Search for missing Idaho children reveals "no sign of life, no sign of death"

Now for the first time, her mother and sister speak out about what they think may have happened.Produced by Liza Finley, Richard Fetzer and Emily WichickShe's become a national obsession -- Lori Vallow Daybell, the Rexburg, Idaho, mother who never reported her 7–year-old son JJ and 17- year-old daughter Tylee missing. And despite her arrest on child abandonment charges, she's still not talking.But according to her family, there is a reason for that.Now, as a nationwide hunt for the missing children continues, Lori Vallow Daybell's mother, Janis Cox, and her sister, Summer Shiflet, reveal theories to "48 Hours" on what may have happened -- even whether the children could be hidden in a bunker somewhere out of sight – and why she's staying silent."She would never harm her children," Cox tells CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti. "But I know she has … has the reasons."But first, back to the Lori Vallow Daybell the rest of the world knows: a woman who has a lot of explaining to do, says investigative reporter and "48 Hours" consultant Morgan Loew. unless she's the one that is causing these bad things to happen."That's what the FBI and authorities in at least three states are trying to figure out as they sort through a convoluted tale that many believe will lead to murder chargesThe allegations that still shock friends who knew Lori Vallow Daybell before she became one of the most vilified women in America.April Raymond: You never wanna believe that somebody … you cared about or … looked up to … is capable of something heinous. But, unfortunately …  that might not be the reality here …This Lori is nothing like the friend she used to know, says April Raymond, whom "48 Hours" spoke to on Skype. April Raymond: Everyone fell in love with her right away … she really did bring a lot of joy to the people that she surrounded herself with.Everything about Lori seemed to sparkle, says Raymond, including her marriage to Charles, a successful investment advisor.April Raymond: I had never seen two people married that were … what I perceived, as genuinely happy with one another. Then something in Lori began to change.Morgan Loew: From what we have heard she started to pay a little less attention to the kids … and that's when the rift in the marriage started happening.April Raymond says Lori had begun reading the books of Chad Daybell, a novelist and podcaster from Rexburg, Idaho, who told stories about doomsday and people preparing for the end of the world. …  they had no idea where she was, and this was for about, like, two months.Morgan Loew: We think that she met up with Chad Daybell at that point, and she starts communicating with Charles in some really strange language … she was saying that she believes that she's a chosen one. Jonathan Vigliotti: The friend you knew before was basically the world's perfect soccer mom and now she's … saying she is essentially a reincarnated God?April Raymond That's correct.Then, Raymond says, Lori said something that would take on an even more sinister cast in the months ahead.April Raymond: She — told me that Charles was already dead and that there was a demon living inside of him.Morgan Loew: According to Charles, she even said, "If you get in my way, I will murder you. [Lori speaks] OK, just stand over there for just a second, guys.In the bodycam video, police blurred Tylee's face because she was a minor.POLICE OFFICER [Bodycam video]:  Does your husband live here or no?LORI VALLOW: No. POLICE OFFICER: OK.Morgan Loew: What was striking about the footage … was that …  they were very nonchalant. Less  than two  months after her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead, she packed up her two kids and moved to Rexburg, Idaho, home of that author and podcaster Chad Daybell — a known voice among doomsday preppers.Morgan Loew |Reporter and "48 Hours" consultant: They believe that the end of the world is coming, and it is coming soon. I think it was more of brother who was the enforcer, who punished people who crossed sister.In 2007, long before Alex Cox shot and killed Charles Vallow, he attacked Lori's third husband Joe Ryan with a taser gun and was sentenced to 90 days in jailMorgan Loew Lori sort of viewed Alex as the destroyer of bad things in her eyes … he was there to take care of the problems.That's what makes a now-famous picture of Tylee so terrifying to so many. … she didn't wanna tell any of us where she was going because she was being followed and threatened.Jonathan Vigliotti: Threatened by who?Summer Shiflet: By people who loved Charles and want revenge for his death.Charles Vallow's family say there never were any threats— not even close, but Cox and Shiflet say Lori was so scared, she fled to Idaho to protect herself and her children. But Cox and Shiflet want to set the record straight on something else – or rather someone else: their son and brother Alex Cox, Lori's so-called enforcer — the man who shot and killed Charles Vallow.Jonathan Vigliotti: Is Alex the henchman here?Summer Shiflet: No [laughs].Janis Cox: No, he's not.Summer Shiflet: Alex was the most easygoing, relaxed, hilarious h— type of person. … She is the factor that connects all of these separate cases together.On March 5, 2020 – five months after police say Lori Vallow Daybell's children were last seen – she was extradited from Hawaii to a tiny airport in Rexburg, Idaho, to face child abandonment charges. She … had done herself up, made herself look good, but still nothing about the children.Kay Woodcock is trying to hold onto hope, but her mind keeps going back to something Charles told her Lori said about JJ.Kay Woodcock: She didn't want JJ anymore. Lori returned him three weeks before JJ disappeared, which still baffles the dog's trainer.Neal Mestas: At first, I said, "I don't think I heard you right." … it would take — a very cold and callous person, which I— I think that's who she is.Lori's sister and mother say that's nonsense. … It's pretty tough to come to a different conclusion other than … the kids were no longer around and no longer needed this stuff.Even more damning than what Lori left behind, may be what she took with her to Hawaii: JJ and Tylee's birth certificates, Tylee's bankcard, which had been used since her disappearance, and Tylee's cell phone.April Raymond: I don't know any teenage girl … that would be OK with being separated from her phoneJonathan Vigliotti:  How about Tylee's cell phone? Janis Cox: She told me … in — September … that she had confiscated Tylee's cell phone.Janis and Summer say Lori didn't want Tylee to be tracked through her phone; she was always fearful of those who she said threatened her and the kids.Summer Shiflet: She put her daughter first all the time. Authorities were looking into Lori and Chad for murder in Tammy Daybell's death, and they were taking a harder look at the death of Charles Vallow.INVESTIGATOR [at the crime scene]: He shot the f--- outta him, I'll tell you that.Morgan Loew: Maybe this wasn't self-defense. But … I don't know what the real Lori Vallow is capable of.Lori allegedly asked Chad Daybell to judge her children in terms of dark and light spirits.