Idaho mom Lori Vallow was arrested on Feb. 20 in Hawaii in connection with the disappearance of her children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, who had not been seen since September. Vallow’s husband, Chad Daybell, was with her in Hawaii but was not arrested. Amid the investigation, it has been revealed that the couple was involved in Preparing a People, a doomsday-prepper group.
Daybell is an author who has written and self-published a number of fictional doomsday books and according to FOX 10, Vallow read Daybell’s books for years before eventually meeting him. A source claims that by October 2018, the current spouses were emailing each other, and the subject line of an email from January 2019 read, “Seven missions to accomplish together.”
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The email allegedly detailed translating ancient records, writing a book about it, identifying locations in Arizona for “white camps,” the presidency of the Church of Firstborn, establishing food distribution when the tribulations started, and ordaining individuals to translation and provide supplies to righteous members of families.
Daybell was the former publisher for author Julie Rowe, who shared that they met through an end of times forum online called “Another Voice of Warning” in 2014. Rowe wrote about visions she says she had after a near-death experience, and she said that Daybell claimed he had similar experiences and spoke about them at events.
“When I knew him and was working with him, I did not view him as a cult leader because he never was like that when I was around him,” Rowe said. “But I have never been to any of the small gatherings that he conducted in different people’s homes in Idaho or Utah.”
Rowe added that she has since distanced herself from Daybell.
“He thinks that he has some kind of priesthood authority or sealing power that has been given to him to perform ordinances that one day will be on the Earth but are not now and he has no business messing with any of this,” she said.
Idaho police began searching for JJ and Tylee in November after they attempted to conduct a welfare check on Joshua. The New York Times reports that the couple told police the children were living in Arizona, and when authorities arrived the next day with a search warrant, Vallow and Daybell had fled. They were eventually found in Hawaii, where Vallow was arrested after ignoring court ordered-deadlines to bring the children to authorities. She is currently awaiting extradition to Idaho.
Photo Credit: CBS News
