‘Cult mom’ Lori Vallow returns from jet-setting trip two months after fleeing Idaho when her kids vanished
A “CULT” mom of missing kids, who was caught on film dumping their belongings after they vanished, has returned from a jet-setting trip with her new husband — two months after their disappearance.
Two Idaho siblings — Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17 — were last seen in September, but were never reported missing by their mother or stepfather, who tied the knot a few weeks after the kids suddenly vanished.
Their mother, Lori Vallow, had recently married Chad Daybell, a religious author who writes about prophecy and the end of the world.
Nothing is known about the kids’ whereabouts — or even if they’re alive or dead.
Without a care in the world — and as the frantic search for their children continues — the pair were seen returning to the island of Kauai on Tuesday after a two-day holiday.
Adding cause to concern about the kids’ disappearance, several people close to Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell have died under mysterious circumstances.
The duo have since become the target of a national media firestorm with the revelations that police are also investigating the mysterious deaths of both of their previous spouses and Ms Vallow’s brother.
Family members’ also claim that they are members of a “dangerous doomsday cult”.
Police say the couple have refused to cooperate with investigators and have “repeatedly lied” about where the children are.
Frank Montoya, who worked for the FBI for over 25 years, told the East Idaho News that the solution is not as simple as it appears from the outside.
He questioned: “The bottom line is what would be the crime?
“The children are missing, but what does that mean — where are they?
“If they’re in the care and custody of a family member or friend or somewhere else but they’re still alive, what are we looking at with potential crimes to charge these people with?”
The children are missing, but what does that mean — where are they?
Frank Montoya
The couple left the island on Sunday and travelled to Maui, according to the East Idaho News.
Lori and Chad have been living in Hawaii since mid-December after they fled their home in Rexburg, Idaho, when police began questioning them about the whereabouts of the two children.
They were then seen sitting in their seats as the plane prepared to takeoff.
Passengers and airport employees told East Idaho News that the couple remained quiet and kept to themselves.
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Mr Montoya added that the “strange and bizarre” case is unlike anything he’s seen in his career.
He concluded: “When you’re looking at the number of people who are dead that are associated with either individual at the center of this case [Lori and Chad], and when you consider the missing children and how long they’ve been gone, there’s something very suspicious about their behaviour.”
Video also emerged which shows the Ms Vallow and a man — thought to be her brother — at a storage unit facility shortly after her two children were last seen.