Grandparents of missing Idaho kids offer $20,000 reward
Jan 7, 2020, 12:20 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2023, 6:08 pm
Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17 (findjjandtylee.com)
(findjjandtylee.com)
REXBURG, Idaho — The grandparents of the two missing Idaho children have posted a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the safe return of their children.
Kay and Larry Woodcock are the biological grandparents of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow. They traveled to Rexburg from their home in Lake Charles, Louisiana to announce on Tuesday that they are offering a $20,000 reward for any information about where the two children, missing since September of 2018, might be.
“I have a tendency to get very emotional when I talk about the children. I get extremely emotional when I talk about JJ,” Larry Woodcock said during a news conference Tuesday. “JJ is my heart, and I’m hoping that this will allow one person, one person, to simply say ‘I saw, I know where he was’ at and give us that information so we can bring JJ and Tylee back. No matter where they’re at in the United States.”
Both Woodcocks say that they still believe that the children are alive and pleaded with their former daughter-in-law Lori Vallow Daybell to come forward.
“Please give them back to us. They are the just most unbelievable children you’d ever meet. You won’t find two smarter kids or with bigger hearts,” Woodcock said.
They both say the Lori they grew to know is nothing like a person who wouldn’t cooperate with investigators looking for her kids. They knew her as a loving, devoted mother. USA Today reports divorce papers between Lori Vallow Daybell and her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, show she had grown to believe she was a god, and her ex-husband had serious concerns about his safety.
Larry Woodcock says, “If somebody, two years ago, would have said this is what’s going to happen with Lori, I would have never believed it. Kay would have never believed it.”
They say seven-year-old JJ loved to chat with them over streaming video. However, they believe something seemed wrong during their chat, as if someone was telling JJ what to say during their short conversation.
“There was somebody else there,” Larry says. Kay adds, “[They were] holding the device. Normally, [JJ] would hold the device and he’d run around with it.”
“We’re asking the public, please, for God’s sake, anything anybody needs, please, please step up.”
Local authorities and the FBI are looking to question both Lori Daybell and Chad Daybell who have not been seen since authorities searched their home in late December. The Woodcocks say the kids disappeared in late September, even though they weren’t officially reported as missing until late November.
If you have any information, please contact the Rexburg police at 208-359-3000 or report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1(800)843-5678.
More information can also be found at www.findjjandtylee.com
(Contributing: Paul Nelson)
