Who is Colby Ryan and where is he now? | The Sun

COLBY Ryan is famously known as the son of Idaho's Lori Vallow, who is accused of murdering two of her children.

Ryan was arrested in early September 2022 over unrelated charges of sexual assault, just over a week before a Netflix mini-docuseries about his sibling's murders was set to be released.

Who is Colby Ryan and where is he now?

Colby Ryan is Lori Vallow's eldest son and brother to his two younger siblings who were murdered in 2020.

At the time, he told police he didn't believe his mother had harmed his 16-year-old sister, Tylee, and 7-year-old brother, JJ.

In June 2020, he wrote a touching tribute about his siblings, who were found dead at Lori's husband Chad Daybell’s home in Idaho.

“I don’t even know how to start this,” Colby wrote, according to the New York Post. “But to my beautiful, Amazing, sweet angels. The only peace I have is knowing you are in paradise. I’m broken over this.

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“I have more love for both of you than you could ever know. I miss you both. I love you both. This seems like a nightmare. It seems unreal," he continued.

Ryan spoke out about his sibling's murders and his mother's potential involvement in the Netflix docuseries, Sins of Our Mother which was released on September 14, 2022.

"My mom was just playing every card on everybody," Ryan says in the trailer for the three-episode series which will be released on Netflix

In a FOX10 interview in 2020, Ryan said he didn't believe Vallow had killed Tylee and JJ, telling them: “I feel like my mom would die for the kids."

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But his relationship with his mom allegedly changed when she abruptly moved from Arizona to Hawaii, taking Tylee with her and leaving JJ behind with her husband Charles.

She returned a month later and separated from her husband but soon after, she reportedly called Ryan to tell him that Charles had a heart attack, Fox10 Phoenix reported.

The reality was much different, and it was later that Ryan found out his uncle, Alex Cox, had shot Charles in what he claimed was self-defense.

Cox was never charged with Charles' death but later died of an apparent blood clot in his lung.

After Charles' death, Vallow reportedly ran off once again to Hawaii where she married Daybell whose wife died unexpectedly only weeks earlier, Fox10 Phoenix wrote.

Ryan said he didn't know Daybell existed and his opinion of Vallow changed when he found out.

He told Bustle: "I’m done. I’ve been done the day that I saw them without the kids walking around Hawaii. That was it.”

Ryan is now speaking out about the events that unfolded, leading up to the discovery of Tylee and JJ's bodies in The Sins of Our Mother.

However, he made the news once again in early September when he was arrested and charged with sexual assault in Mesa, Arizona.

The victim told police they had engaged in consensual kissing, but when she told Ryan to stop, he refused.

Police reported that the victim told Ryan to  “stop” and said, "This isn't a good idea" and “I don’t want to do this."

The woman told authorities that she retreated to the bedroom while Ryan slept on the couch and she recorded him the following morning in which he reportedly admitted to "rape."

Police confirmed that upon his arrest, Ryan admitted to raping the woman and was charged with two counts of sexual assault.

His bail was set at $10k, but he was released from jail on September 8 after the charges were dropped without prejudice.

Spokesperson Jennifer Liewer told NBC News that this “allows the office to file charges in the future and allows time for additional review of the case."

Who is Colby's mother?

Lori Vallow, 49, is famously known as the mother of Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, two Idaho children who mysteriously disappeared in September 2019.

Vallow was arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 after failing to produce proof of life for her missing kids to the Madison County Prosecutor's Office in January.

At the time, police said Vallow and Daybell, had lied about the kids' whereabouts and even their existence.

Daybell was later arrested after the children's remains were found on his property.

The couple was charged with the murders of Tylee and JJ, and Vallow was charged with the murder of her former husband. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following Vallow's arrest, she was committed to a mental treatment facility and ruled not competent to stand trial.

Daybell is also charged with the murders of JJ and Tylee as well as the murder of his former wife Tammy Daybell, 49, who died under "suspicious circumstances" in 2019, crimes he has pleaded not guilty to.

Their trial is scheduled to begin in January 2023 and if convicted, Vallow and Daybell face the death penalty.

Was Colby Ryan sexually abused?

In May 2020, Colby came forward and claimed he was sexually abused as a child by Lori's third husband.

He also said his stepfather, Joseph Ryan, was physically abusive and would often hit him without reason.

"He went out of his way to make a point when he would spank me and weird things like little hits on the head, and thought it was funny," Colby told Dateline at the time.

"So there was just a lot of things like that," he continued, adding that, "he was sexually abusive as well."

When host Keith Morrison then asked if Joseph sexually abused Colby, he responded with a nod and said: "Yeah."

Court documents obtained by The Sun revealed that Colby was never actually adopted by Joseph but did take his last name.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

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