High Country News

Extremism in plain sight

HALF-SIBLINGS Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, of Rexburg, Idaho, had been missing for months when their mother and her new husband went to Hawai ‘i for a vacation in late 2019. Police eventually found the children’s bodies on the husband’s property. Now, both Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow are in jail on multiple first-degree murder charges. The couple believe in a fringe Mormon ideology that claims that the world is ending, and, according to court documents, they thought JJ and Tylee were zombies.

When the Moon Turns to Blood, a new book written by Oregon-based freelance journalist and longtime  contributor Leah Sottile, explores how the couple’s extremist ideologies developed and led to violence. Sottile’s work has appeared in , and elsewhere, and she has also hosted podcasts, including , on the legacy of the Oklahoma City bombing, and .

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