On Dec. 30, 2019, police in  Rexburg, Idaho made a shocking announcement: Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, were still missing despite weeks of fruitless searches, and their mother, Lori Vallow, was refusing to cooperate with authorities. In a shocking addendum, authorities expressed that they believed Vallow most likely knew what happened to her children but was withholding that information.

Speculation over why Vallow refused to cooperate turned this local news story into a global media event. I began reporting on this story around the time Tylee and J.J. were first reported missing. While working at KFI, a news/talk station in Southern California, I reported extensively on this case, drawing from primary sources like the FBI and Rexburg police reports.

As new details emerged about Vallow’s strange beliefs in doomsday theology and her impromptu marriage to Chad Daybell, a self-published author who had found minor success writing biblical and apocalyptic fiction, the case took on a life of its own. People all across the world desperately searched for clues to Tylee and J.J.’s whereabouts.

Ultimately, the tragic answer would only come after investigators searched a property owned by Daybell several months after that infamous press release. Sins of Our Mother explains the events leading up to J.J. and Tylee’s disappearance as well as Vallow’s bizarre, sinister behavior.

Both Vallow and Daybell have pleaded not guilty to murdering Lori’s two children. Vallow and Daybell’s cases were severed, and they will be tried separately. Vallow’s trial began on April 3, while Daybell’s trial took place a few months later.

Below, you can find a timeline leading up to J.J. and Tylee’s disappearance, as well as what’s currently happening with the court case.

Pre-2019

2006
Lori Vallow marries her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. She has two children from a previous marriage, Colby and Tylee, who live with the couple.

2014
The Vallow family moves to Kauai where records show they maintain a small business on the island.

Charles and Lori adopt Joshua J.J. Vallow, the biological grandson of Charles’ sister Kay Woodcock.

2016–2017
The family moves back to the mainland. While living in Arizona, Joseph Anthony Ryan Jr. — father to Tylee and Lori’s third husband — passes away from a heart attack.

2018
Lori appears on a podcast about the second coming of Christ with Chad Daybell and several others to discuss the end of the world and how to “warrior up.” The podcast episode has since been deleted.

Lori and Chad finally meet in person around October 2018 at a religious conference in St. George, Utah.

Sins of Our Mother Limited Series TrailerHow did Lori Vallow become the most notorious mother in America?

2019

Charles becomes suspicious of his wife and asks her to seek help for her mental health at the end of January. Lori voluntarily goes to a mental health facility, Community Bridges. After a stay, the staff medically clears her for discharge.

In February, Charles files for divorce, claiming Lori has begun to view herself as a god and is preparing the world for the second coming of Christ. In court documents, Charles claims that Lori would kill him if he did anything to get in the way of her mission.

Around the same time, Lori’s niece Melani Boudreaux divorces her husband, Brandon Boudreaux. Brandon says Melani expressed beliefs about the end of the world.

July 11
Charles is killed by Lori’s brother Alex Cox during a confrontation at Lori’s home in Arizona. Alex tells police that Charles came at him with a bat, and he shot him in self-defense.

Sept. 3
Lori enrolls J.J. at Kennedy Elementary in Rexburg, where she now lives. Less than three weeks later, J.J. is removed — the school claims that Lori told them that he would be homeschooled. Tylee is never officially enrolled in any schools in Idaho, even though Lori later tells police her daughter was attending BYU-Idaho as a college student.

Sept. 8
Tylee is last seen alive on Sept. 8 at the entrance of Yellowstone National Park, along with Lori, Alex and J.J., according to a photo obtained by the Rexburg Police Department. The FBI asks the public to forward any photos they may have taken in the area at the time to assist with the search for Tylee.

Photos later recovered by authorities from Lori’s iCloud account showed Tylee with J.J. and Alex at the park on the same day.

That same day, Chad Daybell signs an application to increase the life insurance policy on his wife, Tammy, to the maximum amount allowed.

Sept. 9
Phone records show Alex, Lori’s brother, on Chad property around the general area where Tylee’s remains were later found by investigators. Chad texts his wife, Tammy Daybell, telling her that he shot a raccoon and had buried it in the pet cemetery on their property.

Oct. 1
Lori rents a 10x10 storage unit from Self Storage Plus in Rexburg. Surveillance video shows Lori and an unidentified male believed to be Alex visit the unit at least nine times in October and once in November.

Oct. 2
A gunshot is fired at Brandon Boudreaux, Lori’s former nephew-in-law, who escapes uninjured. The shooter was reportedly driving a Jeep registered to Lori’s Vallow’s now deceased ex-husband, Charles.

Police now believe that Alex fired a single shot at Brandon and missed.

Oct. 9
Tammy calls police, claiming she was shot at by a man using a defective paintball marker. She posts about the attack on Facebook, saying she had no idea who the person might be or why they would target her.

Oct. 19
Tammy unexpectedly passes away in her sleep at home in Salem, Idaho. No autopsy is conducted. Tammy is buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Springville on Oct. 22 and the family holds a memorial service the following day.

Nov. 5
Lori and Chad get married in Hawaii.

Nov. 26
Tylee and Ryan’s grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, ask authorities to perform a welfare check on the children, whom they haven’t had contact with in months.

Police report they do not see any indication of the children at the townhome on Pioneer Road. Lori tells police J.J. was currently staying with her friend, Melani Gibb, in Arizona.

At Lori and Chad’s behest, Melani initially covers for the couple and tells police that J.J. was with her, but she later asks the pair why she was asked to lie about J.J.’s whereabouts. Melani records the conversation as she was growing suspicious.

Nov 27
The Rexburg Police Department acquire a search warrant to enter Lori and Chad’s home while the couple are not there. There’s no sign of the children or their whereabouts.

Police serve a search warrant to three apartments belonging to Lori, her brother Alex, and Melani.

Dec. 1
Court documents reveal that Lori and Chad take an American Airlines flight to Lihue, Hawaii.

Dec. 6
Melani Gibb contacts police and recants her initial statement, saying that Lori and Chad asked her to lie about J.J.’s whereabouts.

Dec. 11
As deputies continue to investigate Chad, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office finds Tammy’s death to be “suspicious” and have her body exhumed. An autopsy is performed in Utah, but the results still have not been released to the public.

Dec. 12
Alex passes away under mysterious circumstances at his home in Gilbert, Arizona. An autopsy later found that he died from natural causes after blood clots were discovered in his lungs.

Dec. 20
The Rexburg Police Department formally announces that J.J. and Tylee are considered missing and that their disappearance could be linked to Tammy’s death.

Dec 21
Rexburg police now refer to Lori and Chad as ‘persons of interest’ in the disappearance of J.J. and Tylee.

Dec. 30
Rexburg Police issue a news release indicating they believe Lori knows what happened to her missing children and where they are.

2020

Jan. 3
Authorities search Chad’s home in Salem. Computers, cell phones, journals, documents and medications are taken and sent to an FBI lab for analysis.

Jan. 25
Authorities in Kauai serve Lori a notice stating she must produce her children to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or to the Rexburg Police Department within five days or face obstruction charges.

Jan. 30
Lori misses the deadline. The childrens’ grandmother, Kay, holds a news conference expressing her disappointment in Lori refusing to come forward with any details about her childrens’ whereabouts.

Feb. 20
Kauai police arrest Lori on an open warrant issued by Madison County and she is charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She is also charged with resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.

March 5
Lori is extradited back to Idaho where she makes her initial court appearance the next day, on March 6. Her bail is reduced to $1 million, which she is unable to pay.

June 9
Rexburg police obtain a second search warrant for Chad Daybell’s home. This time, authorities discover human remains on the property and bring in more equipment to investigate the property.

That same day, Chad is taken into custody and charged with two felony counts of concealment, distribution, or alteration of evidence.

A few days after the search warrant, police confirm the remains found on Chad ’s property are those of J.J. and Tylee.

June 10
Chad makes his initial appearance in court. His bail is set at $1 million.

June 29
Lori is charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

July 15
Lori pleads not guilty to misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.

Aug. 21
Chad pleads not guilty to all four felony counts against him.

Sept. 1
Madison County prosecuting attorney Rob Wood asks the judge to combine Lori and Chad’s cases, since the state plans to present the same list of evidence and witnesses against both defendants.

Sept. 10
Lori pleads not guilty to the two felony counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

2021

May 24
Chad and Lori are charged with the murders of Tammy Daybell, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow.

May 27
Lori’s case is delayed after she is deemed incompetent to stand trial.

June 29
Lori is indicted by an Arizona grand jury on conspiracy to commit the murder of husband Charles.

Aug. 5
Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty against Chad, NBC News reports.

2022

April 11
Lori is deemed competent to stand trial ABC4 reports following a stay at a mental health facility. She is released back into the custody of the Fremont County sheriff.

April 19
Lori is arraigned.

May 2
Prosecutors announce they will pursue the death penalty against Lori NBC News reports.

2023

April 3
Lori’s trial begins at an Idaho courthouse. Chad will be tried separately, however a trial date for his case has not been selected. 

May 12
A jury found Lori guilty on all counts. She faces life in prison upon sentencing. 

July 31
Lori was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of her two children, Tylee Ryan and J.J., as well as conspiring to commit the murder of Tammy Daybell, her husband’s first wife. 

2025

April 23
Lori was found guilty by an Arizona jury of conspiring to murder her estranged husband, Charles. Prosecutors said she conspired with her brother, Alex, in Charles’ death in July 2019. She is scheduled to go on trial again in early June on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon, who survived the attempted killing.