Read the entire RPD news release on the Daybell investigation
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The following is a news release from the Rexburg Police Department
REXBURG –The Rexburg Police Department and the Madison County, Idaho Prosecutor’s Office want to thank everyone who has worked with us to find Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan since our press release on December 20th.
The search for Joshua and Tylee is ongoing. We appreciate everyone who has brought attention to this situation by sharing information with our offices and on social media. We are very grateful for the help of the FBI and their resources. Finally, we are grateful for all the media outlets who have shared press releases and stories relating to these missing children. We continue to welcome any information regarding these children’s whereabouts from informed citizens, investigative journalism, or any other source.
Since we first received a missing child report on November 26th, our number one priority has been finding Joshua and Tylee. We have taken every step available to us, including executing multiple search warrants, interviewing multiple sources, and running down every lead we have found. We strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger. We are aware that in the weeks after Tammy Daybell’s death, Lori Vallow/Daybell and Chad Daybell told witnesses that Lori’s daughter had died a year before the death of her father, which is untrue. Around that same time Chad told another witness that Lori had no minor children.
Many people have inquired as to why we have not filed charges yet in this case. Our primary concern at this point is simply locating Joshua and Tylee and charging decisions will be made in due course based upon the evidence available. If we find that harm was done to these children within our jurisdiction, we will prosecute whoever caused that harm.
As stated in our previous press release, Lori Vallow/Daybell, the adopted mother of Joshua and biological mother of Tylee, has completely refused to assist this investigation. We know that the children are not with Lori and Chad Daybell and we also have information indicating that Lori knows either the location of the children or what has happened to them. Despite having this knowledge, she has refused to work with law enforcement to help us resolve this matter. It is astonishing that rather than work with law enforcement to help us locate her own children, Lori Vallow has chosen instead to leave the state with her new husband.
We publicly call on Lori Vallow/Daybell and Chad Daybell to do the right thing and come forward with the information they have about the location and welfare of Joshua and Tylee. This entire investigation could have been avoided if Lori and Chad had simply been honest with law enforcement. We further continue to ask that anyone with any information regarding the location or welfare of Joshua and Tylee share that information with law enforcement.