Since the disappearance of her two children over a year ago, the nation has been following the updates on “Mommy Doomsday” subject Lori Vallow Daybell. The Vallow Daybell saga has been a rollercoaster punctuated by death and tragedy that is now going to be the subject of a new true-crime podcast by Dateline. It’s the story of doomsday rhetoric, fanaticism, and murder.
People first heard the name Lori Daybell back in 2019 when her children Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were finally reported missing. The children had not been seen for weeks since Vallow elected to pull them out of public school, citing the family’s alleged move to a different state. After her children were reported missing, Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, fell off the grid for weeks. Law enforcement finally tracked the couple down in Hawaii, with no sign of the children. Despite repeated assertions that the children were alive and well, Vallow was finally served with a court order to produce the children in January of 2020. The deadline came and went without any sign of the children and Vallow and Daybell were arrested.
In a heartbreaking development in the case, the remains of J.J. and Tylee were finally located in June of 2020 on Chad Daybell’s Idaho property after a search warrant was executed. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped; to be able to find the children safe. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of J.J. and Tylee,” the Rexburg Police Department stated in a press release.
The tragic deaths of the children are not the only factor in the case against Vallow and Daybell. Vallow’s late husband, Chuck Vallow, was killed in a domestic dispute between himself and Lori Vallow’s Brother Alex Cox, in which Cox claimed self-defense. Cox died in December of natural causes.
The events of the Vallow Daybell case were triggered in the fall of 2019 when Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were not yet married. Chad Daybell was still married to his late wife, Tammy Daybell, who died only two weeks before Lori Daybell’s children disappeared. Chad Daybell described his wife’s affliction as “a bad cough,” subsequently passing in her sleep. This came as a shock to many who knew Tammy, knowing her to be a healthy individual who was training to run a marathon. Tammy Daybell was buried without an autopsy, and following the discovery of Lori Vallow’s children, investigators reopened the investigation into her death. While Vallow and Daybell await trial on charges related to the deaths of Tylee and J.J., investigators exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body to perform an autopsy. While the autopsy has been completed, the results still remain under seal as prosecutors continue to build a case.
It has been over ten years since seven year-old Kyron Hormon was last seen. He disappeared on June 4, 2010, and was last seen at his school’s science fair. Kyron’s disappearance has been the subject of journalistic investigations, talk shows, and the largest criminal investigation in the history of the state of Oregon. His face is one of the most recognizable on the growing list of missing children who have still not been found.
At the time of his disappearance, Kryon’s parents, Kaine and Desiree Horman had been divorced for almost ten years. They had shared equal custody until Desiree was diagnosed with kidney failure that prompted medical intervention from the state, giving Kaine full custody. Despite having full custody, Kaine still heavily included Desiree in Kryon’s life.
In 2007, Kaine married Kryon’s stepmother, Terri Moulton. Moulton was reportedly the last person to see Kryon on the day he disappeared. Moulton took Kyron to school that day for his school’s science fair and attended the science fair with him. When it was time for school to start, Moulton left the school and reported that she saw Kryon walking towards his first class. One of the most curious inconsistencies in the case was that despite Moulton reported she saw him headed to class, Kryon was marked absent for that day of school. Law enforcement can confirm that Kryon was at the science fair that morning, because Moulton took a picture of Kyron in front of his project—the famous photo seen around the country when the search for Kyron was launched.
Moulton was able to account for her movements for most of the day, reportedly doing errands and caring for her daughter who had an earache. It wasn’t until Kryon’s father, Kaine, and Moulton walked to the bus stop to get Kyron when he got off the bus that afternoon. When Kryon did not get off the bus, the worried parents contacted his school to ask about his whereabouts. When they could not confirm that Kyron had been in that school that day, the authorities were contacted.
The extensive search for Kyron spanned over ten days and included a thorough ground search of the area surrounding Kryon’s school. By July of 2010, the reward posted for information leading to Kyorn’s safe return was up to $50,000. Despite the large reward, no arrest has ever been made in Kyron’s disappearance. The investigation did however yield several interesting pieces of evidence. Law enforcement was told by Kyron’s father that Moulton had offered their landscaper money to kill him, and subsequently conspired with him to kidnap and kill Kyron. However, police were never able to gather enough evidence to charge Moulton with Kryon’s disappearance.
Kyron would be 18 years old in 2020. When he was last seen, he had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore eyeglasses. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the local tip line at (503) 261-2847, or your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
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.”
Lori Vallow Daybell has been arrested after failing to produce her two missing children in compliance with a court order.
The nation has been feverishly following the dramatic events that surround the disappearance of two Idaho children, whose mother and stepfather fled the state following a request for a wellness check by a family member. Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and Tylee Ryan were last seen last fall, around the time their mother, Lori Vallow pulled J.J. from public school, citing a new job that would require the family to move out of state.
Authorities tracked Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband,
Chad Daybell to the island of Kauai in Hawaii at the beginning of 2020.
Authorities told her that she had until January 30th to produce her
children to a state office to prove they were alive and well, but that date
came and went—still no sign of J.J. or Tylee.
Despite failure to produce her children, Lori Vallow Daybell
was not immediately arrested on a contempt of court charge, much to the
public’s bewilderment. However, there are legal experts who said that law
enforcement must build a strong case before taking a legal swing at Vallow
Daybell. Samuel Newton, an assistant law professor at the University of Idaho
said, “I’m willing to bet what everyone is trying to do is get enough evidence
to get an arrest and prove some sort of felony. What they don’t’ want to do is
file a charge and then have it get dismissed because there’s nothing to support
it.”
Lori Vallow Daybell was finally arrested last week on the island of Kauai where she fled with her husband. The couple had been seen “island-hopping” while law enforcement built a case against her. When she appeared in court on her bail hearing, the judge handed down a judgement of $5 million dollars. Vallow appeared in court again on Wednesday to have that bail reduced to $10,000. Her extradition from Hawaii is being reportedly expedited by Idaho governor, Brad Little, who told a local news station, “I hope there is justice, and I hope the children are found.”
(Gannon Stauch vanished from his home on January 27, 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.)
Gannon Stauch, 11, went missing from his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Janury 27, 2020. More than two weeks after his disappearance the search has expanded to northern El Paso County and neighboring southern part of Douglas County.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office did not provide an explantion for the expanding the search so far north, which was originally focused over an hour away around the young boy’s neighborhood on the southeastern edge of Colorado Springs.
(The search for Gannon Stauch originally centered around his neighborhood in Colorado Springs but has expanded to the northern part of El Paso County and southernmost Douglas County. Photo of El Paso County line.)
“We are running this investigation, the search piece of the investigation, and the investigative piece are running parallel with each other” said El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jackie Kirby. “So, as we get tips and leads and information through our investigation that determines our search areas.”
Over 130 people including members of search and rescue teams and canines searched for Gannon on Wednesday, February 12. The search Thursday also included dogs and more than 80 people.
(Mounted patrol and 80 other members of the El Paso and Douglas County sheriff’s offices search for Gannon Stauch in southern Douglas county in Colorado.)
“It’s 35 acres, very different terrain. There are some treed areas, there’s very rough terrain. There’s terrain that goes down into deep ravines that would have to be gotten down to by rope,” said Kirby. “So again, very various terrain that they’re navigating here yesterday, today and we’ll see how long into the weekend this search out here will go.”
The sheriff’s office has received over 500 leads in the case.
The Disappearance
Gannon was reported missing January 27, by his stepmother, Letecia “Tecia” Stauch, who said Gannon left to go to a friend’s house in the afternoon. Gannon had stayed home from Grand Mountain School that day. When he didn’t come home, Tecia said she called the sheriff and reported him as a runaway. In fact, when authorities first requested the public’s help to find him, they referred to him as a runaway instead of an endangered missing child.
Gannon’s father Albert Stauch is an active-duty Army National Guardsman and had been in training. He flew home from Oklahoma the same day.
Gannon’s biological mother Linden Hiott lives in South Carolina and also arrived in Colorado Springs to help search for her son.
(Letecia Stauch, stepmother of Gannon Stauch, has conducts interview but doesn’t want her face shown publicly.)
Stepmother’s Statement to Media
On February 11, 2020, Gannon’s stepmother put out a public statement implying the boy had been abducted. In the statement she also reaffirmed that she last saw Gannon between 3:15 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on January 27, heading to a friend’s home in their neighborhood.
“I encourage you to think of any suspicious cars that may have been in the area watching a few days prior and keep praying for G,” Letecia said in the statement.
Letecia also included a plea to Gannon to return home.
“To Gannon, please come home soon because your daddy is waiting to watch the new Sonic movie that comes out this week and the cool shirt I got you to wear to the theatre is in your closet, Letecia’s statement said.
Letecia also addressed the blast of social media the case has received. “Social Media has been devastating from the harsh comments, speculations, threats, cyberbullying, etc. It has been a challenge when people are trying to run you off the road, waiting outside your hotel, threatening to kill you, etc.,” the statement said.
Letecia also offered a timeline of activities she did with Gannon, beginning January 25, and went on to say she has shared the timeline and cell phone photographs with police as well.
“Saturday night, G was helping me unload in the garage and cut his foot because there are a lot of tools because Albert does woodworking,” the statement said. “He sat on the edge of the car and we bandaged it up. He was good to go.”
Letecia went on to say that afterwards she noticed Gannon kept going to the side of the house to see if the gate was locked as he had the only key.
Letecia claims she and Gannon hiked on January 26, and shopped together on January 27, the day he vanished.
With mounting pressure from media and police, Letecia claims she hired an attorney because the questions detectives were asking her were making her feel uncomfortable and she felt her constitutional rights were being violated.
“I took care of Gannon for the last two years, in our home, because his mother didn’t want to do it, and I would never, never, ever hurt this child,” Letecia told CBS 11.
(Surveillance video of the red truck Letecia Stauch was driving the day Gannon Stauch disappeared.)
Neighbor’s Statement
Roderrick Drayton, a neighbor of the stepmom, said his surveillance video showed a female relative and Gannon get into a truck that Monday morning. When the woman returned about four hours later, only she got out of the truck and went inside, Drayton told the Denver Post.
Letecia has contested Grayton’s statements, claiming Gannon did come home with her that day and states she has proof.
“Please don’t think for a minute that there isn’t enough technology to determine shadows and movement around the truck. There was also proof from my phone that we had taken a selfie in the truck in our driveway that was time-stamped.,” Letecia wrote.
Police have asked Letecia to keep quiet about other details of the case.
No Abduction
In response to Letecia’s recent statement, Colorado police say they currently have no reason to believe the boy was abducted.
“Right now, there is no threat to the community as far as this case goes,” El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Deborah Mynatt told People Magazine. “We don’t have those specifics to put out there [yet], and we haven’t done so. There’s reasons for that and we just can’t go into those details.”
In response to concerns from the public, police have been very closed mouthed about the case.
“We really want to stay on track and stay focused,” Sgt. Deborah Mynatt went on to say. “And I can understand the community’s concern with the lack of information being provided, but we hope that the community can trust that we’re doing that because we’re trying to ensure there’s no … potential of it being jeopardized.”
(Albert Stauch and ex-wife Linden Hiott making one of several public pleas for the safe return of their missing son Gannon Stauch.)
A Mother’s Plea
Linden Hiott, who has been staying at the home of Albert Stauch has made several public pleas for her son’s safe return and remains active in the public eye. Linden, Albert and Gannon’s little sister made a heartbreaking plea that was posted on the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office YouTube page.
“How would I describe my Gannon, my “G Man,” my hero. I love him so much,” Linden said in the video. “He’s full of life, he’s happy, he’s energetic, he loves sports, he loves Sonic, he loves going outside and playing with his friends, his sister, his neighbor, especially Braydon.”
Linden and Albert have been working cooperatively with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and says she is moved by the support she has received from the community.
(Linden Hiott, Albert Stauch and Laina Stauch make emotional plea for Gannon’s safe return posted on the sheriff’s YouTube page.)
“I don’t have answers for my feelings, other than I’m afraid,” Linden said. “I’m afraid that I’ll never hear his voice, that I’ll never hear him run and say, Mommy!”
At the end of the emotional four-minute video, Gannon’s little sister Laina said, “I love you brother.”
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Gannon Stauch, please call the El Paso Sheriff’s Office at 719-520-6666 or 719-390-5555.
