Police have accused Lori Vallow of refusing to help find the children in defiance of a court order to produce them. In a statement, police in Rexburg, Idaho, said they “strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger” after Lori and her husband, Chad Daybell, an author who writes about doomsday prophecies, fled the couple’s Idaho home last November as police began to search for the kids.
J.J., an adopted boy who has autism, was last seen September 23 at his school in Rexburg, where the family moved in August from Arizona after the death of Charles Vallow. Lori subsequently withdrew J.J. from the school, telling the principal she wanted to homeschool him.
That day trip to Yellowstone, on September 8, represents the last image that authorities have located so far of Tylee, according to the court filing in Madison County, Idaho, that led to Vallow’s arrest. Prosecutors allege she “abandoned her two minor children, delayed law enforcement’s attempts to locate her children, and encouraged another individual to delay law enforcement’s attempts to locate her children.”
Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, at left; mom Lori Vallow, center; and sister Tylee Ryan.Rexburg Police Department
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Tied to that allegation, Brandon’s divorce paperwork alleges that Melani was part of an “attempted murder” plot to have him killed, citing an insurance policy that made Melani the financial beneficiary of his death. His filing alleges that Melani was “hoping to cash in on that policy to help support the cult that she is believed to be a part of.”
Lori Vallow.AP/Shutterstock
No charges have been filed in the shooting.
Brandon’s filing states: “[Melani’s] knowledge of the whereabouts of her aunt’s two missing children and her unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement in finding those children, is daunting to [Brandon]. [Melani’s] current husband has told law enforcement something to the effect that [Melani] says sometimes children are full of light and then just like that they go dark.”
The divorce filing does not identify an attorney for Melani, who has not been charged in connection with the disappearance of Vallow’s children, and one could not be immediately located to speak on her behalf.
Lori Vallow is due in court March 2 in Hawaii to face extradition to Idaho. Among other charges, she faces two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of a child, each of which carries up to 14 years in prison if she is convicted.
She has not yet entered a plea and PEOPLE was unable to reach her attorney.
source: people.com
