Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Lori's brother months after the bodycam footage was taken.
Newly released bodycam footage from the Gilbert Police Department in Arizona is shedding light on the relationship between Lori Vallow Daybell, the mother of missing children Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and her late husband, Charles Vallow. The Jan. 31, 2019 footage shows Lori's fourth husband expressing his concerns to police about Lori's mental health and his and the children's safety.
In the video, Charles tells police he came home from a business trip to Texas to find his truck gone from the airport parking lot, the Arizona house he shared with Lori locked and the kids nowhere to be found. "I don’t know what she’s going to do with them. I don’t know if she is going to flee with them, if she’s going to hurt them," Charles said in response to a police officer's question about whether Lori poses a threat to JJ and Tylee.
The footage was first obtained by ABC News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
"I can't get in touch with my kids," Charles told police, adding that he has tried for two days to reach them. "But [Lori's] lost her mind. I don’t know how to say it, we’re LDS [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], she thinks she’s a resurrected being and a god and member of the 144,000, Jesus is coming next year, she took all of our money out of the bank account today."
Charles told officers Lori took $35,000 out of their joint account. When asked if she was taking any medication or had seen a doctor, Charles told them no.
"She won’t go to the doctor because she’s a translated being and they would find out that she’s translated. She cannot be killed, she cannot die," Charles told police. "She’s not here. She’s lost her reality. It's been going on about four or five years and it’s gotten really, really bad lately. She goes to the temple and speaks with Moroni [a prophet in the LDS faith] and Jesus Christ and they tell her what to do."
The footage was made public the same week that the Madison County, Idaho prosecutor gave Lori's attorney, Mark Means, a 14-day deadline to tell the state whether Means "intends to raise any issue of mental condition" while defending her in the case of her two missing children. Means did not respond to InsideEdition.com's request for comment, but issued a statement to ABC News.
"In regard to said release, and others, this could be construed as a 'tactically' timed release in an attempt to 'control the narrative' to fit a predetermined conclusion regarding the Cox family and persons, etc.," Means told ABC News in the statement. "If that is the case, that would be an inappropriate use of public resources. All Persons and Media sources should call upon the Gilbert Police Department and all other Agencies involved to release all their findings, reports, videos, photographs, and the like, unredacted and forthwith."
JJ and Tylee were last seen in September and Lori is currently being held on $1 million bond at an Idaho jail, facing two counts of felony desertion of a child, misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime and contempt, according to the Madison County, Idaho, prosecutor's office. Lori has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
In the Jan. 31, 2019 footage, Charles told police he filed a petition for an emergency mental health evaluation for Lori, and one of the officers said he had brought the petition with him, but couldn't serve Lori with it because she was not home.
Charles also told police Lori had threatened to kill him, and that she claimed Charles was actually someone named Nick Schneider.
"She said, 'You’re not Charles, I don’t know what you did with Charles, but I can murder you now with my powers,'" Charles told police officers.
Charles told police Lori had a rifle inside the house. The footage shows Charles scaling the back fence of the house he shared with Lori in an attempt to get in before an officer helped him break down the door. Once inside, Charles told them his clothes and other belongings had been removed from the house.
The next morning, Lori went to the Gilbert Police Department after she said Charles stole her purse from her car while she was dropping JJ off at school.
The department also released bodycam footage of Lori speaking to officers on Jan. 31, 2019, with her friend, Melanie Gibb, and daughter, Tylee.
Melanie is the woman whom Lori told Idaho police JJ was staying with during their Nov. 26 welfare check on him. Police say they later determined that Lori had lied and JJ was not with Melanie, which sparked the investigation into his disappearance, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed against Lori.
In the Jan. 31, 2019 bodycam footage, Lori told officers she and Charles had an argument on the phone and she had taken the kids to stay at hotel the night before.
"[Charles] just goes nuts sometimes," Lori told officers. "This time, I caught him cheating and I had evidence and I told him about it, and he travels a lot for business. And I told him not to come home and that his stuff would be gone, his car would be gone, so he’s a little mad."
Tylee and Lori told officers that Charles had said he was worried about JJ.
Officers then called Charles, who agreed to come to the police station with Lori's purse. Charles asked the officer about the mental health petition, which the officer told Charles must be verified by his sergeant before a doctor could be called.
After police told Lori about the existence of the mental health evaluation petition, they emphasized she didn't have to stay while they verified it and that she couldn't be held against her will by police.
Lori then joked with the officers about the mental health facility, asking if it had "a gym where I can work out."
"You are going to get a padded room," Tylee joked with her mother and a police officer as they waited for the other officer who was calling Charles to return.
The Gilbert Police Department also made public bodycam footage of a Jan. 31, 2019 phone call between one of its officers and a friend of Charles Vallow, Gabriel Bonilla, who said he had listened to a recent call between Lori and Charles at Charles' request. Charles also told officers Bonilla was with him at his home the night before in the bodycam footage.
Bonilla told the officer he had not heard Lori threaten Charles, herself or the children in that conversation.
"No, everything was subjective, she did use the word destroy, she said I will destroy you," Bonilla told the officer.
"The only thing that concerned me, actually, out of the conversation — that was beyond the pale, so to speak — was [Charles] said 'Hey, I just want to see the kids,' and she said something to the effect of, 'Well, you want the kids, I’ll give them to you.' Which I thought was a bit strange for a mom to say," Bonilla told the officer over the phone.
According to a police report obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix, officers ultimately determined that Lori should be allowed to go and speak with the mental health facility staff voluntarily. The report said an officer confirmed that she had checked herself in there and been discharged "a few hours later."
Six months after the Jan. 31, 2019 police recordings, Charles was shot and killed by Lori's brother, Alex Cox, who claimed he fired in self-defense. Two months after Charles' death, JJ and Tylee disappeared. Tylee was last seen on Sept. 8 at Yellowstone National Park, where she had traveled with JJ, Lori and Alex.
JJ was last seen at his elementary school in Rexburg, Idaho Sept. 23, according to authorities.
Lori is due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 9 and 10.
The Rexburg Police Department asks anyone with information regarding JJ and Tylee's whereabouts or welfare to contact the department at 1-208-359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST.
JJ has brown hair and brown eyes, is 4 feet tall and weighs 50 pounds. He has autism and may be in need of medical attention, according to authorities. Tylee has blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds.
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