybell, who at one time lived and worked in Utah, is an author of what has been described as religious-themed “doomsday” fiction.

• On Nov. 26, 2019, Rexburg Police officers responded to the Vallow-Daybell residence after family members requested a welfare check on J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan.

• On Dec. 11, 2019, investigators exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body for an autopsy. The results have not yet been released.

• The next day, police returned to the Vallow-Daybell residence with a search warrant and found the couple had packed up and left. The children were not found, nor was evidence they had been living in the house, police said at the time.

• On Dec. 20, Rexburg police announced the search for J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan to the public, hoping for leads. The next day, police named Lori Daybell and Chad Daybell as persons of interest in the investigation.

• On Dec. 23, Rexburg attorney Sean Bartholick, reportedly hired by the couple, put out a statement on their behalf:

“Chad Daybell was 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. We look forward to addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor.”

The attorney also stated he did not know the couple’s location.

• On Dec. 31, Rexburg police issued a statement urging Lori Daybell to contact them, because they believed she knew where the children are or what happened to them, they said.

• On Jan. 7 of this year, Kay and Larry Woodcock, the children’s grandparents, announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the children. Kay Woodcock said Lori was overwhelmed with caring for J.J., who had special needs.

• On Jan. 10, Matt Daybell, brother of Chad Daybell, urged his brother to cooperate with police in a news conference arranged by the East Idaho News.

• On Jan. 25, Madison County authorities filed a child protection order on behalf of the missing children. The order required Lori Daybell to physically produce the children to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in Rexburg or to the Rexburg Police within five days of being served with the order.

• The protective order was served on Sunday, Jan. 26, by officers of the Kaua’i, Hawaii, Police Department. “Kaua’i police served Vallow with an order of petition in an attempt to have her physically produce her children to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare,” says a Kaua’i Police statement posted on Facebook. “On Jan. 26, Kaua’i police and Rexburg police executed a search warrant in support of the ongoing investigation related to the whereabouts of the two children. There are no local charges or any current warrants of arrest.”

• A Rexburg Police Department statement issued on Jan. 27 says no evidence was found that J.J. or Tylee had ever been in Hawaii. It also said that, concerning the order to produce the children, “Failure to comply with this order may subject Lori Vallow to civil or criminal contempt of court.”

• On Feb. 10 officials found a cellphone belonging to Tylee Ryan, East Idaho News reported. The report said it appears her phone was found in Hawaii with her mother. The CBS News report said that Tylee Ryan’s phone was used several times after she disappeared, but it’s not clear at this time who was using it. Also in October, two small Venmo payments were reportedly sent from Ryan’s account to a family member.

• The discovery of Ryan’s phone comes after items belonging to her and her brother were found abandoned inside a storage facility.

• On March 5, Lori Daybell was extradited to Idaho. Husband Chad, who has not been charged in the case, returned to Idaho several days prior. Lori Daybell was charged with desertion and non-support of dependent children.

• Also on March 5, the FBI Rexburg office issued a request for anyone who had been in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 8, 2019, when J.J. and Tylee had been their with their mother and uncle, to please check photos and videos, and to report any images or memories concerning the family to the FBI.

• On May 1, a judge declined to reduce bail for Lori Daybell from $1 million. It had been reduced from $5 million in March.

• On May 8, it was revealed that Alex Cox — the brother of Lori Daybell and the confessed killer of her then-husband Charles Vallow — had blood clots in his lungs, high blood pressure and died of natural causes.

• On May 21, police body camera video was released showing the distraught father of J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan expressing concerns to police months before he was shot and killed. Charles Vallow, the former husband of Lori Daybell, called the Gilbert Police Department in January 2019 after he was unable to speak to his two kids for a few days. Read more here.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here