A frustrated police detective leading the search for two children who have been missing for several months addressed the children’s uncooperative mother in a statement to the Daily Mail.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Lori Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are not cooperating with investigators searching for her her two children, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua Vallow, 7. Both Vallow and Daybell’s spouses died within months before Vallow’s third marriage and Daybell’s second–Daybell’s wife died only weeks before, under questionable circumstances –and did not report Vallow’s children missing, though Tylee and Joshua have not been seen since late September.

Authorities were not aware that the children were missing until they performed a requested wellness check at the couple’s home in Rexford, Idaho. At that time, Vallow reportedly told police that her son was with relatives in Arizona, but police found that statement to be untrue. The couple fled their home shortly after the police visit.

Relatives of the couple reportedly believe that their involvement in a so-called doomsday cult has something to with the deaths and disappearances.

Gary Hagen, assistant chief of police in Rexford, told the Daily Mail that Vallow is still refusing to cooperate, reiterating an earlier statement from Rexford Police.

“Show us proof that the kids are still alive and this whole thing will go away,” Hagen said.

“We have absolutely no idea where they are. We have no indication that they aren’t alive — but equally we have no indication that they are not dead.”

The Daily Mail sent a reporter to the home where Daybell lived with his first wife, Tammy, and their five children in Salem, Idaho. One of the children who answered the door reportedly said that he was not permitted to speak about the investigation.

According to the Daily Mail report, Vallow’s first husband died in 2018 of an apparent heart attack, and was cremated.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Tammy Vallow’s body has been exhumed for further examination. Vallow’s husband Chad Vallow was fatally shot in July, allegedly by Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox. Cox reportedly died in December, and authorities have not released the cause of death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Rexburg Police Department at (208) 359-3000, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at (800) THE-LOST.

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