Lori Vallow Daybell, also known as Lori Norene Cox or Doomsday Mom is an American former hairdresser and businesswoman. She came to the limelight for being in the controversial murder of her daughter Tylee Ryan and her adopted son, Joshua JJ Vallow. Lori has been married 5 times and her last two marriages were to Charles Vallow and Chad Daybell.
Lori’s Life Before Her Multiple Marriages
Lori was born on June 26, 1973, as one of the 5 children of Janis Leed Cox and Barry Lyn Cox.
She was raised in Southern California alongside her siblings. Stacey, Lori’s oldest sibling died at 31 in 1998. Also, her brother, Alex died of high blood pressure at 51 in 2019.
While all the other siblings have been vocal about Lori’s case that drew attention, Adam seems to be the most outspoken and has over and time again condemned the act and even opened up about Lori’s life before she allegedly killed her children and became involved in 2 other killings.
In another aspect of her life, Lori was born into a devoted Mormon family.
Everything to Know About Lori Vallow Daybell’s 5 Husbands
The 51 Years Old Doomsday Mom Was First Married to Her Highschool Sweetheart
At about 19 in 1992, Lori was married to her first husband, Nelson Yanes.
The former couple started as high school lovers before they became married.
While details about this union may be sketchy, Lori and Yane lasted only a short time before they opted for a divorce. However, her friend from high school, Bernadette Flores-Lopez suggested that since Lori was religious, Nelson’s religious path was not that of a Mormon and it may have led to the divorce.
Her Second Marriage Lasted About a Year
Lori’s second marriage was to William Lagioia in 1995. They had a son, Colby Ryan but the marriage ended.
As in the case of her first marriage, the second also ended in another divorce. According to reports, her son Colby attested that the former couple was in a bad relationship and Vallow did not want him to be in the middle of it, hence, she took him away.
Lori’s Third Husband Allegedly Sexually Molested Her Children
In 2001, Lori Vallow Daybell became married for the third time to Joseph “Joe” Ryan.
The marriage had numerous hitches that started with his being annoyed with her son Colby. Well, it became more when Joe allegedly started molesting Colby when the boy was only 8 years old.
Lori also said that he “was very awful and who raped my children”. Due to this statement and since Lori had her daughter Tylee with him, it may be likely that Tylee was also molested by Joe.
They divorced in 2004 and he died of a heart attack in April 2018.
The Doomsday Mom’s Fourth Husband was Charles Vallow
The Doomsday Mom met her fourth husband Charles Vallow while she was working at a salon and were married in 2006.
The family was stable and adopted Joshua JJ Vallow, a young grandson of Charles’ sister Kay Woodcock in 2014.
While the marriage seemed stable, Lori’s behavior reportedly started changing after she read Chad Daybell’s doomsday books.
Subsequently, the marriage began the sail the wrong path, and Charles even opted for divorce before withdrawing it. He also sought help for her in February 2019, claiming that she was mentally unstable. He also reported to the authority that she threatened to kill him and he feared for his life and those of their kids.
On July 11, 2019, Charles was shot dead by Lori’s brother Alex Cox. Cox claimed he acted in self-defense after Charles attacked him with a baseball bat.
Her Fifth Husband
In October 2018 while Lori was still married to Charles, she met Chad Vallow at a religious conference in Utah. Following the death of her fourth husband, Lori then moved to Idaho alongside her children and brother Alex in September 2019.
This was the same town where Chad was living.
On November 5, 2019, Lori and Chad were married on a beach in Hawaii.
Who are Lori Vallow Daybell’s Children?
Lori had 2 children – a boy named Colby Ryan and a daughter, Tylee Ryan
Colby is the eldest child of the Doomsday Mum and was born in her second marriage to William Lagioia.
Colby’s childhood was a bit unstable as he had to move with his mother through her numerous marriages. While he may have kept himself off many of his mother’s controversies, his name has not completely stayed away from crime.
While it has been noted that Colby, a father of two was physically and sexually abused by his stepfather and third husband of Lori, the young boy also found himself in the nest of authority when he was accused of the rape of a woman in her Arizona home in 2022.
Ryan confessed to the rape the morning after the incident and was being held on $10,000 bail.
Away from Ryan and looking into Lori’s other, her daughter Tylee Ashlyn Ryan was born to the Doomsday Mom and her third husband Joseph Ryan. She was born on September 24, 2002.
At 16 on September 8, 2019, she disappeared and her body was found on June 9, 2020, in Rexburg, Idaho.
In a similar way, Lori was the adopted mother of Cannan Todd Trahan, also known as JJ Vallow. He was born on May 25, 2012, and disappeared on September 23, 2019. Like his sister, J.J.’s body was discovered on June 9, 2020.
All of Lori Vallow’s Murder Cases
She was Accused of Instigating the Murder of Her Fourth Husband
On July 11, 2019, Lori’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow was shot dead by Alex Cox, Lori’s brother.
Although it was considered self-defense at the time, it was later suggested that she may have fueled the murder of her ex-husband. Besides, prior to his murder, he had reported to the police that Lori was threatening his life. He even called for her mental state to be checked and she ended up being cleared.
Lori’s story matched that of her daughter Tylee and hence they may be saying the truth about the killing being in self-defense. However, it has been reported that she was smiling when being asked about what transpired and how Charles died.
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Clearly, Charles’ death was questioned and the authority wondered why CPR was not given to him and why it took about 40 minutes for Cox to call the cops.
In any case, since there were no pointers that Lori Vallow Daybell may have had a hand in the murder, charges were not made.
Yet, in 2021 after it became evident that she was involved in other murder cases, she was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
She has been Linked to the Murder of Tammy Daybell
On October 9, 2019, Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s first wife called 911 and reported to have been shot by someone with a paintball gun in the driveway of her home.
On October 19, 2019, she died in her sleep at the age of 49. It was concluded that she died of natural causes.
However, when Lori and Chad’s names were listed in other murder cases, her body was exhumed and it was revealed that she died of asphyxiation.
This would make her an alleged accomplice suspect. In fact, it was also pointed out that she married Chad only about 2 weeks following the death of Tammy.
She is an Alleged Killer of Her two Younger Children
Lori’s children, Tylee and JJ died in 2019 and their mother is charged with the murder.
First, Tylee was last seen on September 8, 2019. Her disappearance was not noticed. Also, JJ disappeared on September 22 2019 and Lori had told his school that she was going to homeschool him.
Lori’s family friends, Malanie Gibb, and David Warwick reported having seen Alex Cox carrying the boy into the apartment. A day after he was last seen, Lori told Gibb Warwick that JJ was taken because he was being a Zombie.
Also, his disappearance went unnoticed until JJ’s grandparents demanded to see see the boy. When she could not provide him, the case was sent to the police. It was also then realized that 16 years old Tylee had also gone missing.
On 5 November 2019, an investigation was launched and a bond was offered to anyone who knew the children’s whereabouts.
On January 3, 2020, a search was carried out for the first time at Chad’s property. After a long time of back and forth and with the inability of the couple to provide for the children, an Idaho court ordered Vallow to produce the children. The court then ordered her to be arrested.
A $5 million bond was placed and on 21 February 2020, she was arrested in Hawaii on the accounts of child abandonment and desertion. She was then extradited to Idaho. Also, a $1 million bond was placed on her husband before he was later arrested.
Her children’s bodies were found on 9 June 2020 on Chad’s property. They were both buried in shallow graves. While JJ’s body was wrapped in black nylon and duct taped, Tylee’s body was dismembered and burned in a fire pit.
Lori and Chad were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft.
In the fall of 2022, a not-guilty plea was entered for her after she remained silent in court even when she needed to speak up.
Why Lory Committed Murder and Other Crimes
According to prosecutors, Lori Vallow Daybell committed her crimes in order to collect life insurance money and the children’s social security and survivor benefits.
Also, her doomsday beliefs may have been a contributing factor to why she was involved in the killing of her 16 and 7 years old children.
According to some revelations made by some family members and friends, the Doomsday Mom became an extremist of some sort. She believed that she had some supernatural abilities. Lori and Chad believed that people were zombies when they were possessed by evil spirits.
They also believed that when they got rid of the zombies, the possessed would die and they would free their souls from limbo.
It was revealed that Lori had repeatedly called the two children zombies. Hence, the murder may be in order to free their souls – or not!
