Everything I have read dates December 2018 as the first Podcast with Chad as guest on with regular cast. It was 2 parts. That being said, there may be personal a data trail that will show earlier personal contact. Also, I miss things others don’t...
Warning: Long post speculative post ahead.
There seems to be a lot of info pointing to them having met earlier than 2018. Or, at the very least, they had ample opportunities to have met earlier.
From the timeline:
Approx 2016 or 2017 – Lori and Chad may have met for the first time as early as 2016 or 2017. Lori’s friend says in a Dec 2019 interview that Lori first became “obsessed” with Chad’s books about 4 years ago. JJ’s grandmother, KW says in a 30 Jan 2020 presser that she believes Lori & Chad may have met in 2016 or 2017. (Friend interview, Fox7 Austin, & KW’s Presser video).
[...]
June 2017 – Family members say Lori and Chad first met sometime around June 2017 (Daily Mail).
Summer of 2017 – Chad meets author and podcaster, Melanie Gibb (MG), for the first time after he speaks at a campout in Northern Utah. MG invites him to speak in her hometown of Mesa, Arizona (Chad's Forward for MG's book).
[...]
Dec 2017 – Lori and Chad made their first appearance together on a podcast (Daily Mail)
[...]
June 2018 – Chad finishes writing his “Times of Turmoil” book series and "felt prompted" to speak about the book in AZ in July. He contacts author Melanie Gibb and MG arranges a joint speaking event with Chad and another speaker (Chad’s blog).
[...]
27 June 2018 – Chad announces a book signing on his blog for his book “
Reclaiming Liberty”, the last book in his “
Times of Turmoil” series.
30 June 2018 – Chad holds a book signing in Sugar City, ID (Chad’s blog
It’s finally here! | cdaybell.com ).
13 July 2018 – Chad speaks at an event in Mesa, AZ with another author and he has a book signing after; This event was arranged by Chad’s author friend, Melanie Gibb (Websleuths Verified Insider).
[...]
Sept 2018 - Chad starts speaking on a podcast called "Glimpses Through the Veil" (Podcast website & Event Flyers).
15 Sept 2018 - Chad speaks at a prepper event in Brigham City, Utah (Event Flyers).
26-27 Oct 2018 - Chad speaks at a prepper event in St George, Utah (Event Flyers).
16-17 Nov 2018 Chad speaks at a prepper event in Mesa, AZ (Event Flyers).
Late 2018 – Lori and Chad met at a “prepper event” in AZ where Chad gave a talk. (Dateline).
[...]
5 Dec 2018 – Lori & Chad, along with others, do a podcast together titled “Time to Warrior Up” with the topic mostly being about the end of the world (East Idaho News, HLN True Crime).
Jan 2019 – Chad is a guest interview on “Time To Warrior Up” podcast with Lori co-hosting the podcast along with hosts JM & MG (podcast website).
Jan 2019 (Approx) - Lori emails Chad a video of herself dancing; Charles found the video because Lori was not technologically savvy and did not delete the email from the “sent” folder. This lead CV to believe Lori was having an affair with Chad (According to CV’s sister KW, in Jan 30, 2020 Presser).
----
If it was just one source saying they could have met before 2018 then I could dismiss it. But we seem to have multiple sources and multiple opportunities where Chad and Lori could have met and planned to find a way to meet again. What made Chad suddenly "feel prompted" to speak in Mesa, AZ a year after meeting Lori's friend Melanie Gibb? I don't believe that was a prompting from God he was getting. Chad seems to have a pattern of using his "promptings" in order to manipulate or get something he wants. Theoretically, what if Chad met Lori at the same time he met MG in the summer/June of 2017? Maybe they kept in touch and sent some emails back and forth. Lori was a big fan of Chad's books and maybe she believed Chad to be wealthy and powerful in this group they were both involved with.
Theoretically, after a year of flattering emails and possibly other forms of communication from her, maybe Chad
just had to find a way to travel to Mesa to see Lori again? So he finishes his book and says he has "been prompted" to speak on it in Mesa, AZ. Sounds perfectly innocent to anyone who doesn't know about Lori. But it's mighty suspicious if there happens to be an email or texting trail between them, as I'm theorizing. By Jan 2019 Lori is sending Chad inappropriate videos of herself dancing. It's hard for me to buy that an affair jumped to "dancing video email" level only a month or 2 after they met for the first time. Most affairs like we are discussing don't happen overnight. They start with little things and snowball.
I think around 2017 both Lori and Chad were dissatisfied with their life partners/life in general and both were ripe for an affair to happen. Maybe Chad was unhappy because he made Tammy move to Rexburg, which he thought would bring them prosperity, only to find they still struggled financially and Tammy isn't as happy as she was living in Utah near her parents. Chad has to work at a printing place to make ends meet, when he would rather be writing books. Maybe Lori was unhappy by 2017 because Charles made her leave her island paradise of Kauai. The Juice business failed and Charles likely tightened the budget and told Lori they have to move back to AZ or TX. I'm speculating that Lori started looking for a new richer man who could take her back to her paradise as soon as she moved back to the mainland.
One thing I'm really interested in is when did this group that Chad and Lori are a part of
start taking other's spouses to the temple and praying about being with each other... Was that an idea that originated with Lori and Chad? Or did Lori and Chad glom onto the group because of this idea? Did they think many in the group would accept them if they suddenly declared they had revelation saying they were supposed to leave their long time spouses to be with each other? And I also wonder if at some point Lori and Chad realized that without their respective spouses (Charles and Tammy) they had no source of income and could become just as poor as Tammy and Chad had been when times were lean and a bankruptcy happened. At that point is when I think a plan was hatched which could land these 2 lovebirds in prison for the rest of their lives.
MOO.