Lori Vallow Daybell is a former beauty contestant. She lost her mind. She thinks she's a resurrected being and a a god. Anybody you spoke to who knew Lori back then said that she was like the mother of the year. So, what makes her a danger to herself and to others? to murder me, kill me. We're gathering together as saints, as brothers and sisters, and preparing for the second coming of Christ. She threatened to murder you? Yes. Six months later, Vallow was shot and killed. Police say they found a man with gunshot wound who was later pronounced dead. The first death that kicked off this multi-state mystery. Inside is Lori Vallow's husband, dead on the living room floor. What happened today? How did it get to this? He said, "You're not Charles. I don't know who you are, what you did with Charles, but I can murder you now with my powers." So, [music] how does she pose a threat to your children? Lori, where are your kids? You're coming? They've been missing for 4 months. You have nothing to say? Now, Lori Daybell appears to be somebody else. She has two missing children, JJ Vallow, Tylee Ryan. I don't know what she's going to do with them. I don't know if she's going to flee with them, she's going to hurt them. All right. This house or the one with the flashing lights? Right there. Car drove by. I don't know where my kids are. Why won't you get in? Oh my god. It all started on January 31st, 2019, when Charles Vallow was still alive and had just returned from a business trip to find he was locked out of his own house with no sign of his wife, Lori, or his kids, JJ and Tylee. His car had also gone missing and a large sum of cash had been withdrawn from his bank account. So, in an effort to get some answers, he called 911. So, what's going on tonight? I can't get in touch with our kids. How old are your kids? 6 and 1/2 and 16. She lost her mind. I don't know how else to say it. She thinks she's a resurrected being and a a god and member of the 144,000. She's come to Jesus is coming next year. So, what makes her a danger to herself and to others? to murder me, kill me. She threatened to murder you? Yes. She said, "You're not Charles. I don't know who you are, what you did with Charles, but I can murder you now with my powers." Is this just all recent or has it been going on? It's been going on for about 4 or 5 years. It's gotten really, really bad lately. She goes to the temple every day and speaks with Moroni and Jesus Christ. Last couple days she says, "I'm not Charles. You're not Charles. You're Nick Schneider." According to Lori, Nick Schneider is an evil spirit who has possessed Charles' body and he believed these threats against his life were very real. In the last few years, she had become obsessed with the teachings of a man named Chad Daybell, a man well-known for writing dogmatically and teaching his thoughts about the end of days, the second coming of Christ, and other more unique concepts like evil spirits and zombies. Both Chad and Lori were also members of Preparing a People, a cult who were preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it. Lori also believed she was a member of the 144,000, a group of high priests who will administer the everlasting gospel to the world in its last days. She also believed that every human was on a scale between light and dark and the darker one's spirit was, the more dangerous they were to her and her beliefs. Lori had actually become so involved in this new religious belief that Charles had become concerned not only for himself, but his two children as well. She said to me, "Charles' stuff is is You're not Charles. Your stuff is gone." I don't know what that And how long have you been trying to get in touch with the kids? Since yesterday. So, how does she pose a threat to your children? I don't know what she's going to do with them. I don't know if she's going to flee with them, she's going to hurt them. And today she said, "Come take the kids. I don't care what happens to them." I just want to see my boys okay, and she's got a pickup order. A pickup order can be obtained after one parent fails to deliver a child to another parent. As Charles has not heard from his kids in days, he felt he had no choice but to take action. The cops then helped Charles get back in the house, but it was too late as Lori and the kids were gone. The very next morning Charles called 911 again, this time directing them to a hotel in Gilbert, Arizona, where he believed Lori was hiding out with JJ and Tylee. This time though, Charles had managed to obtain an emergency mental health petition, a note that would require Lori to check into a mental health institution and undergo assessment. What's going on? Why is she here and you're not here? Were you staying here with her? I'm going to tell you the whole story. She's had kind of a rough couple of nights, and I've tried to support as much as I could, but it's gotten really, really bad. Like she's had a break. She says, "I'm Nick Snyder. I've taken over Charles's body, and Charles has been killed. I'm going to kill you. You're going to be murdered today or tomorrow." Charles had already tried to find Lori earlier that morning by turning up at JJ's school, but despite seeing her car in the parking lot, there was no sign of her at all. However, she had left her purse in the car, so Charles took it in hopes that it would stop her from getting away. This worked perfectly as she walked into the Gilbert police station later this same morning to report her missing purse. But her version of events was much different. So, this morning when I took my son to school, like he was waiting somewhere and like stole my purse out of the car. My whole purse. So, my phone, my wallet, my money, my everything was in there. What What is it like that motivates him doing this kind of stuff? Is it Did he say why? I caught him cheating and I had evidence and I told him about it and he travels a lot for business, so I told him that I told him not to come home and that his stuff would be gone and that his car would be gone and all this stuff. [laughter] So, he's a little mad. She claimed that she'd caught Charles having an affair and told him not to come home, locking him out of the house and taking his car. The first of many carefully fabricated lies that would not only ruin Charles's life, but ended it. Police informed Charles that he can't steal Lori's property, no matter what the motive. A deal was then formed between them saying that if Charles returned her purse, then the police would immediately follow up with the mental health petition. But, eventually it went through and Lori underwent her assessment. However, in 2 hours, Lori was released with the doctors finding no issues at all. This decision sentenced Charles to death and put his kids' lives in jeopardy. Charles filed for divorce and 6 months later, his body was found at Lori's house with two gunshot wounds across his body. The fate of his children was now in the hands of their delusional and dangerous mother. 18, we got one subject down. Apparent gunshot wounds to the chest. He's right here in the living room. Firearm's going to be in the front door in the front bedroom laying on the ground next to a case. Okay, you want to stay in here? I'll see if I get this guy's info. When Charles's body was found, an investigation determines the shooter to be Alex Cox, a man who just so happened to be the brother of Lori Vallow. What's going on? What happened? He came at me with a bat. Okay, was he living here or visiting? he came to pick up his son. Okay, is the son inside? No, my sister took him to school. Okay, so it's just you at the house? Yes. And he came how long What time did he come to pick up pick up the son? Um I don't know, 20 minutes ago, maybe. Okay, so you know who he is, let him in? yeah. Okay. No, I think they were talking earlier than she left and then he got into it with me. Like what? What do you mean? I don't know. He was Alex seems very vague in his answers and says he can't remember exactly what happened other than the pair simply got into a fight. But those kinds of answers aren't going to satisfy the cops, especially when there's a dead man involved. So you both So you get in an argument? What is it over? It was over my sister. He was He was getting physical with her, and so my niece came out with her bat. And then he took the bat away from her. Wait a minute. I thought you said your niece left. She did. This was before. So before before your your sister and your niece left Yeah. at some point your sister and her husband are arguing. Yes. Verbal argument. And then your niece pulls out a bat? Well, it wasn't verbal. He was getting close, and she came out to defend my sister with her bat. Your niece? Yes. Okay. And then she poked at him, and then he took it away. Okay. And then he's He's coming back at me, and he's still got the bat in his hand. I'm like, "What are you doing?" And where are you at at Where are you both at? room. Okay. And then I turned around, and he hit me in the back of the head with the bat. I went to my room and got my gun. That I always carry. you went to your room, meaning the room you're staying in? Yeah. Okay, and you brought your a brought a gun with you? Yes. You always bring a gun? Okay, why didn't you stay just in your bedroom, close the door? Is that something you didn't think about or it didn't occur to me. This final statement should actually have torn down Alex's entire argument as it technically proves this wasn't self-defense at all. When Alex went to his room to grab his gun, he should have been able to usher his family inside, close the door, and stand his ground from there. Instead, he grabbed his gun and without a second thought ran straight up to Charles and shot him. But at this point, there were still so many looming questions. The cops decided to bring in all parties back for an interrogation to try and get to the bottom of it all and figure out exactly what happened to Charles. Start where do think it makes the most sense? Okay. So So we moved into this house because he offered to get me a house here where all my family is. So we were in Houston. We had decided to separate or whatever. So he's like, well, I'll pay for a house for you and for JJ and whatever because he's all about JJ. He's never about Kaylee, but he's all about JJ. Cuz we adopted him together. He's his great nephew. We adopted him as a baby. He came over first, moved in, brought me stuff from Houston like like you haul, and then he hasn't been back. But it's all these threats on my phone all the time, you know, like whatever, all these things. And then he told me What kind of threats? He's always mad at me, right? And he doesn't want a divorce, so I don't like him and I don't want to deal with him. So that's just how it is. So yeah. So we've been married for 14 years, adopted her 14 years of him being horrible to her. Like he gets in huge fights with her. He [snorts] Yeah, a lot of things. But anyway. Immediately, Lori describes Charles as a man with violent tendencies who had a history of aggression against the women he had married. If she can convince detectives that Charles had a temper, it would make their version of events even more plausible. So he went back to the Houston house. He's like, I'm coming on Wednesday night and I'm going to come pick up JJ and take him to school Thursday, pick him up Thursday, take him Friday, whatever. I said, "Casey, you want to come to the house?" And I said, "You can't come stay at this house because you can't get along with Kaylee. She's a minor and she has to live here." Yeah. So you cuz he gets in huge fights with her and she hates him. [laughter] And so I'm like, "You can't stay at the house, so I will book you a hotel because he stays in hotels all the time cuz he travels for business and the business pays for it." What does he do? He works with teachers in their retirement plans, but he goes to them. There's He mostly works in California. He has like books of business in that area. And so he just goes wherever. It kind of just gives him freedom. He doesn't have to stay home every day and take care of special needs. Yeah. It's like an excuse. Right? He came over in the morning and he was like banging on the door. I was like, "Oh great, here we go." You know. And then JJ was like, "Oh." "Dad." And then he was like, "Mommy." And he like ran to me. I was like holding me. He's like, "You're not taking me to school." [laughter] And I was like, "It's okay, Dad. I can just drive you to school. It's not a big deal." You know, just trying to make it whatever. Yeah, calm. And then um he was just being real smirky and real like jerky, you know, to me. And I was like ignoring him and whatever. And so he was like And your brother lives there with you? No. He had stayed with me last night because I was worried he was going to come over and cause trouble with me. Just wanted someone else there, like my brother there cuz I trust my brother. They would claim self-defense as the reason Charles was killed. And as the cops continue to question Lori, they start to believe this even more. He He goes nuts. He's gone nuts on us a lot of times. Tylee and I have had to leave with JJ over the years, probably five times, and just stay in a hotel for a few days because you don't know what's going to set him off. Like she's mad at me for always like going back, but we had JJ. He's special needs and it's really hard. Like it's even harder to get him a replacement. So you thought And not I don't want to put words in your mouth, but um you thought it was possible that he was going to hurt you. Absolutely, he was going to hurt me. Entirely. Okay. Not JJ. He'd never hurt JJ. Okay. And he hurt my brother. Yeah. He was going like ballistic about It was that. Okay. An angry husband losing his temper during a divorce is not uncommon. And feuding couples often come to blows, making her story more and more convincing. But according to Charles's ex-wife, Cheryl, this was not the man she knew. She says they were married and divorced and not one time, not one second, was he ever physically threatening to me. Directly contradicting what Lori is saying. you say he goes nuts, that means that can mean a lot of different things. So, physical violence? He's never really, besides like grabbing us and pushing us, and not like punching us or something, but he was telling me he has gotten physical. Okay. He went like he was going to hit her, but then I got in between them. Mhm. So, this morning he comes back in and back in, I wouldn't give him his phone, he was screaming at me to give him his phone. He was very worried about whatever was on his text that he did not want me to see, and so I was just holding it there, and he was screaming at me, and so Tylee came out of her room upset, and she had a bat, and she told him to leave her mother alone, like Mhm. right? So, she was really whatever, and he's screaming at her, "Don't you hit me with that bat!" And blah, blah, blah. And then my brother heard all the commotion cuz he was in there in the bedroom, so he came out into the main room, and um he's yelling at Tylee, "Don't you hit me with that bat!" And blah, blah, blah. And so Tylee, I guess I don't know if she swung at him or what, but he like grabbed the bat from Tylee, and then went to like hit Tylee with the bat. It was And I was right there, and they were right there, and my brother grabbed him from behind, like just to stop him from hitting Tylee. They got into the thing, and he's hitting him with the bat, and they're all on the ground, all like grappling around or whatever. And then And he hit your brother with a bat while they were grappling and stuff. Yes. But there are lingering questions left by the investigation. One such example being that the autopsy ruled one of the gunshots impacted while Charles was on the ground. Imagine being in a situation where you have no choice but to shoot someone. You'd probably freeze up, and you'd do anything you could to avoid anything but incapacitating them instead of finishing the job. So, it seems strange that Alex decided to shoot Charles a second time when he was already flat on the ground. Furthermore, it also seems strange that it would take almost 45 minutes for anyone to call 911. Although she claims it was down to shock, this is conveniently just enough time to concoct an alternative version of events and a solid story to give to the police. Okay, so you you heard the argument, you step out. What's the first thing that you see? Charles chasing after Lori and them. Okay. Had Had Tyler already gotten the the bat? Did he already [clears throat] have the bat? Okay. So, Charles is coming towards Lori and He comes towards me. Okay. And I shoved him back. Okay. I said, "What are you doing?" Cuz he's coming at her aggressively. He's a big dude, so I wasn't going to So, he's coming at her. Yeah. Um and you you shoved him back. What happened right after that? So, I went in the bedroom where I was staying and grabbed my gun and came back. I said, "Put that bat down." He's like, "What are you going to do? So, you're going to threaten me?" I was like, "No, I'm just going to defend myself, so you put that bat down." And he goes, "What are you going to do like that?" And he came at me. Okay. And he already hit me in the head. So, you gave him you How many times did you say you told him to like put the bat down? Once. Once. Okay. And then he started advancing towards you. Yes. Um how many shots did you fire? Uh I don't know if it was the couple. One of Lori's friends later reported that Lori had said Alex believed her theories about Charles being possessed by evil and the reason he was at the house at the time of death is simple. He believed Charles was going to try and kill Lori and moved in with her to help keep her safe. I didn't see the shot, I heard it and I came back around and I saw that he was on the ground. Okay. And was freaking out. Yeah. And so, I was just freaking out and I just went into mom mode and like, "I've got to go to get GG to school, but I got to get to the kids." I just felt like I got to get to the kids. And so, I just went outside and to see if they were in there. Okay, I didn't want them coming back in the house when all that was going on and and Tyler was like looking at me. He was like the crazy eyes like, "What just happened?" And I told her to get in the car and we're going to take JJ to school. And I was left. When you came back in and you saw him on the ground, where was your brother? Did you see him where he was at? Yeah, he was right in front of him. Did your brother say anything to you at all? Do you remember? No, we were both just in shock. Okay. Like it was just a I mean, if anything, I went out with the kids just to check on them first and I was going to come back in maybe I didn't. I was like, I just have to get him to school. And call the police to come out, you know. Did you Did you or your brother say anything at some point about calling the police or calling 911? Do you remember? Yeah, he called me. Okay. said, "Are you taking JJ to school?" Uh-huh. And I said, "Yeah, we need to call the police." And he said, "Okay." Okay. So, you He called you when you didn't come back inside basically. Right. Cuz I was like in the car for a minute and then I was like, "What do I do?" It looks on the surface that an enraged Charles storms the house and started shouting at Lori. Alex decided to intervene fearing for his sister's life, but what started as a disagreement quickly turned into a fight, one that would end with Charles lying cold on the ground. And Tylee seems to back up what Lori and Alex said when she tells her version of events. I opened the door and it was my stepdad and he was just screaming at both of them like And so, I just kind of stuck the baseball bat out there and then he like He just grabbed it. And so, I pulled it around and then my uncle kind of like I saw him take a step back, so I'm My uncle I think grabbed him and kind of took him back so he couldn't like do anything. And so, my mom said to go with JJ and so, I ran out the door and then I kind of just stood there and then eventually my mom came out Mhm. and then I heard a noise Mhm. which I know what it was now, but it sounded like someone like took it and hit it really hard against the floor. Okay. So, I just wanted to make sure that like my stepdad didn't do anything to my uncle and stuff. And so, she was like, "No, like I was fine. Like, we're just going to take JJ to school." And I was like, "Okay." Despite Charles's lack of a violent history and how many times Alex nearly slipped up on scene, Lori's story, coupled with Tylee's perspective, was enough for detectives to officially rule this as self-defense. But, the death of Charles Vallow was just the tip of the iceberg. And investigators quickly discovered that Lori had become entangled in the world of a seedy cult that would turn this seemingly perfect mom into a stone-cold killer. Lori Meed Eaton with East Idaho News. Can you tell me where your kids are? Where are your kids? No comment. No comment? They've been missing for 4 months. You have nothing to say? Listen, just tell people what's happening. There's people around the country praying for your children, praying for you guys. Why don't you give us answers? That's great. Just days after Charles's death, Lori decided it was time for a change and moved the entire family across the country to Rexburg, Idaho. A strange choice at first, until you realize that this was the hometown of Chad Daybell. And Lori was now living minutes away from a man who had not only convinced her that her husband was evil, but was now beginning to spin the same evil stories for her kids as well. But, this is when detectives met Melanie, Lori's best friend and another member of her cult. She was there to spill all the sorted details on their ideology and the beliefs that could soon lead to the death of Lori's kids. Chad and this said that it's some childhood friend that Charles had and that he died and then he came back as an He didn't ever leave. He was an unclean spirit that got trapped on the earth and he was now attached to him for years and he'd been studying him, right? And his behaviors and stuff like that. And so, then he pushed his spirit out of him and took over. That's what he said. Pushed Chad out, Charles's spirit? Yeah. So, his spirit now moved on. So, she believed that that he was that Charles is gone. He was already gone. So, she was treating him like he was a net spider. This is all extremely confusing, but simultaneously eye-opening as it gives us a direct window into what Lori believed about her own family. Apparently, she thought Charles was possessed by a dark spirit and by that point he was already gone. The problem is she thought the same for her children. Charles had corrupted them and they'd turn into zombies. So, you mentioned zombies. Yeah. Um was that ever a term that you were exposed to by them? Mhm. Okay. Tell me more about the zombies. She said she had a dream once in the earthquake happening in Utah. People that fell on the earth, if they were able to get rid of all the zombies in the world, then those zombies wouldn't get into those dead bodies and come back. I remember one time she took a map and she's like, "Okay, here's the United States. We're going to do a prayer. Let's find out how many zombies are in Arizona. Okay, there's 20,000." Yeah, I don't like really numbers. It was out there. And then she'd say a little prayer, whatever words she'd come up with that she thought were powerful, and then he would check. "Oh, so many died." You can't go find out. So, then that was her way. In my opinion, you know, what I saw, this was just through a prayer that these people would pass away. Lori believed that if the earth was to truly be pure, all the zombies had to be killed. Chad also began to feed Lori more and more fantastical lies about how the world worked, including ascension, translation, and the ability to meet with God himself. And then they had a scale of 0 to 100% how much you could trust people. Right. I was supposed to be like 97%. They were always building me up. Anyway, she would sometimes share like, "Oh, this person or that person that's not trustworthy. This And that was their book opinion." And what [clears throat] were you about and maybe you know or don't know, vibrations? So, vibrations, yes, I'm aware of that, too. So, according to how he would check, he used that old pendulum thing a lot. I didn't know that in the beginning, but anyway. 1,000 was supposed to mean if you go to 1,000 that means you're translated or you're beginning your translation and then as you get [clears throat] higher in your your vibration, you could portal at some point maybe to whatever what you would say 2,500 maybe you're something like that. And so the more you had the temple your vibration would increase. So it's like it's just like your light would increase your vibration that kind of like it. If that makes sense. Lori had become convinced she could speak to Jesus and appear to be consumed by Chad's work. Not long after their relationship began to heat up and they even started a religious podcast together that showed frankly just how insane she had become. I too have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ and he has told me my mission and he has sent me to help people and lift them in their missions. Over time Lori had become more outspoken with her beliefs of zombies and began to tell her friends about how many people had been consumed by evil spirits and demons. Lori then started telling her friends that her son JJ's behavior had changed and that he had started telling her he loved Satan as well as becoming more disruptive in the home. Had police listened to Charles Vallow when he feared for JJ and Tylee's lives then they could have prevented the series of tragic events that followed. Only days after moving to Rexburg, Lori, Alex, JJ and Tylee visited Yellowstone Park. This was the last time anyone saw Tylee alive. Things became even stranger on September 17th, 2019 when JJ was spotted running into his Idaho home on a neighbor's door cam never to be seen again. Months later people started to realize that they hadn't heard from JJ in a long time and Charles' parents called 911 to alert the police of his disappearance. Lori was caught lying to officers on November 26th after they had made a welfare check on JJ. According to Lori, her son was with her friend Melanie back in Arizona, but Melanie not only denied having him, but she also told police Lori had asked her to lie and pretend to officers JJ was staying with her. Then, in December, Alex died suddenly. His death was ruled as natural causes, but the amount of death and strange occurrences involving Lori was reaching impossible levels of coincidence. By this time, police were also extremely concerned for the welfare of JJ and Tylee. So, Lori was served an order in January 2020 forcing her to prove that they are safe and well. However, the deadline came and went, and Lori was arrested 3 weeks later and placed on a bail of $5 million, but even after the arrest, both Lori and Chad remained silent and refused to give up any information on the kids. But finally, a further 5 months later, the police would get their answers when detectives initiated a search of Chad Daybell's property. There, they found the bodies of JJ and Tylee. JJ's body was found wrapped in duct tape and placed in a plastic bag, while Tylee had been dismembered and burned in a fire pit before being buried.