Lori Vallow, 46, has been arrested amid the disappearance of her children, 7-year-old son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and 17-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan.
Vallow is charged in Madison County, Idaho. Counts include felony desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court, according to cops in Kaua’i, Hawaii. Police there arrested her on an Idaho warrant.
Her husband Chad Daybell has not been arrested. An attorney for the couple did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
The arrest marks the next step of a fraught criminal case. Joshua Vallow and Ryan were last seen in Sept. 2019 in Rexburg, Idaho, authorities said. Police criticized Lori Vallow, saying she did nothing to help find the kids.
The children’s whereabouts remain publicly unknown.
“First of all, we wish to thank the public for the massive outpouring of concern regarding this case,” said Kaua‘i Chief of Police Todd G. Raybuck in a statement posted online. “We also want to thank everyone for their patience while investigators worked diligently to comprehensively gather everything they needed in order to obtain this arrest warrant.”
Hawaii cops said that they presented Lori Vallow an Idaho court order for her to produce her children. She didn’t comply. They also executed a search warrant on the vehicle she and Daybell rented, and a condo.
A court hearing is pending. Vallow has the option to waive or fight extradition. Officers say there’s no evidence that the kids are in Kaua’i.
The disappearances caught national attention in part because of Vallow’s ugly divorce from late husband Charles Vallow, Charles Vallow being killed by her brother Alex Cox, Cox dying in December, Daybell’s previous wife Tammy Daybell dying in October, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell getting married less than two weeks after Tammy’s death, and the couple’s reticence in speaking publicly about their children.
Joshua Vallow has brown hair, has brown eyes, stands 4’0″, and weighs 50 pounds, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Tylee Ryan has blonde hair, has blue eyes, stands 5’0″, and weighs 160 pounds. The children were last seen September 23, 2019 in Rexburg, Idaho, authorities said. Officials said the little brother “may be in need of medical attention.”
[Mugshot via Kaua’i Police Department]