In new court documents obtained by Fox10, the ex-husband of Lori Vallow’s niece says the niece knows more about the disappearance of Vallow’s two children than she’s saying and isn’t cooperating with police.
Vallow was arrested this week in Hawaii after she failed to meet a deadline imposed by Idaho authorities to produce Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, who have not been seen since September. The Doomsday cult mom is being held on a $5 million bond while she awaits an extradition hearing to return to Idaho to face charges of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children and several other charges, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Brandon Boudreaux and Melani Pawlowski, Vallow’s niece, are engaged in a contentious battle for custody of their four children following their divorce last summer. Pawlowski reportedly followed Vallow to Idaho, where Vallow married Chad Daybell shortly after his wife died under mysterious circumstances.
Relatives have claimed that both women reportedly became involved with a so-called end-days religious group, which includes members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and anticipates the second coming of Jesus. Daybell is considered an influential member; he is an author of religious texts, and the host of a podcast.
Pawlowski also remarried late last year.
“Melani’s knowledge of the whereabouts of her aunt’s two missing children and her unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement is daunting and her current husband has told law enforcement that Melani says sometimes children are full of light and then just like that they go dark,” the newly revealed court documents say, according to Fox10.
Boudreaux has alleged that Pawlowski or someone connected with her took a shot at him in Arizona on October 2. The shooter was in a 2018 Jeep Wrangler registered to Vallow’s husband Charles Vallow — who had been shot to death by her brother, Alex Cox, in the summer. Cox, who claimed the shooting was self-defense, was found dead at his home in Arizona in December.
“Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies,” Boudreaux alleges in the documents. “Melani left Arizona almost immediately after the attempt on [Boudreaux’s] life, leaving without a trace and leaving her children behind. Melani now only comes forward as she feels that the suspicious death of her uncle, Alex, who was the shooter in the incident involving children, has somehow freed her from her role in the attempt on Brandon’s life.”
Pawlowski was arrested for trespassing at Boudreaux’s parents’ Utah home in November, claiming to have a court order to take the couple’s four children. She was driven to Utah by Cox, who bailed her out of jail.
The hunt for JJ and Tylee began in late November, when JJ’s grandmother reported him missing. Vallow and Daybell were never cooperative with police, and shortly afterward left Idaho. They resurfaced in Hawaii in January, when Rexford, Idaho, police sought help from local police there. Vallow was arrested on Thursday.
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[Featured image: JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan/Rexford Police Department]
