Colby Ryan, the estranged son of convicted killer Lori Vallow, received an unexpected communication from his mother while speaking onstage at CrimeCon 2025, attendees said. The exchange took place weeks after Vallow was handed two additional life sentences related to a string of murders and conspiracy charges.
Ryan appeared at the true-crime conference to share the personal toll of the high-profile case that led to the deaths of his younger siblings, Tylee Ryan and Joshua “JJ” Vallow. While he was onstage discussing the family’s losses and the lasting impact of the crimes, attendees reported that Vallow — who is jailed — appeared to mouth a message in his direction. Several people at the event described the moment as "creepy."
Vallow, 52, is serving multiple life sentences stemming from a series of investigations into a network of missing persons, mysterious deaths and murders that authorities say were tied to apocalyptic beliefs. She was first convicted in 2023 of the murders of her children, Tylee, 16, and JJ, 7, and of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell. This April, she was convicted of conspiring to murder her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Two months later, she was convicted in a separate plot to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Vallow’s niece.
Prosecutors have said the crimes were connected to Vallow’s relationship with her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, a self-published author whose doomsday writings figured prominently in the prosecution’s narrative. Vallow’s late brother, Alex Cox, has also been tied to the wider set of investigations and allegations that have drawn national attention.
CrimeCon, which bills itself as a gathering for true-crime fans, panels and storytelling, has increasingly become a forum for survivors and family members to tell their stories. Ryan’s appearance was one of several scheduled conversations that aim to contextualize the human toll behind nationally followed criminal cases. He is the only surviving child from Vallow’s household and has spoken publicly about estrangement from his mother and the long-term effects of the family’s losses.
Organizers did not issue an immediate statement about the reported exchange. Vallow is in custody and has repeatedly been the subject of courtroom proceedings and sentencing hearings since the initial convictions. The case has spurred widespread media coverage and public interest because of its intersections of faith, alleged cult practices and violent crime.
Legal filings and sentencing records show that the prosecution presented evidence of a pattern of behavior and beliefs that prosecutors said motivated the crimes. Defense attorneys have argued in various filings and at trial about Vallow’s state of mind and the circumstances surrounding each death and allegation, while juries returned guilty verdicts on multiple counts across separate trials.
Family members of victims and defense teams have continued to pursue appeals and post-conviction motions in the months since the most recent sentences were imposed. The broader saga has prompted questions about how fringe beliefs and close interpersonal networks can lead to harm, and it remains a focal point for both criminal-justice observers and true-crime audiences.
At CrimeCon, Ryan’s onstage account of losing his siblings and grappling with life after the murders underscored the ongoing personal fallout from the case. The reported exchange with his mother introduced an unexpected moment of public drama during a session intended to provide insight into survivor experience rather than courtroom spectacle.
The Vallow-Daybell prosecutions remain among the most closely watched domestic criminal matters of the past several years. Authorities and court records trace a timeline that moved from missing-person reports and unexplained deaths to separate criminal investigations and multiple indictments. The succession of convictions and additional sentences in recent months has extended the legal resolution of the matters but has not ended public scrutiny or the appeals process that often follows in high-profile cases.