Doomsday cult leader whose new stepchildren are missing claimed he had visions predicting the death of his first wife, whose body has now been exhumed for toxicology tests after she was initially believed to have died of natural causes

Daily Mail, UK/December 31, 2019

By Megan Sheets

An alleged doomsday cult leader whose new stepchildren have been missing for months claimed to have prophesied the death of his previous wife weeks before she died under mysterious circumstances.  

Chad Daybell, 51, and his new wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, 46, are on the run from authorities who are investigating the disappearance of her two children, as well as the deaths of both of their spouses.

The bizarre case came to light earlier this month as police in Rexburg, Idaho, appealed for information on the whereabouts of Lori's children, seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. 

Police say Lori and Chad have refused to cooperate with investigators and claimed on Monday that the couple are aware of what happened to the children.

Lori's family members have alleged that the mother joined Chad's cult, Preparing with People, around 18 months ago and became obsessed with the end of the world. 

Chad, a self-published author who writes about near-death experiences and doomsday events, reportedly told his friend that he had visions about the death of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, before she died in October. 

'He was emotionally distraught, he was crying and he said that his angels had told him that he was going to lose Tammy,' the friend, Tammy Rowe, told FOX13. 

Three weeks after Chad described his premonitions to Rowe, Tammy was found dead in her home in Rexburg.

Authorities initially determined that she had died of natural causes but opened an investigation into her death this month amid the search for Lori's children.

Tammy's body was exhumed from a grave in Utah on December 11 and investigators are awaiting toxicology results about her cause of death. 

Days after Tammy died, Chad tied the knot with Lori.

In a press release issued Monday, Rexburg police said they have 'information indicating that Lori knows either the location of the children or what has happened to them'.

They also slammed the mother for her refusal to help with the investigation and confirmed they know the children are not with Lori and Chad.

Police said Monday: 'Despite having this knowledge, she has refused to work with law enforcement to help us resolve this matter.

'It is astonishing that rather than work with law enforcement to help us locate her own children, Lori Vallow has chosen instead to leave the state with her new husband.' 

Officials are now calling on Lori and Chad 'to do the right thing' and 'be honest', saying: 'This entire investigation could have been avoided if Lori and Chad had simply been honest with law enforcement.'

The release also states: 'We are aware that in the weeks after Tammy Daybell's death, Lori Daybell and Chad Daybell told witnesses that Lori's daughter had died a year before the death of her father, which is untrue.

'Around that same time Chad told another witness that Lori had no minor children.

'We strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger.'

The search for the children began in November when police tried to do a welfare check on Joshua. The boy was adopted and has special needs.

Rexburg police say Chad and Lori never reported the kids missing, have repeatedly lied about where their children are - initially saying the boy was in Arizona - and aren't cooperating with the investigation. 

The couple had disappeared from their Rexburg home when police returned with additional questions and search warrants.

No charges have been filed against Chad or Lori in Idaho or Arizona.

Police said Monday: 'Many people have inquired as to why we have not filed charges yet in this case.

'Our primary concern at this point is simply locating Joshua and Tylee and charging decisions will be made in due course based upon the evidence available.

'If we find that harm was done to these children within our jurisdiction, we will prosecute whoever caused that harm.'

Lori and Chad issued a statement on December 24 through an attorney, saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to addressing 'allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor'.

Police say it appeared the couple abruptly left the house and city. They said they don't believe the couple had the children with them. How the couple left the city is unclear. 

Tammy's is not the only mysterious death linked to the couple. Joseph Ryan — Tylee's father — died of a heart attack last year. Lori's estranged husband Charles was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in July after getting into an argument when he went to pick up Joshua.

And Cox himself died on December 12, the day after Tammy's body was dug up.

Charles Vallow and Alex Cox's deaths are both under investigation. 

Chad, a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was excommunicated from the church after he declared that he was a prophet, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed earlier this month.

He and Lori participated in podcasts for a group called 'Preparing a People,' which the group said involves 'the second coming of Jesus Christ.' The group has since removed those podcasts. 

Two of Lori's relatives have expressed suspicion that the children's disappearance may be linked to their mother's newfound religious beliefs.  

Her former mother-in-law, Kay Vallow Woodcock, wrote in a December 20 Facebook post: 'Things started changing over the past 18+ months when Lori began spending all her time with a new religious group, that we refer to as a "cult".'

Kay and her husband Larry Woodcock told Fox 10 that they last saw Joshua via FaceTime in August and that Lori had moved the two missing children from Arizona to Idaho shortly before they went missing in September.

Kay said that Lori's personality had changed over the last 24 months.

'To think that within the last two years she has completely changed into a monster, I'm making an understatement,' Kay said.

She added: 'Something happened to her. She just turned off and once she got involved with that cult with Daybell, she just turned off the person we knew just went away.'  

Brandon Boudreaux, who married into Lori's family in 2008, also spoke out earlier this month about the mother's cult ties. 

'I spent the last 11 years of my life spending time with Lori and her now-deceased husband Charles,' Boudreaux told Fox13 on December 22.

'I don't know what happened to those kids, but I know there's people who do, and they’re not talking… I love them both. I hope they're safe. They're both just innocent and they didn't deserve to be involved in any of this.'

Boudreaux said his wife Melani, Lori's niece, followed her aunt in joining a 'cult' with Chad, around 18 months ago.   

'You can't be a member of the church and believe those things,' Boudreaux said of the cult.

'I think it's an infatuation with the end of the world and an infatuation with power, and they're using it to try to make money off of people's beliefs. 

'It just makes you sad. A lot of people I care about aren't here anymore because of these ideas.'

Boudreaux said he does not think it is a coincidence that so many people close to Lori and Chad have died within such a short period of time.

His suspicion is driven by the fact that he believes his now ex-wife Melani used her family's newfound religious beliefs to justify killing him. 

'A couple months ago there was an attempt on my life, so I went into hiding with my kids,' Boudreaux said, referencing his four young children with Melani.

'All I could think was: "Someone's shooting at me. What do I need to do? I need to hit the gas and get out of here."'

Boudreaux said an investigation into that incident is ongoing and declined to provide additional details. DailyMail.com has reached out to authorities to verify Boudreaux's claim. 

A FOX13 reporter asked Boudreaux: 'You have no doubt in your mind, Chad and Lori are responsible for the deaths of their spouses?'

He got emotional as he replied: 'I'm just a person, so what do I know? But yeah, I mean… I just wonder why you couldn't just get divorced like normal people and just go be together if that's what you wanted.

'I don't know what they're doing. It doesn't make any sense… If I could say anything to them, I would just say tell the truth, you know? They're going to figure it out eventually anyways.'

Family 'cult' ties

Two of Lori Vallow's relatives have alleged that the mother joined a 'dangerous religious cult' around 18 months ago.

The cult is said to be a radical off-shoot of the Church of Latter-day Saints, to which 98 percent of Rexburg residents belong. 

Lori and her niece, Melani Broudeaux, were allegedly drawn into the cult by Chad Daybell, the man Lori married just weeks after his wife was found dead on October 19.

Daybell is a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who has written multiple books detailing the end of the world.

Lori's former mother-in-law, Kay Vallow Woodcock, told FOX10 that Lori's personality had changed drastically since she joined the cult.

'To think that within the last two years she has completely changed into a monster, I'm making an understatement,' Kay said.

She added: 'Something happened to her. She just turned off and once she got involved with that cult with Daybell, she just turned off the person we knew just went away.'

Melani Broudeaux's now-ex-husband, Brandon Broudeaux, also confirmed that the pair joined the cult with Daybell.

He said Melani used her newfound religious beliefs to try to have him killed in August.

'You can't be a member of the church and believe those things,' Boudreaux said of the cult.

'I think it's an infatuation with the end of the world and an infatuation with power, and they're using it to try to make money off of people's beliefs.'

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