A new search warrant related to the two kids missing out of Idaho shows that police in Arizona asked a school in Gilbert, AZ for all records of Joshua Vallow. The warrant revealed it was for a homicide investigation.
The warrant,obtained by Fox 10 Phoenix, was requested by Chandler, AZ police and signed by a Maricopa County judge on December 6, 2019.
That was just days after Rexburg, Idaho police and the FBI served a search warrant on Lori Vallow-Daybell’s townhome in Rexburg for the disappearance of 17-year old Tylee Ryan and 7-year old Joshua JJ Vallow, Lori’s daughter and adopted son.
The December 6 warrant states that the records sought by police may be connected with the offense of “Conspiracy to commit Homicide First Degree,” for an incident that took place “on or about July 11.”
Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Lori’s estranged husband Charles Vallow on July 11, 2019 in Arizona.
Lori, JJ and Tylee were home that morning. Alex told police they left shortly before he shot Charles. He claimed he did it out of self-defense because of aggressive behavior from Charles, and police didn’t arrest him.
The warrant filed in December asked JJ’s former school, L.I.F.E. Academy, for “All school records for Joshua Jackson Vallow… including personal identifying information, family information, medical conditions… time of attendance, documented contact with family, and any forwarding information to potential new schools.”
Fox 10 Phoenix also obtained an email from L.I.F.E. Academy sent by Lori when she withdrew JJ from school in Arizona in September.
“Since the circumstance in our lives have changed drastically since my husband passed away last month. I have been offered a job out of state and have had to accept it,” Lori wrote. “We have had to move quickly since the job started ASAP. So I’m sad to inform you that Joshua won’t be returning this year.”
Later on, she wrote, “We are doing our best to adjust to our new life.”
According to an Idaho principal, Lori enrolled JJ in school at Kennedy Elementary in Rexburg, Idaho shortly after. However in late September, Lori unenrolled JJ and told the school she planned to homeschool him.
JJ and Tylee haven’t been seen since.
Not long after the children disappeared, Lori rented a storage unit in Rexburg and stashed children’s items in it. East Idaho News obtained information and surveillance video this week from Self Storage Plus.
Surveillance video shows Lori and a man who appears to be Alex Cox, coming and going from the unit several times in October. The video shows both people carrying items in and out, including plastic bins and tires.
The unit was last visited a few days before police and the FBI served the warrant on Lori and Alex’s Rexburg townhomes and the storage unit. Townhome neighbors told Fox 13 the brother and sister took off the night before the FBI raid.
East Idaho News reported that Lori stopped paying for the unit in January and it’s now considered abandoned. It’s filled with children’s belongings like bikes, clothing, a BYU backpack with JJ’s initials, and blankets and picture albums that feature photos of JJ and Tylee.
According to East Idaho News, the search warrants for the unit and Lori’s townhome stated that officers were looking for, “any evidence that the boy was residing at any of these residences, and/or evidence of foul play or the commission of a crime, and/or evidence of the child’s current location.”
Less than a week after Arizona police wrote the December 6 warrant, Alex Cox died in his home in Gilbert, AZ.
Audio from the 911 call in his death can be heard here. His death is still under investigation and the autopsy hasn’t been released.
Lori Vallow Daybell is believed to be in Hawaii with her new husband, Chad Daybell. Chad’s late wife Tammy died in October, two weeks before the marriage. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho believes her death is suspicious. Her autopsy results have not been released.
A court ordered Lori to bring her children to the Rexburg Police Department or Idaho Department of Health and Welfare by 5 p.m. January 30. Lori failed to do so and it appears she has not been arrested or charged after missing the deadline.
There is a $20,000 reward in the disappearance of JJ and Tylee. Click here for more information.
