Questions continue about lack of arrests in missing children case
18 Feb 2020
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The beach visits, the errand running, the happy photos — all seem to have struck a nerve with the public. The story of Lori and Chad, their respective dead spouses and her missing children has captivated the nation.
In the last 220 days, Lori’s brother Alex Cox killed her husband Charles following a family argument in July, Chad’s seemingly healthy wife died in her sleep in October in a manner police are calling “suspicious,” and Cox, also young and apparently healthy, died mysteriously on a bathroom floor in December.
And of course, Lori’s two minor children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, have disappeared. No one has seen the children since September. Neither Chad nor Lori reported them missing. Shortly after Rexburg police questioned the couple in late November about the children’s whereabouts, Lori and Chad fled to Hawaii. Earlier this month a storage unit full of the children’s belongings — the kind of things you’d think they’d want in their new home — was found in chilly Rexburg, thousands of miles from Hawaii where Chad and Lori have lived for more than a month.
As the public continues to learn about strange circumstance after strange circumstance surrounding the couple, many believe the deaths and disappearances were orchestrated by Chad and Lori.
If that’s the case, why haven’t they been arrested?
The answer, according to legal experts, is most likely a lack of evidence. That lack of evidence is primarily due to law enforcement’s inability to locate Tylee and J.J. Until police can prove something criminal has happened to the children, Chad and Lori are looking at nothing more than misdemeanors for their failure to cooperate in the investigation. A judge may hold off on the arduous and expensive extradition process following Lori’s potential contempt of court charge until law enforcement finds evidence for more serious charges, said Samuel Newton, assistant professor of law at the University of Idaho.
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Questions continue about lack of arrests in missing children case
