For months, two children were missing. Then, on January 25, 2020, police found their mother relaxing beside a swimming pool in Hawaii and handed her a court order: produce the children within five days.

The woman was Lori Vallow Daybell. Her seven-year-old son, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and 16-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan, had not been verifiably seen alive for months. The officers serving the order were trying to establish whether the children were safe and where they were. Lori accepted the paperwork, looked it over and said she had no questions.

She never produced them.

Five months later, investigators searching the Idaho property of her new husband, Chad Daybell, found the children’s remains. The case that followed exposed a web of deaths, attempted violence, apocalyptic beliefs, financial questions and a series of warning signs that had not brought JJ and Tylee home in time.

The Hawaii poolside footage became one of the most recognizable moments in the case—not because it explains everything, but because it captures the extraordinary contrast between an ordinary-looking afternoon and the urgent search for two missing children.

What Happened at the Hawaii Pool?

On January 25, 2020, Kauaʻi police officers served Lori with an Idaho child-protection order at a condominium complex in Princeville, Hawaii. The order required her to produce JJ and Tylee to the Rexburg Police Department or the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare within five days.

The deadline was January 30. The order was not a casual request for an update. It was a court directive requiring Lori to physically produce the children.

Body-camera footage shows an officer approaching Lori while she is seated beside the pool. Chad is nearby. The officer hands her the documents and asks whether she has questions. Lori reads the paperwork, looks toward Chad and indicates that she has none. The officers then leave.

During testimony at Lori’s 2023 trial, Kauaʻi detective Colin Nesbitt described serving the paperwork. The video was played for jurors. The encounter itself lasted only a few minutes, but its meaning changed dramatically after investigators found the children.

Watch the original reporting and footage: East Idaho News’ report on the Hawaii poolside service. Additional courtroom coverage is available from Law&Crime.

The Children Had Been Missing for Months

The investigation began in Rexburg, Idaho, after relatives and others became unable to verify where JJ and Tylee were. Their last known sightings became central reference points for investigators.

• September 8, 2019: Tylee was last verifiably seen during a family trip to Yellowstone National Park.
• September 22, 2019: JJ was last verifiably seen at Lori’s apartment in Rexburg.
• November 26, 2019: Police conducted a welfare check after concerns were raised about JJ’s whereabouts.
• December 20, 2019: Authorities publicly announced that both children were missing.
• January 25, 2020: Lori was served with the five-day order in Hawaii.
• January 30, 2020: The deadline passed without Lori producing either child.
• June 9, 2020: Investigators found the children’s remains on Chad Daybell’s Idaho property.

When Rexburg officers first questioned Lori about JJ, she said he was staying in Arizona with family friend Melanie Gibb. She also told investigators that Tylee was attending Brigham Young University-Idaho and living with her.

Those explanations did not hold up. Gibb eventually told investigators that JJ had not been staying with her. According to the probable-cause affidavit, Lori later asked Gibb to tell police that JJ was with her and to provide a photograph that would make it appear that she had him. The affidavit says the photograph would have shown unrelated children. Gibb refused.

Another detail drew attention: when officers were trying to contact Gibb, Lori reportedly said Gibb and JJ were watching Frozen 2 and might not answer. Investigators later learned that JJ was not with Gibb.

Police also searched the couple’s rental vehicle in Hawaii. Trial testimony described items connected to the children, including Tylee’s credit card and an iPad associated with JJ. These discoveries did not answer the central question of where the children were, but they added to investigators’ concerns.

On February 20, 2020, Lori was arrested in Hawaii after failing to comply with the order. She was later extradited to Idaho. The children were still missing.

Primary document: The Idaho probable-cause affidavit records key parts of the early investigation, including the five-day order and the statements investigators were given about the children.

The Deaths and Violent Incidents That Put Investigators on Alert

The missing-children investigation soon became part of a much larger criminal case. Several people connected to Lori and Chad had died or been targeted in violent incidents in the months before the children were found.

Charles Vallow was shot and killed in Arizona

Charles Vallow, Lori’s estranged husband, was shot and killed in Chandler, Arizona, on July 11, 2019. Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, fired the shots and initially said he had acted in self-defense after a confrontation. Prosecutors later alleged that Lori was involved in a conspiracy to kill Charles. That allegation was addressed in a separate Arizona case.

Brandon Boudreaux survived a shooting

In October 2019, Brandon Boudreaux, the former husband of Lori’s niece, was shot at while driving near his Arizona home. He survived. Prosecutors later connected the shooting to the wider conspiracy allegations and Lori was convicted in Arizona of conspiring to murder him.

Tammy Daybell died weeks before Chad married Lori

Tammy Daybell, Chad’s first wife, died at the couple’s Idaho home on October 19, 2019. Her death was initially treated as natural. After investigators became suspicious, her body was exhumed and an autopsy determined that she died from asphyxiation. Chad and Lori married in Hawaii on November 5, 2019, less than three weeks after Tammy’s death.

These events were not all proven in the same trial or under the same legal theory. Prosecutors used evidence from the wider timeline to argue that the deaths and attempted shooting were connected. It is important to distinguish those prosecution arguments from the specific verdicts returned in each case.

The June 2020 Discovery on Chad Daybell’s Property

On June 9, 2020, investigators searching Chad Daybell’s property in Salem, Idaho, found the remains of JJ and Tylee. The discovery ended the search for the children and transformed the case into a murder prosecution.

JJ’s remains were found buried on the property. Prosecutors presented evidence that he had been restrained and suffocated. Tylee’s remains had been dismembered and burned; the condition of the remains prevented investigators from establishing a definitive cause of death.

The discovery was devastating for the children’s relatives, who had spent months seeking answers. It also gave investigators physical evidence to examine alongside witness accounts, phone records, digital communications and the timeline of events.

The case drew intense attention because the children’s disappearance was not an isolated event. It sat within a chain of deaths, a new marriage, disputed explanations and allegations about the beliefs and motives of the adults around them.

Inside the Prosecution’s Case: “Zombies,” Apocalyptic Beliefs and Money

One of the most unusual parts of the trial involved testimony about the religious and apocalyptic ideas shared by Lori and Chad. Chad had written about prophecy and the end of the world. Witnesses described how Lori became increasingly involved in similar beliefs.

At trial, witnesses testified that the couple used terms such as “light” and “dark” to describe people and discussed the idea that some people had become “zombies” after being overtaken by evil spirits. Prosecutors argued that these beliefs were used to justify violence against people they considered spiritually compromised or obstacles to their plans.

Those descriptions came from testimony and the prosecution’s interpretation of the evidence. They should not be treated as representative of mainstream religious beliefs. The jury was asked to assess the evidence against Lori and Chad, not to judge an entire faith community.

Financial benefits were also part of the alleged motive

Prosecutors also presented evidence about life-insurance policies, Social Security benefits and other financial matters involving people who died. Their theory was that financial incentives, the couple’s relationship and their apocalyptic beliefs formed overlapping motives.

The state’s case relied on more than one category of evidence. Jurors heard from witnesses, considered communications and records, and examined the circumstances surrounding the deaths. The prosecution argued that the combined evidence showed a conspiracy rather than a series of unrelated tragedies.

For a detailed chronology, see the Idaho Statesman’s timeline of the missing-children investigation.

What the Courts Decided—and What Lori Vallow Daybell Is Appealing Now

Lori’s Idaho trial took place in 2023. In May, a jury found her guilty of the murders of JJ and Tylee and conspiracy to commit the murder of Tammy Daybell, along with related theft offenses. In July 2023, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Chad Daybell was tried separately. In May 2024, a jury found him guilty of murdering JJ, Tylee and Tammy and of conspiracy charges. He was sentenced to death in June 2024.

Lori also faced separate proceedings in Arizona. She was convicted of conspiring to murder Charles Vallow and of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, who survived the shooting. Those Arizona convictions have their own appellate process and should not be confused with her Idaho appeal.

The Idaho Supreme Court heard her appeal on November 2, 2026

The latest major development came on November 2, 2026, when the Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lori’s appeal of her Idaho convictions. The court’s official calendar identifies the case as State v. Vallow, docket 51091.

Her lawyers argue that the trial court violated her Sixth Amendment right to counsel of choice when it disqualified her original retained attorney, Mark Means. They also challenge how hearings concerning that decision were handled, including her ability to participate while she was considered incompetent to stand trial. Other appellate issues include the admission of evidence about uncharged Arizona incidents and claims involving her right to a speedy trial.

The state argues that the trial court had a duty to address a conflict because Means had previously represented Chad Daybell. The justices heard arguments from both sides and took the matter under consideration. They did not overturn the convictions at the hearing.

Where the case stands: As of November 9, 2026, the Idaho Supreme Court has heard oral argument, but no ruling has been announced in the sources reviewed for this update. The appeal remains pending and the existing Idaho convictions and sentences remain in place unless and until the court changes them.

Read the official Idaho Supreme Court calendar and case summary, along with Associated Press coverage of the appeal hearing and Local News 8’s report from November 2.

The Bottom Line: The Poolside Video Was Only One Moment in a Much Larger Failure

The Hawaii footage is disturbing because of what viewers now know: when officers handed Lori Vallow Daybell that five-day order, JJ and Tylee were already dead. But the video is not the whole story. It is one moment in a timeline that included months of unanswered questions, conflicting explanations, suspicious deaths and repeated efforts by relatives and authorities to find the children.

A jury convicted Lori of murdering her children and conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell. Chad was separately convicted and sentenced to death. Lori is now asking Idaho’s highest court to review whether errors in the trial process require her convictions to be overturned or a new trial to be granted. The court has not yet issued its decision.

The most important people in this story are not the adults whose actions filled the headlines. They are JJ and Tylee—two children who depended on the adults around them for safety. Their disappearance exposed how warning signs can be missed, fragmented or left unresolved while time is running out.

JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan deserved to be found alive. Their story should never be reduced to a shocking video or a sensational headline. It is a case about two children who were failed, and about the unanswered questions that remain as the legal appeals continue.