Julie Rowe published several books with Chad Daybell's publishing company and said she was close with the Daybell family, including his late wife, Tammy, and five children.
The husband of the mother of two missing Idaho kids called the situation he and his wife are facing "a legal mess" and told his apparent supporters on an end-times preparedness website that "rest assured, I will be back," according to a screenshot from the forum obtained by InsideEdition.com.
The message from Chad Daybell, whose wife Lori, has refused to help authorities find her two missing children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, was posted on the LDS AVOW website.
Latter-day Saints AVOW, which stands for Another Voice of Warning, says its mission is "to help the saints begin to prepare" for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and describes itself as "a whole community dedicated to preparedness and spiritual insights" with 13,000 members. Access to the forum is restricted to members, who pay a fee to enter.
The message was posted Feb. 10 on behalf of Chad by a user identified as the site's owner and webmaster, according to a screenshot of the post shared by Julie Rowe, an author whose books Chad published. Rowe said she once considered Chad a friend, but that she and Chad had a falling out in 2019. Chad's alleged post references Rowe and her religious beliefs, which include the existence of past lives.
"Thanks for the update. The issue is that people are linking me to Julie's beliefs, which I studied but rejected. Lori and I have been absolutely silent for three months. I am constrained by my lawyers from saying more until the legal mess is complete, but be assured I will be back," the alleged message from Chad read. "Hopefully the subscribers will be there when I can fully return to GRI [an AVOW forum] and tell my experiences. I appreciate your support."
Sean Bartholick, Chad and Lori's attorney, did not immediately respond to InsideEdition.com's request for comment.
A multi-state search for Lori's children, 7-year-old JJ and 17-year-old Tylee, has entered its fifth month. The siblings were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, on Sept. 23. Lori failed to comply with a Jan. 30 court-ordered deadline to physically show the children to authorities in Rexburg.
In the meantime, Lori and Chad have been living in Hawaii, but police did not find the children with them. The FBI has joined the search for JJ and Tylee, and believes the siblings are in serious danger.
There are three suspicious deaths surrounding the children's disappearance, including the death of Chad's previous wife, Tammy, on Oct. 19; the death of Lori's brother, Alex Cox, on Dec. 12; and the shooting of Lori's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, on July 11. All three deaths are under investigation.
Chad and Lori's religious beliefs, including their ideas about preparing for the end of the world, have also come under scrutiny. Both Chad and Lori are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chad and Lori married just weeks after Chad's wife's death.
A former friend and colleague speaks out
The message from Chad posted to AVOW had an introduction written by the site's owner and webmaster, which referenced the controversy surrounding the couple.
"Over the past week I have been forwarding many of the accusations that have been leveled against Chad Daybell to him and asking for a 'Public' comment. He replied back to me this morning with a short text message. This is an EDITED copy of what he sent me. I have removed content that ought not to be shared in public until his legal issues are resolved. Like it or not, Anything he says in public can and will be used against him," the site's owner wrote.
Rowe said she shared the AVOW post with InsideEdition.com in an effort to distance herself from Chad and Lori's beliefs, from which she said her religious views are entirely separate. Rowe said she was excommunicated from the LDS church in April 2019 and her beliefs are her own.
"Chad and Lori Daybell have caused a huge ripple on this planet and in the universe, and it's not a good ripple," Rowe told InsideEdition.com. "So in counter to that, I'm going to cause some ripples and tell the truth about what I know, and I'm going to expose whatever I can."
Rowe, who lives in Kansas, said she met Chad on an AVOW forum in February 2014 after she decided to write about the dreams and visions she had after a major near-death experience.
Chad has published multiple books about his own near-death experiences, and became Rowe's publisher. They published Rowe's first book together in May 2014, Rowe said, and she first met Chad and his wife at the time, Tammy, in person that July.
"We worked closely the first couple of years, talked on the phone almost every day, every other day, every couple of days, related to the books and the work we were doing," Rowe said of Chad. "We would compare notes on our visions and things that we saw coming in the future. I became good friends with he and his wife and his kids."
Rowe said the two became busy with their own projects and gradually were in contact less. Rowe said she last saw Chad in person in December 2018.
In 2019, Rowe said she and Chad had a falling out over publishing issues and his connection with Lori, whom Rowe said angels had warned her about.
"I just got a huge warning from the spirit that just said, 'Stay away,'" Rowe said of Lori.
"I tried three times to warn him, and not only did he blow me off, but he cut me off," she added of Chad.
The last time Rowe said she spoke to Chad was over the phone three weeks before the death of his wife, Tammy, in the fall of 2019. It's not clear when Chad and Lori met, but the couple married a few weeks after Tammy's death.
Nearly five months later, the search for Lori's missing children continues. The Rexburg Police Department asks anyone with information regarding JJ and Tylee's whereabouts or welfare to contact the department at 1-208-359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST.
JJ has brown hair and brown eyes, is 4 feet tall and weighs 50 pounds. He has autism and "may be in need of medical attention," according to authorities. Tylee has blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds.
Update: Lori Vallow was arrested by the Kaua'i Police Department Thursday and charged with two counts of felony desertion of a child, misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime, and contempt, according to the prosecuting attorney for Madison County in Idaho.
Vallow is being held on $5 million bond at the Kaua'i Police Department Detention Facility pending extradition to Idaho. Vallow will have a hearing during which she can waive or fight her extradition to Idaho, according to the Kaua'i Police Department.
The maximum sentence on each count of desertion of a child is 14 years in prison.
Chad has not been arrested or charged with a crime and both he and Lori have denied any wrongdoing. For more on this story, click here.
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