Lori Vallow Daybell thought her missing children ‘had become zombies,’ report says

Lori Vallow Daybell once thought that her children were zombies, according to multiple reports.

• Lori Vallow Daybell is the mother of two missing Idaho children, who remains in the Madison County jail up in Rexburg, Idaho, on a $1 million bail. She is facing charges of desertion and nonsupport.

What happened:

• There’s an ongoing child custody case between Melani Boudreaux — the niece of Lori Vallow Daybell — and Boudreaux’s ex-husband Brandon. The case involved testimony from Ian Powlowski, the new husband of Melani, according to ABC-15 Arizona.
• Powlowski said Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, told Melani that Vallow’s children — Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan “had been possessed and had become zombies.”
• According to the ABC-15 Arizona report, Powlowski said: “Melani had been told by Chad and Lori that her children had been possessed and had become zombies. She shared concerns that she’s been told Brandon needed to die and that may indicate that … Tylee and JJ needed to die as well. She told me she was worried that Al (Alex Cox) may have had to ‘take care’ of the kids. She explained that Al had great faith and never wavered in his trust in the Lord. No task would be too difficult or great for him.”

More from the filing:

• According to ABC-15 Arizona, Melani reportedly told Powlowski that “Brandon had been possessed by a demon or another dark entity” and she was told that something would happen to him and that something needed to happen to him “in order for his spirit to progress and for the Lord’s plan to continue.“
• Brandon Boudreaux was shot in October 2019. He claimed Cox — the brother of Lori Vallow — had fired the shots, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
• Cox, who killed Vallow’s ex-husband Charles in a case called self-defense, died in December 2019.

The context:

• Since the beginning of the case, there’s been some consideration to Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell’s religious beliefs, as reported by The Associated Press.
• The Post-Register recently reviewed a number of the court documents and what they say about the couple’s religious views, too.