2 years after joining a cult, Lori Vallow murdered her kids. She claims she still 'talks to them'.

In October 2018, Lori Vallow went to a Mormon conference in Utah. It was there that she met Chad Daybell, a Mormon author who had splintered off from the main church.

He was leading an 'end of days' faction, more commonly called a 'doomsday' cult.

Despite the fact that they were both married, the attraction was immediate.

Within just two years, the pair would go from having an affair to being suspected (and eventually convicted) of murder, accused of killing two of Lori's children.

This is their bizarre, tragic story.

Two people meet and chaos ensues.

Lori Vallow was married four times before she met Daybell. She married Nelson Yanes in 1992 when she was just 19, but they divorced.

She married William Lagioia in 1995, but they divorced the year later. This marriage saw her welcome her first son, Colby Ryan.

She wed Joseph Ryan soon after and welcomed daughter Tylee in 2001. They divorced three years later.

In 2005, she met her fourth husband Charles Vallow. They married a year later and adopted his nephew, who had autism, JJ Vallow.

She was still with Charles when she came across Chad Daybell, an author covering apocalyptic and 'end of days' content.

In 2017, friends and family noticed something change with Lori. She became obsessed with 'doomsday' cults. A year into this newfound passion, she attended a conference on it in Utah, where she met Chad in person.

He was charming and something instantly clicked between them. They both followed the same extreme thinking and they began an affair.

"She shared with me that he told her that they had been married in another time period. She did believe that," Lori's friend Melanie Gibb told People.

The two came to believe that they were chosen, and would one day lead people after the apocalypse and the return of Jesus Christ. They called people who didn't fit this mould, who wouldn't survive the apocalypse, 'zombies'. Lori referred to two of her children, Tylee and JJ, as 'zombies'.

By 2019, Lori's husband Charles feared his wife.

He told police she had become "unhinged" and thought she was "a god preparing for the end of days". He also told authorities that Lori had threatened to murder him.

Charles filed for divorce from his wife, saying in court documents he feared for his and the children's safety.

Watch the trailer for Sins of Our Mother, which follows the details behind this case. Post continues below.

July: The first death: ruled as self-defence.

In July 2019, Charles went to pick up his son from Lori's brother Alex Cox's home, where Lori had been staying. An altercation ensued, with Alex fatally shooting Charles and claiming self-defence. He was never charged.

In August 2019, Lori relocated to Idaho with her two youngest children and Chad, leaving her adult son Colby behind.

The affair intensified, as did their religious zeal.

Daybell, however, was still married.

September: Two of Lori's kids go missing.

Just a month later, Lori's daughter Tylee was last seen (September 8). Within two weeks of that sighting was the last time her adopted son JJ was spotted (September 22).

October: Chad's wife dies 'in her sleep'.

In October 2019, Daybell's wife Tammy Daybell suddenly died. Initially, he said that she went to bed with a cough and it was determined Tammy had died due to a cardiac event.

An autopsy was requested to determine cause of death, but Daybell refused at the time. There was no reason to be suspicious of him, so Tammy was buried, per KSL- TV.

On November 5, two weeks after Tammy's passing, Chad and Tammy got married in Hawaii. The couple appeared unworried about the location of their children, and were still collecting social security payments.

Family members alert authorities.

Tylee and JJ. Image: Facebook.

The couple had not avoided notice altogether. JJ's grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, called police in late November for a welfare check on Lori's home in Idaho.

According to The Post-Register, Lori gave the police various different explanations about where the children were, and when they didn't add up, police became suspicious. They showed up on her doorstep the following day with a search warrant, but no one was home.

Lori and Chad had vanished.

Tylee and J.J. were officially declared missing on December 20, 2019, and Lori's eldest son Colby released public notices calling for the couple to return his siblings. A reward was posted for information.

Around this time, the truth of Chad and Lori's strongly religious 'doomsday' beliefs were made public. This included that they thought 'light' and 'dark' spirits existed, with those hosting the spirits being called 'zombies'. They believed the way to free a person from the darkness was to kill them.

They were posting about these beliefs on a podcast they shared.

As suspicions grew, police went looking for the couple and on January 25, 2020, they were located on Kauai island in Hawaii.

Lori and Chad are officially arrested and investigated.

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell when they married in Hawaii. Image: Netflix.

Lori and Chad were extradited from Hawaii to Idaho to face questioning. Lori was charged with nonsupport of dependent children and several other offences initially, but then police made a grisly discovery.

Police went to Chad's property and it was there that they found the remains of JJ and Tylee in June 2020. They saw recently disturbed ground covering, and underneath were flat rocks placed on top of buried panelling. Beneath that, was JJ's body.

According to the affidavit, Tylee's body was burned and dismembered.

In December, police reclassified Tammy's death as suspicious and ordered an autopsy. It was found she died of asphyxiation.

Colby Ryan, Lori's eldest child, said he was heartbroken when it was confirmed his siblings were gone.

"I could have just died right there. My body was ready to faint," Colby said in the Netflix docuseries about receiving the news. "I just miss JJ and Ty, it's hard to talk about them. It's not even human to take your own two children that you're supposed to love and care for and do what they did. It breaks you."

At this point, Lori and Chad were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a slew of other counts to do with concealing the truth.

Additionally, Lori was charged with conspiracy to commit murder for Charles Vallow's death and Chad faced a third count of first-degree murder for Tammy.

They pleaded not guilty, and showed little to no remorse for their dead family members.

Lori Vallow is finally convicted.

In May 2023, Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted of murdering two of her children — seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan.

She showed no expression as the verdict was read in the courtroom, the Idaho mother being described as a "power-hungry manipulator". On July 31, she was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Despite her sentence. Lori still claims her kids are alive, and that, "Jesus Christ knows no one was murdered".

"I've had many communications with Jesus Christ, the saviour of this world, and our heavenly parents. I've had many angelic visitors, who came and communicated to me, have even manifested to me. Because of these communications, I know for a fact that my children are happy and busy in the spirit world," she said, adding that she still talks to them.

Lori is still in court as of March 2025, regarding the extra count of conspiracy to commit murder regarding her ex-husband Charles.

JJ's grandparents — the ones who initially raised the alarm — said they were relieved to secure the guilty verdict and life sentence.

The grandfather said to reporters: "I think we had 18 jurors that all deserve our appreciation and our love. And they gave an honest, fair, and righteous verdict. JJ I love you. Paw Paw wishes you were here and in other circumstances. Tylee, Paw Paw loves you. Tammy, I never met you. Tammy, I am sorry for what happened to you."

In 2025, Lori gave an interview discussing her conviction. She continued to deny any wrongdoing.

"We all know what the media does," Lori told NBC's Dateline. "They exaggerate everything, and they make stuff up, and they twist things around. So, I don't know how it became what it is today. It's amazing to me."

She added, "After I get exonerated, maybe I'll go on Dancing With the Stars, and you can come."

Chad Daybell is finally convicted.

On May 30, 2024, Chad Daybell was found guilty of all charges against him, including Tammy's first-degree murder. It took the jury less than six hours to reach their decision.

The court held a recess, and soon the jury had also agreed on a sentence. The death sentence.

They ruled in favour of the death sentence due to the heinousness of his crimes, after finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

This article was originally published in May 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: AAP.