Lori Vallow Daybell Seeks Bail Reduction In Missing Kids Case

PHOENIX, AZ — Lori Vallow Daybell, the former Phoenix woman at the center of a tangled missing persons case involving rumors of a religious cult, doomsday preparations and several suspicious deaths, has asked a judge in Idaho to lower her bail from $1 million.

The bail reduction hearing for the 42-year-old Vallow Daybell, the mother of missing children Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, will be held Friday. If she makes bond, her residential address will be sealed, according to a motion filed by her attorney.

Vallow Daybell, whose children haven’t been seen since September, has refused to tell investigators where they are and faces felony charges that she deserted or abandoned the kids, asked a friend to lie for her and obstructed the officers investigating the case. She has pleaded not guilty.

Her husband, doomsday prepper and author Chad Daybell, has not been charged, but police in Rexburg, Idaho, where the couple lived after their marriage, said they lied about the whereabouts of the children.

Both are now under investigation in the deaths of their former spouses. They were married in November, two weeks after Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died in her sleep, and about four months after Charles Vallow was shot and killed in Phoenix by Lori’s brother. Police determined at the time that the brother, Alex Cox, acted in self-defense.

Lori Vallow Daybell was never publicly named as a suspect in the death of her estranged fourth husband, Charles Vallow, but police in Phoenix have reopened the investigation, according to reports.

Cox was with Vallow Daybell and her children at a family outing in Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 8, according to a tweet from the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office that asked people who may have seen the family to submit any pictures to help investigators piece together what happened to them.

Tylee Ryan was last seen at the Yellowstone outing, and J.J. was last seen a few weeks later. When weather conditions allow, authorities plan to search the remote wilderness in and around the national park.

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What started out as a missing persons case has spiraled into an investigation surrounding the deaths of Charles Vallow, Tammy Daybell and Alex Cox, who mysteriously died in December.

Results from toxicology tests on Cox’s body have not been released. Tammy Daybell was thought to have died of natural causes, but her body was exhumed after Chad and Lori married in November. Tammy Daybell had a $430,000 life insurance policy naming her husband as the beneficiary, according to court documents.

Police in Rexburg, Idaho, began looking into the whereabouts of the children after relatives began worrying when contact with the kids dwindled and then dropped off completely. Their mother never reported them missing, but police said they “strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger.”

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has agreed to take over the case and is looking into the possibility of filing conspiracy, attempted murder and murder charges against Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell in Tammy Daybell’s death.

It’s unclear if the attorney general’s decision will have an effect on Friday’s bail hearing.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.