July 11, 2019: Lori Vallow’s husband, Charles Vallow, is killed by his brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona. Police initially ruled Alex acted in self-defense, but reopened the case months later after the children were reported missing.
August 2019: Lori moves her children JJ and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho, near where her future husband Chad Daybell lives with his wife Tammy.
September 8, 2019: Tylee is last seen alive during a trip to Yellowstone National Park with Lori, JJ and Alex. In the following weeks, Lori told people that her daughter was studying at the Idaho campus of Brigham Young University.
September 23, 2019: JJ is last seen at his school in Rexburg. Lori emails the school the next day, claiming she is moving the family to California for a new job.
October 2, 2019: Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Lori’s niece Melani Pawlowski, is the target of a drive-by shooting in Arizona. Police identify the vehicle carrying the shooter as a Jeep registered to Charles Vallow, Lori’s late husband.
October 19, 2019: Chad’s wife, Tammy, 49, died at their home in Idaho. An obituary states that she died peacefully in her sleep. Chad refused an autopsy and his death was ruled to be due to natural causes.
October 25, 2019: A friend of Tylee’s receives a vague “I miss you” message from her phone but says it’s unlike the teenager.
November 5, 2019: Lori and Chad get married on a beach in Kauai. Receipts indicate Lori purchased her own wedding ring on Amazon nearly three weeks before Tammy’s death.
November 26, 2019: Out-of-state relatives are asking Idaho police to conduct a welfare check on JJ. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with relatives and ask their friend, Melanie Gibb, to lie and say she took the boy there for Thanksgiving. The police soon learn that no one has seen JJ or Tylee since September.
November 27, 2019: Police execute a search warrant for the children at Lori’s home and discover that she and Chad have fled Idaho.
December 11, 2019: Tammy’s body is exhumed from a Utah cemetery and her death is reclassified as suspicious.
December 12, 2019: Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, is found dead in the bathroom of his Arizona home. A few months later, an autopsy determined that he died of natural causes while having an overdose of Narcan in his system.
December 21, 2019: Rexburg police issue the first press release on JJ and Tylee, revealing that they believe their disappearance may be linked to Tammy’s death and requesting information from the public.
December 24, 2019: Lori and Chad release a statement through an attorney saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to responding to the “allegations once they move beyond speculation and rumor.”
December 30, 2019: Police accuse Lori and Chad of lying to investigators and say they believe the couple knows where the children are and what happened to them.
January 3, 2020: Police searched Chad’s Salem home and removed 43 items, including technology devices and newspapers. They also comb sections of the snowy yard with rakes and metal detectors.
January 26, 2020: Lori and Chad are seen for the first time in months as police serve them with two search warrants on Kauai. Lori also receives a court order to produce the children to Idaho authorities in five days. The couple were contacted by the media while the police handed over the documents and refused to say anything about the children.
January 30, 2020: Lori misses the court deadline to present the children to Idaho authorities.
February 20, 2020: Lori was arrested on Kauai and charged with two felony counts of desertion and failure to support dependent children, and one misdemeanor count each of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a felony, and contempt of court.
March 5, 2020: Lori was extradited to Idaho, where she was held on $1 million bail at the Madison County Jail.
March 17, 2020: Lori professes her innocence in a statement through her lawyer as two other members of her defense team withdraw and the judge recuses himself from the case.
March 24, 2020: Court documents filed in the divorce of Lori’s niece Melani from her husband Brandon Boudreaux allege Lori told people she thought her children were zombies before disappearing.
April 9, 2020: Authorities reveal they are investigating Lori and Chad for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy in connection with Tammy’s death.
June 9, 2020: Police search Chad’s Salem home for the second time and discover human remains in the yard. Chad is taken into custody and charged with destruction or concealment of evidence.
May 25, 2021: Lori and Chad are charged with first-degree murder for the children’s deaths. Chad is also charged with first degree murder in the death of his wife Tammy.
May 27, 2021: Lori is found incompetent to stand trial for murder in Idaho.
August 5, 2021: The prosecution announces that it will seek the death penalty for Chad.
April 11, 2022: Lori has regained her skills. Criminal proceedings against her in Idaho are expected to continue.
April 14, 2022: Lori is taken to the Madison County Jail in Rexburg, Idaho, by Fremont County Sheriff’s officers.
April 10, 2023: Lori Vallow is on trial for the murders of 7-year-old JJ and 16-year-old Tylee.
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