REXBURG, Idaho — Local and federal agencies are requesting the public's help in locating two missing and endangered children whose disappearance may be tied to a suspicious death investigation.
The Rexburg Police Department, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office, and the FBI are working together on the case.
Officials say 49-year-old Tammy Daybell was found dead in her Fremont County home on October 19, and eventually ruled suspicious. During the investigation, officials learned within a few weeks of Daybell's death, her surviving husband, Chad Daybell, married Rexburg resident Lori Vallow, who is the mother of the two children now considered missing and endangered.
7-year-old Joshua Vallow, who may go by the nickname JJ, is about four feet tall and 50 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. 17-year-old Tylee Ryan is about five feet tall and 160 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
On November 26, police attempted to conduct a welfare check on Joshua, the adopted 7-year-old son of Lori Vallow, after extended family outside Idaho reported not being able to speak with the boy since September. Police say Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell informed them Joshua was staying with a family friend in Arizona, which they learned later that day was not true.
The next day, officials executed a search warrant, and found Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell "abruptly vacated their residence" and left Rexburg.
Rexburg Police then enlisted the help of the FBI in order to help locate Joshua.
Investigators have learned Joshua has not attended school since September 23, and Lori's 17-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan, has also not been seen since September. The children were never reported missing.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the children since September is asked to contact the Rexburg Police Department at (208) 359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.
