Mandy Leger: JJ Vallow’s biological mom died from ‘anguish and stress’ after losing son
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA: Mandy Leger, the biological mom of JJ Vallow, who was found dead in a shallow grave near the burned remains of his sister Tylee Ryan in June 2020, reportedly died just months before the beginning of the murder trial of the boy’s accused killer and adoptive mother Lori Vallow. A source recently told The Sun that JJ’s death left Leger “completely devastated” before another source added that Leger’s demise was connected to the “anguish and stress” of losing JJ.
Leger reportedly died from natural causes at the age of 46 at the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Louisiana in June 2022. As per a coroner’s report obtained by the publication, the official cause of Leger’s death was hypertensive cardiovascular disease, a type of heart condition usually caused by high blood pressure. Prior to her death, Leger reportedly spent years trying to get her son back after losing custody.
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How did Mandy Leger lose JJ Vallow’s custody?
Leger gave birth to JJ, born Canaan Trahan, on May 25, 2012. Several photos on her Facebook account showed the woman smiling while doting on her newborn child. However, both Leger and JJ’s biological father, Todd Trahan, suffered from substance abuse issues, resulting in their son being born addicted to drugs. As a baby, JJ was temporarily fostered by his biological father’s parents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, before he was adopted by his uncle Charles Vallow and his wife Lori Vallow in 2013. The Vallows eventually took full custody of the child and raised him in Arizona.
Sources close to the family told The Sun that Leger’s father and stepmother also requested to foster JJ to keep him in Louisiana, but their request was denied by the local Child Protective Services (CPS) officials. Trahan's father also wanted to foster the child but was unsuccessful in his attempt. Leger was initially given visitation rights for the first six months of JJ's life but was ordered to go to rehab before having access to her son after her relapse. Unfortunately, JJ’s adoption was finalized before Leger could complete her program.
‘She had so much guilt’
Leger’s friends told the publication that losing JJ’s custody took a major toll on the mother. She was reportedly seeking ways to get her son back when he was reported missing in November, after last being seen alive at Rexburg's Kennedy Elementary School on September 22, 2019. “She was doing everything she could to have a relationship with that baby,” a source said. “She was fully convicted that if she worked on herself, then one day she would be able to have a relationship with him, but she never got that chance,” they shared.
“She had so much guilt... but her belief system was that one day she'd be able to be with her son again, and I think she took comfort in that,” the insider added. JJ Vallow’s decomposing body was bound in plastic and tape and discovered near a pet cemetery on Lori Vallow’s fifth husband, Chad Daybell’s property. His adoptive teen sister Tylee Ryan’s remains was also found burned and dismembered. Lori Vallow, who is dubbed as “Doomsday cult mom,” for her beliefs is currently on trial over charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft in connection to JJ and Tylee’s death. Daybell is also facing charges over the gruesome murders.