Hawaii 'Doomsday' Mom Left Missing Kids' Belongings In Storage Unit

Items belonging to two Idaho children missing since September were found inside a storage unit rented by their mother after they disappeared, an Idaho newspaper reported.

The items, including bicycles, photos and clothing, were identified as belonging to Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and his sister, Tylee Ryan, 17, according to a report this week in the East Idaho News.

Their mother Lori Vallow rented the storage unit in Rexburg in October, the outlet reported.

Vallow, who reportedly was obsessed with death and the afterlife, and her new husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell, have been in Hawaii for at least two months, authorities say. They reportedly are not cooperating in the search for the children and have been named by police as persons of interest. 

Surveillance video obtained by the local news outlet shows that in the weeks after she rented the unit, Vallow visited it multiple times, sometimes with a man who helped move items into and out of it. The man appears to be her brother, Alex Cox, who mysteriously died in December, the paper reported.

In January, after Vallow’s credit card was declined, the storage company contacted police, East Idaho News reported.

Vallow married Daybell, her fifth husband, in November. That month the day after police visited the couple’s home to check the welfare of the missing children the couple fled.

Police found them in Hawaii in January with no trace of the kids. They have not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Authorities have repeatedly described the newlyweds as uncooperative. Last week, they missed a court-ordered deadline to physically produce the two kids in Idaho.

A legal expert who spoke with CBS News suggested investigators lack evidence to bring charges. Additionally, a charge of contempt of court for failing to produce the children may not be sufficient to force their return to Idaho.

A lawyer representing Vallow and Daybell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. The Idaho storage company said in a statement on Tuesday  that it is cooperating with law enforcement, but didn’t elaborate. 

Daybell is a doomsday author who has published several books on the end of the world and the Christian belief in Christ’s return to Earth. Vallow’s family has described her as being fascinated with the afterlife, to the point where she may have become a danger to herself.

The couple also has in common perplexing deaths involving other family members. 

Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, was mysteriously found dead in her bed in October, two weeks before Daybell married Vallow. Her body was exhumed for further tests after the children’s disappearance, authorities have said.

Vallow’s estranged fourth husband, Charles Vallow, died in July after being shot by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox died in December after he was found unconscious in an Arizona home.

Vallow and both children were present when Charles Vallow was shot, authorities said. Investigators concluded the shooting was self-defense and no charges were filed, according to police documents.

A private investigator since hired by J.J.’s grandparents said Charles Vallow’s life had been insured for $1 million and Lori Vallow believed she was the beneficiary, CBS News reported.

Vallow’s third husband Joseph Ryan, who was Tylee’s biological father, reportedly died in 2018 from a heart attack. His body was cremated, according to the Post Register in Idaho Falls.

In the months before Charles Vallow’s death, he had accused Lori in divorce papers of needing psychiatric help. He said she was obsessed with near-death experiences and believed she had lived numerous lives on other planets before her current life.

Charles Vallow also claimed Lori Vallow threatened him with death and financial ruin. He sought a protective order and a mental health evaluation of his wife, The Associated Press reported, citing court records.

Lori Vallow’s family accused her of briefly abandoning her parental duties and joining a religious “cult” that changed her in the year before Charles Vallow’s death. 

“Charles did his best to save the marriage, of which she had no interest,” said his sister, Kay Vallow Woodcock, in a Facebook post in December.