It was nearly a year ago that the nation was first captivated by the story of Lori Vallow and her missing children. The entire story read like a salacious doomsday novel, involving cultist extremism, murder conspiracies, and the lives of two missing children who fell through the cracks in the system. Seventeen year-old Tylee Ryan and seven year-old Joshua “JJ” Ryan were last seen last fall in September. It wasn’t until November that they were reported missing and police went to the home of their mother, Lori Vallow, to perform a welfare check. Lori Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, told law enforcement that the children had been living in Arizona. When the police returned the next day with a search warrant for the home, they discovered that both Vallow and Daybell had fled.

While law enforcement searched for Tylee and JJ, journalists and bloggers alike started digging into the lives of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. What emerged what a slew of intriguing and suspect details about their personal lives. A handful of people in their spheres had turned up dead, including both of their spouses. Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy, died of natural causes, according to her obituary just two short weeks before he married Vallow. Lori Vallow’s previous husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox, who subsequently died from what has been described as “unknown causes.” The sudden deaths of both their spouses their following nuptials, and their flight from Idaho have been the fuel that sustains an online brushfire of conspiracy theories.

Vallow and Daybell were finally located by law enforcement in Hawaii and extradited back to Idaho. Seventeen-year-old Tylee’s cell phone was also found in Lori Vallow’s possession when authorities finally tracked them down in Hawaii, without their missing children. Police were able to determine that the phone had been used several times since September when the children were last seen, though it is difficult to say by whom.

J.J.’s autism required the use of a service dog, primarily for sleeping soundly through the night. A dog trainer based in Arizona has come forward with startling information, “I was surprised and shocked when I got the call from Lori that she needed to re-home the dog.” Her only explanation was that her husband had recently passed and the family was moving to Idaho.

The new year came and went, and finally in June of 2020, law enforcement made a discovery that confirmed their worst fears. While executing a search warrant on Chad Daybell’s home in Fremont County, Wyoming, they located human remains that were later identified as JJ and Tylee. As the legal process continues to unfold for Vallow and Daybell, the media is already seizing on the aftermath of what has turned out to be a grisly and heartbreaking case. A recent television special revealed disturbing new details, particularly from Lori Vallow’s friend, Melanie Gibbs, who told the production that when asked about JJ’s whereabouts, Lori told her that JJ was “safe and happy.” This became concerning to Gibbs when she realized that Vallow had told other friends that JJ was in Gibbs’ care prior to his going missing.

As investigators continue to unravel the twisted world of fanaticism and murder, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell sit in jail, awaiting trial for the unlawful disposal of JJ and Tylee’s remains, the grandparents of JJ Vallow grieve the loss of two bright and effervescent children who were taken from this earth too soon. Upon visiting the site on Chad Daybell’s property where the children’s remains were found, Larry and Kay Woodcock were greeted by the site of mementos and messages of support hung on the fence that lines the property. Moving forward, Woodcock stating that he is interested in a peaceful existence with Daybell’s family, “I’m not coming in hostility in any way. I come with trying to be the peacemaker, and that’s all I want. I just want to be a peacemaker. Let’s all get along here.”