MESA, Ariz. — It's been eight months since anyone has seen 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old JJ Vallow. They disappeared in September after their mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, moved them from Arizona to Idaho.
Lori was arrested in Hawaii in February on child desertion charges. She's been in jail in Idaho since early March and investigators say she refuses to explain where the kids are.
Lori's niece Melani Pawlowski, who is also caught up in the case, is one of the few people to come forward and stick up for Lori, claiming the Lori she knows would never harm her children.
Melani and her husband Ian Pawlowski sat down with Team 12's Erica Stapleton to talk about this bizarre case. Here's part of their conversation:
ES: When you were up there [in Idaho], did you ever wonder why Tylee and JJ weren’t with Lori?
MP: Lori had told me that they were getting lots of threats and they had to do everything they could to keep Tylee and JJ safe. I didn’t understand all those threats, but at the same time, Lori knew I was heavily involved in my own case with my ex-husband. She’s really independent, she doesn’t really let people help her. She helps everybody around her. Those questions weren’t answered for me. She was just doing everything she could to protect JJ and Tylee —
ES: Did you ask specifically where they were?
MP: Initially, I think this was before November, when they moved down to Idaho, Tylee would go to school or stay with friends and stay in between and she planned for JJ, to put him in school and have a nanny for him. She was setting everything up for them — her home. She had all of their things and, you know, rooms, individualized for each of them. I had no reason to believe that any harm had been done to the children. Lori had her plan and I trusted that.
ES: What explanation would she give though if her children were not there?
MP: If I would go into her home and I didn’t see them there, sometimes Tylee was out with friends, which wasn’t uncommon. She was a teenager that wasn’t home a lot. She spent a lot of time with her friends, she’s very social. And if I didn’t see JJ, she would tell me he’s either with a friend or has a nanny for him. He required a lot of therapy and time with special needs, so I didn’t have a reason to think that something was wrong. And I knew she was doing everything she could to kind of stay low and not tell people where they were.
ES: Not having any contact with Tylee and JJ — are you worried for how they might be or where they might be?
MP: I’ve had every worry and doubt of where can the kids be - are they OK? Are they safe? Why is Lori not speaking? But, I don’t have those answers. I just know what I know, which is Lori is doing everything she can to protect her children and will continue to do so.
ES: Lori is in jail for failing to produce her children — why do you think she either can’t or won’t comply with that?
MP: I don’t have those answers. I know she’s the sole provider for her children...There are so many questions and so many things that are playing out that shouldn’t play out that way. I don’t have answers as to why everything is going the way it is. I think the best thing to do is tell you what you do know and the truth that we have so this case can continue to unfold.
ES: Looking from the outside in, there’s been a lot of media attention and for Lori - a lot of the time - the optics don’t look good. Why stick up for her and why speak out on her behalf?
MP: I don’t feel the need to defend Lori. I know the truth about Lori and who she is. I don’t have answers to everything on her case, I just want to share the truth about things and clear up all the speculation and rumors and have another side, and have people realize it may not be what it looks like.
ES: When there are so many investigators involved and there’s been no sign of the children - at least in a public eye for about 8 months at this point - what makes you think that they’re safe and that Lori might not be involved in what could have happened to them?
MP: I spent most of December living in a state of mind - I listened to all the voices around me of fear and lies and confusion. It simply comes back to I have to stick with what I do know. I have to stick to the truth. The things don’t add up that are being thrown around. It’s not who Lori is. I don’t see a motive for all these accusations being thrown around. Lori has a history of unfortunately not being able to trust the court system and authorities. I don’t have answers as to why she’s continuing to do the things that she’s doing, but I know the person that she is and I know she loves the children with all her heart.
ES: Do you think the kids are safe right now?
MP: I hope and I believe that Tylee and JJ are being protected and safe. I don’t know from what and from who. I don’t have those answers. But I would rather live with hope and faith and belief and what feels right than listen to all the millions of things that feel right and all the things that could have happened and to a state of fear and worry where there’s no facts and evidence.
ES: Why do you believe that Lori wouldn’t harm them?
MP: There’s no evidence of anything in her life that she’s done other than protect Tylee and JJ. She’d have no reason to harm her children.
ES: What was your last conversation with Lori like?
MP: My last conversation with Lori — I think we’re all in the middle of this mess, we don’t know where they’re at. We don’t know where the kids are at. Ian and I are newly married and our exes our conspiring against us to cause harm in our relationship to throw lies out. And my last conversation - 'Are you guys okay?' I think we….Lori’s a strong woman of faith and she’s always encouraged me to do so and she’s always been someone I look up to because of that.
12 News is working on an extended version of our interview with Melani and Ian Pawlowski. Please check back for updates.
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