Lori Vallow’s mother-in-law reveals she’s keeping Christmas presents for murdered grandson and shares struggles to move on

LORI Vallow’s ex-mother-in-law still keeps a Christmas present for her murdered grandson, which the little boy never unwrapped after his disappearance in 2019.

Kay Woodcock, the grandmother of Lori Vallow’s murdered son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, told The US Sun it’s a family tradition to buy all her grandchildren new pajamas for the holiday season.

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Although JJ hadn’t seen or heard from for more than two months as of Christmas 2019, Kay and her husband Larry bought seven-year-old JJ a pair of blue glow-in-the-dark shark pajamas just in case he found them and got them home on time was to open gifts.

Tragically, the holiday season came and went without a trace of JJ.

He was last seen alive on September 22 of the same year in Rexburg, Idaho. JJ disappeared within weeks of his older half-sister Tylee, who disappeared on September 8 after a family trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Kay clung to hope that one day she would see her beloved grandson again, but as the weeks turned into months, her hope that he was still alive began to fade.

Then, on June 9, 2020, a horrifying discovery would be made after police issued a search warrant on the Salem, Idaho home of Lori’s new husband, doomsday fanatic Chad Daybell.

JJ was found buried in a pair of red pajamas in a pet cemetery on the property. His body was wrapped in plastic bags, and his mouth, arms, and wrists were covered with duct tape.

Tylee, meanwhile, had been dismembered and cremated, with her remains found not far from those of her younger brother.

In the two-and-a-half years since the horrifying discovery, Kay says she’s struggled to come to terms with the reality of what happened and now feels numb to the world.

Ahead of another Christmas without JJ, she remembered her grandson as “joy” personified.

“When I think of JJ, I think of joy,” Kay said of JJ, who had autism.

“He just had such a big heart. He loved swimming, he loved driving his little car… and he was just beginning to develop his own little sense of humor.

“He was kind of joking with you and he was very smart.”

She tearfully added: “Your whole world can explode and it can never be the same.

“But I’m looking forward to seeing JJ again.

“Death doesn’t look as bad now as it used to; death just doesn’t look scary anymore.”

A “LIVING HELL”

Earlier this month, a judge set a new trial date for Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, both charged with multiple murders and conspiracy in the deaths of JJ, Tylee and Chad’s late wife Tammy, who died suddenly in October 2019.

The joint trial, originally scheduled to begin in January, has been temporarily suspended after Lori’s sanity was questioned for the second time.

Lori and Chad, who have since been found fit to stand trial, made their first court appearance together on December 8 to resolve several matters, including a new trial date.

The judge ordered the trial to begin on April 3, 2023 and to take place in Ada County, Idaho. The process is expected to take more than two months.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both Lori and Chad.

Kay said she knows going through the process and reliving the trauma of losing JJ will be “living hell.” However, she is eager to get it all behind her.

“It’s going to be hell on earth because I promise you we only know a small part of the details,” Kay said.

“You have a mountain of evidence and [currently] we only know an inch of this mountain…so we’re going to learn some terrible things.

“And if anything is going to kill me about it, it’s this exam. So I want to get it done so I can put it all behind me.”

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The long wait for Lori’s trial prevented Kay from grieving properly and processing her feelings, she says.

When she finally sees Lori in the stands, Kay is afraid of how she might react.

“I just feel very numb because three years later I’m still where I was and I still feel numb.

“I don’t feel anything because I haven’t allowed myself to get too deep into myself because I know there’s all this anger and hate deep inside me that I just don’t want to face.

“I know there will come a time when I need to tap into those emotions and feelings and it’s not going to be good.

“I don’t know when everything will surface, but it could happen during the process.

“I can also imagine going to jail for not being a physical or physically violent person, but I could probably be when it comes down to it.”

agonizing wait

Concerned about the emotional toll Lori and Chad’s upcoming trial may take and how much heartache she can still endure, Kay said she was determined to make sure the trial “won’t kill her.”

“I hope it won’t kill me, I say it won’t and I hope it does,” she said, her voice cracking.

“They have already killed numerous people and I will not allow them to kill me as well.

“They will not kill my spirit, and they will not kill me.

“You will not have that power over me. She already had enough power over me.”

I look forward to seeing JJ again. Death doesn’t look as bad as it used to; Death just doesn’t look scary anymore.

Kay woodcockJJ’s grandma

Kay added, “I’m not going to lose my life to Lori Daybell and Chad Daybell — I’m not going to do it. I’ll get through this and I’ll be better on the other side.

“I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’ll be better on the other side because they won’t take what’s left of my world.”

LORIS ‘BULLS**T’

Lori and Chad Daybell were accused of murdering JJ and Tylee in late 2019 after allegedly becoming convinced they were both possessed by “dark spirits.”

In a previous interview with The US Sun, Kay called “bulls**t” over Lori’s alleged claims that JJ – who had autism – was in some way possessed by a demon.

“You had his father [Charles Vallow] killed and then transferred to another state and apartment; everything in his world was new,” she said.

“He left the school he loved so much and it changed his world 180 degrees.

“You don’t do that to autistic kids, they don’t handle sudden changes well, so you have to keep their world as stable as possible – but she just wiped them out.

“I’m sure he had to brag because she blew up his world.

“She can tell it was dark spirits, but she just — I’ll say it — fed Chad’s bull**t, because that was it: bull**t.”

“Lori fed herself into Chad’s bull**t and that was a convenient excuse for her to look the other way.

“She didn’t want JJ ​​anymore and clashed with Tylee.

“She wanted away from them and she didn’t want to be responsible anymore.”

“KNEW WHAT SHE DOES”

JJ Vallow’s father, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by Lori’s brother Alex Cox in July 2019, just months before the boy disappeared.

Cox claimed to have defended himself, but investigators now consider Charles Vallow’s death suspicious.

Prior to his death, Charles had transferred his $1 million life insurance policy from Lori’s name to Kay’s name after apparently becoming increasingly concerned about his odd wife’s increasingly strange and troubling behavior.

When JJ was found dead just over two years ago, Kay believed Lori killed her beloved grandson to get back at her for taking the money.

But as time went on and the more she learned about her former daughter-in-law, Kay says she now believes “it was all about the doomsday cult she was in.”

“Lori wasn’t obsessed, she knew exactly what she was doing,” Kay claimed. “It was all about this cult.

“I know she could turn it on and off because she did it with Charles.

“She never brought any of that doomsday shit to me. Never. Because she knows I would have told her, ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

“I’m very open and she knew that and she knew I wouldn’t believe her. She knew me well enough not to say anything.”

‘ROT IN HELL’

Before the trial in April next year, Kay said she is praying for two guilty verdicts.

She also hopes they both die behind bars, never to see the outside world again.

Kay said, “I just want them to stay behind bars until they die, whether that’s when they get killed by the state of Idaho or until they die in prison of old age.”

“I don’t care how it is, and whatever it is, I will accept it.

“But they will pay for it on this earth, and earth time will be easy.

“It is eternity that will be hell.

“And it will be hell.”

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