Court documents detail how Lori Vallow's niece may have information on missing children

The mother of two missing kids with Arizona ties remains in jail, but the question everyone keeps asking is: Where are JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan?

FOX 10 obtained new documents with a connection to this case. Court documents allege Vallow's niece, Melani Pawlowski, formerly married to Brandon Boudreaux, may know much more about the disappearance of JJ and Tylee.

The documents stem from a child custody battle between the ex's, where Boudreaux alleges she may know the whereabouts of JJ and Tylee and won't cooperate with law enforcement.

It all started after Boudreaux called 911 moments after a bullet struck the window of his Tesla when he pulled into his Gilbert home on Oct. 2. Investigators say Boudreaux saw a rifle with a silencer come out of the rear window of a 2018 Wrangler Jeep, a Jeep with a Texas license plate registered to Charles Vallow, Lori's former husband.

Charles was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox last July in Chandler. 

Court documents say that say "Brandon believed Melani, his wife at the time, had a million dollars of reasons to have him killed ... hoping to cash in on the policy to help support the cult that she is believed to be a part of."

Boudreaux also states, "Melani's knowledge of the whereabouts of her aunt's two missing children and her unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement is daunting and her current husband has told law enforcement that Melani says sometimes children are full of light and then just like that they go dark."

"Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies," Boudreaux alleges in the paperwork. Adding, "Melani left Arizona almost immediately after the attempt on his life, leaving without a trace and leaving her children behind. Melani now only comes forward as she feels that the suspicious death of her uncle, Alex, who was the shooter in the incident involving children, has somehow freed her from her role in the attempt on Brandon's life."

Rexburg investigators say Tylee regularly drove the Jeep, but the last time she's been seen is on Sept. 8 at Yellowstone National Part caught on surveillance at the entrance and also in a photo found on her mother's iCloud account.

On Nov. 27, two days after JJ Vallow's grandma reported him missing, detectives served search warrants at the three apartments where Lori, Melani and Alex each lived, all of them at the same complex.

The probable cause documents for Lori Vallow's arrest confirms investigators seized the Jeep. A detective with Rexburg PD said the department had been contacted by Gilbert and Chandler police departments to find the Jeep in Vallow's possession.

Documents say the Jeep was related to a possible attempted murder of Boudreaux.

FOX 10 reached out to Pawlowski for comment. Her attorney sent a statement days after this report saying she does not know the whereabouts of her aunt’s children, and goes on to say her ex-husband lied to wrongfully influence the child custody case.

For more coverage on the search for JJ & Tylee: fox10phoenix.com/vallow