Lori Vallow's cousin Megan reveals she had little hope that children would be found alive during 9-month search
BOISE, IDAHO: Lori Vallow's cousin, Megan Eyden, has revealed how the murders of the "cult mom" tore her entire family apart. The 49-year-old is at the end of the third week of her murder trial in Boise, Idaho, after being charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft in the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, son Joshua "JJ" Vallow and her new husband Chad Daybell's first wife Tammy.
Eyden claims that tensions within the family were sparked a few months before the children disappeared when the doomsday cult mom's fourth husband, Charles, was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona in July 2019, reports NewsNation. She shared her fear that the children might still be alive if the family had held Vallow and Cox accountable at that time.
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During the latest testimony in the bombshell case, the court heard how Daybell allegedly had a dream about his wife Tammy dying “before she turned 50.” “He said her time was coming up and him and Lori were going to do things they committed to do for God,” Vallow’s friend David Warwick testified, reports The Independent.
Megan Eyden distanced herself from media coverage
Eyden said for the past three years, she has tried to distance herself from media coverage surrounding the case as it was hard to hear all of the horrifying allegations. “A lot of it has been speculation, of course,” she said. “And so it’s pretty difficult to, you know, to hear everybody trying to talk about what they think happened and not really know. So until the trial started, I really stayed for the most part out of it. And I think most of my immediate family has done the same as well,” she added.
Police believed Alex Cox acted in self-defense
Police initially assumed Cox acted in self-defense following a custody dispute over JJ, Charles and Vallow's adopted son. However, authorities have since ruled that Charles' death was a homicide plot. Vallow has been charged with his death independently of the Idaho trial, while Cox died in December 2019.
According to Eyden, some members of the family suspected something was wrong from the start. “All I can tell you is that for sure there was a rip in the family when Charles was killed,” she said. “There was part of the family that believed that Alex acted in self-defense and there was a part of the family that believes that he did not. And that definitely was a separation in our family. And I think that sort of continues … somewhat today.”
Eyden said Vallow’s other brother Adam Cox fought hard to find the truth about what happened to Charles. “The family really ripped [Adam] apart for that because they wanted to protect Alex and Lori from consequences,” she said. “And I think that’s the crux of where all of this comes down to - nobody wanted to hold Lori and Alex accountable,” she added.
Megan Eyden was 'not optimistic' about children being alive
“For my own mental health, I really had to just come to terms with the fact that I was not optimistic about the children being found alive,” Eyden said. She also shared her belief that her father, Barry Cox, was the most powerful influence in Vallow’s life. “By all accounts, and from my own experience, I can tell you that, you know, Lori’s dad has been a big factor in her personality and in the way that she has turned out,” she said. “Anybody who has dug into his history a little bit will tell you that he definitely believed he was above the law,” she added.
Eyden said that Barry Cox ended up serving prison time for tax evasion after trying to sue the IRS. “I think the most pervasive thing that ran throughout the family system was this concept that Barry talked about called the lower 95, where he believes that 95 per cent of the population are stupid, sheep, unattractive people,” she said. “And he and his family are in the upper 5 per cent who are smarter than everybody more intelligent, more exceptional, more beautiful. And certainly that plays into a lot of Lori’s personality,” added Eyden.