The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is asking for the public’s help in finding missing Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and his sister Tylee Ryan, 17. They released new photos of the kids, their mother Lori Vallow, and now-deceased uncle Alex Cox. These pictures are from the family’s visit to Yellowstone National Park on September 8, 2019, authorities said.
From a press release obtained by Law&Crime:
An ongoing investigation has determined that the children were in Yellowstone National Park on that date with their mother, Lori Vallow, and uncle, Alex Cox. The group was traveling in a silver, 2017 Ford F-150 pickup, with Arizona license plate CPQUINT. Attached are photos of the missing children, Lori Vallow, and Alex Cox, that were taken in the park on September 8, 2019, as well as pictures of the vehicle.
This was Cox’s pickup truck, says the FBI. Investigators are looking for photos and videos that might depict the family, the vehicle, “or images of crowds and other park visitors where these individuals may be present.”
The FBI asks that anyone with photos and video go to FBI.gov/Rexburg to upload it. Tips in this case should go to the Rexburg Police Department at (208) 359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST), say federal investigators.
JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan went missing in September, say police. The boy was caught on doorbell footage from September 17, and investigators said they haven’t found witnesses who’ve claimed to have seen him since the 24th. The thing is, there’s no apparent proof of Tylee’s whereabouts more recently than September 8. Police say that’s the day the family went on a day trip to Yellowstone.
The visit happened just under two months after Cox shot and killed JJ’s adoptive dad Charles Vallow when Lori and her kids lived in Arizona. Cox maintained self-defense. He died in December of unclear causes amid the children’s disappearance. Lori Vallow and her children moved to Rexburg, Idaho between the time of the homicide and the day trip.
Police in Idaho said that Vallow left town in late November instead of helping them find her children. While the children were missing, Vallow and Chad Daybell got married and went to Hawaii.
Daybell, who has cryptically said that the children are fine, was a newlywed only a couple of weeks after his wife Tammy Daybell died.
Officers recently arrested Vallow in Hawaii on desertion charges, and brought her back to Idaho.
[Image via FBI Salt Lake City]