Kay Woodcock is the Louisiana grandmother of Joshua “JJ” Vallow, the seven-year-old boy murdered by his adoptive mother Lori Vallow Daybell in 2019. She is also the sister of Charles Vallow, Lori’s fourth husband, who was shot and killed that same year. If you are asking who Kay Woodcock is, the short answer is that she is the person who first raised the alarm that JJ and his sister Tylee Ryan were missing, and the person who then sat as the lead witness through three separate criminal trials that ended with Lori Vallow Daybell in prison for life and Chad Daybell on death row.
Her Relationship to JJ Vallow
JJ was born on May 25, 2017, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Kay Woodcock’s son Todd. He arrived ten weeks premature, spent six to seven weeks in neonatal intensive care, and was born with drugs in his system.1KPLC TV. Kay Woodcock First Witness Vallow Daybell Murder Trial Removed from his biological parents, he was cared for by Kay and her husband Larry Woodcock for roughly his first two years.2Oxygen. Grandmother of Slain JJ Vallow Testifies in Lori Vallow Trial
In 2013, when JJ was about one year old, Charles and Lori Vallow agreed to adopt him. The arrangement included an understanding that Kay and Larry would remain in JJ’s life as his “Mamaw and Papaw,” and Lori reportedly used a photo album to help JJ identify his grandparents.3Fox 13 Seattle. JJ Vallow’s Grandmother Doesn’t Recognize So-Called Cult Mom Smiling Outside Court The adoption was finalized around 2014.2Oxygen. Grandmother of Slain JJ Vallow Testifies in Lori Vallow Trial JJ was later diagnosed with autism. Kay stayed in regular contact by phone and visits as the Vallows moved around the country.4KUTV. Who Is Charles Vallow
How She Became Suspicious
On July 11, 2019, Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, at Lori’s home in Chandler, Arizona. Kay learned of her brother’s death while sitting in a nail salon in Lake Charles when Charles’s oldest son, Cole, called to relay a text from Lori that read, “dad is dead.” Larry Woodcock confirmed it minutes later: “He’s dead. I Googled him and he’s dead. Alex killed him yesterday.”5Fox 10 Phoenix. Lori Vallow Daybell Murder Conspiracy Trial Day 4
Five months earlier, in February 2019, Charles had changed the beneficiary of his $1 million life insurance policy from Lori to Kay. He told his sister he feared what Lori might do and believed Kay would end up raising JJ. Lori did not discover the change until after Charles’s death. About two weeks after he was killed, she texted Kay a photo of the beneficiary form with the message: “Five kids and no money and his sister gets everything.”6KIVI TV. Charles Vallow Had a $1 Million Life Insurance Policy He Left to JJ’s Grandma
Woodcock’s last FaceTime call with JJ came in August 2019. It lasted less than a minute. Someone else appeared to be holding the device, and JJ seemed to be prompted by a person out of frame. After that, no one answered. “We reached out constantly in every way — email, voicemail, text, phone call, whatever — and never, ever got a response,” she later testified.7Inside Edition. Grandparents of Missing Idaho Children Offer $20K Reward
By October 2019, Kay and Larry had hired a private investigator. Kay then accessed Charles’s email account and found an Amazon order shipped to an apartment complex in Rexburg, Idaho. That was the first solid lead on where Lori had moved. In the same account, she found browser searches for beach wedding dresses, bathing suits, and malachite wedding rings, all dated October 2, 2019, weeks before Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy, died.8Idaho Statesman. Lori Vallow Daybell Trial
At the Woodcocks’ request, Rexburg police conducted a welfare check on November 26, 2019. Officers learned neither JJ nor Tylee had been seen since September, and a missing persons investigation began.9KSL TV. Who Are Larry and Kay Woodcock
The Public Search for JJ and Tylee
Kay and Larry flew from Louisiana to Idaho to work with Rexburg police and the FBI. They launched FindJJandTylee.com, offered a $20,000 reward, and held a news conference in Rexburg on January 7, 2020, pleading for the children’s safe return.10Idaho Statesman. Grandparents Offer $20,000 Reward They refused publicly to assume the worst. Larry told reporters, “We don’t say the ‘D word.'” When a court-ordered deadline for Lori to produce the children passed in January 2020, Kay asked reporters, “How do you not know where your child is? How do you not have them for four months?”11KSAT. Idaho Siblings JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan Still Missing
On June 9, 2020, human remains belonging to both JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property in rural Idaho.12CBS News. Lori Vallow Chad Daybell Case Timeline Tylee had last been seen on September 8, 2019, at Yellowstone National Park. JJ was last seen on September 22, 2019, and investigators believe he was killed the next day.13ABC4. Latest Timeline in Vallow Daybell Alleged Murder Cases
Her Role in the Criminal Trials
Before Woodcock could even watch the trials, she had to fight to be in the room. Idaho law generally bars witnesses from observing other testimony unless they qualify as “victims,” and Lori Vallow Daybell’s defense argued the Woodcocks did not meet the statutory definition of immediate family.14NewsNation. Kay Woodcock Larry Woodcock Trial Judge Ruling Represented by attorney Shanon Gray, the Woodcocks argued they had victim attendance rights under the Idaho Constitution.15East Idaho News. Judge Issues Ruling on Whether Woodcocks, Other Family Members Can Attend Trial Judge Steven Boyce agreed Kay did not technically meet the statutory definition but, because JJ’s adoptive father Charles was dead, designated her JJ’s “immediate family representative,” letting her sit through the entire trial. Larry received no such exception and could only observe after finishing his own testimony.
Lori Vallow Daybell’s Idaho Trial
Kay Woodcock was the first witness called by the prosecution at Lori’s Idaho murder trial in April 2023, testifying about her bond with JJ, how she learned of Charles’s death, and when she grew alarmed.1KPLC TV. Kay Woodcock First Witness Vallow Daybell Murder Trial On May 12, 2023, the jury convicted Lori on all counts, including the first-degree murders of JJ and Tylee and conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell. On July 31, 2023, Judge Boyce handed down multiple consecutive life sentences without parole.16NPR. Vallow Lori Daybell Sentence Murder Doomsday
In her victim impact statement, Woodcock told the court that a “campaign of terror” had devastated her family. She rejected the suggestion that mental illness drove Lori’s actions, calling them the product of “greed and needs to be the center of attention,” and described the last known photo of JJ and Tylee, hugging and grinning, as a “haunting reminder” taken by the defendant hours before the murders.17ABC4. Vallow Daybell and Victims Make Impact Statements Before Life Sentences
Chad Daybell’s Trial
Kay was again the first witness at Chad Daybell’s separate 2024 trial, covering her relationship with JJ and the insurance beneficiary change Lori discovered after Charles’s death.18Local News 8. Day 15 Has Chad Daybell’s Mother Testifying Along With Kay Woodcock On May 30, 2024, a jury convicted Daybell of three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of JJ, Tylee, and Tammy Daybell, along with conspiracy and insurance fraud. He was sentenced to death the next day.12CBS News. Lori Vallow Chad Daybell Case Timeline In her impact statement, Woodcock told the court: “There’s a hole in my heart, in the hearts of every member of my family, that can never be filled.”19ABC News. Chad Daybell Victim Impact Statements Death Penalty Case
The Arizona Conspiracy Trial
Lori Vallow Daybell faced a separate trial in Arizona for conspiring to murder Charles Vallow and to murder Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Lori’s niece, who survived a shooting attempt by Alex Cox on October 2, 2019.20CBS News. Lori Vallow Daybell Doomsday Mom Arizona Brandon Boudreaux She was convicted on both conspiracy counts on April 22, 2025.12CBS News. Lori Vallow Chad Daybell Case Timeline
Lori represented herself and personally cross-examined Woodcock. She asked whether Kay had personally witnessed her conspiring with Alex Cox to kill Charles. “No, but I saw a ton of evidence that did,” Woodcock answered.21KIVI TV. Lori Vallow Daybell Cross-Examines the Sister of Her Dead Husband
On July 25, 2025, Judge Justin Beresky sentenced Lori to life in prison for the Arizona convictions and told her, “You should never be released from prison.”22PBS NewsHour. Lori Vallow Daybell Receives Life Sentences in Arizona Over Murder Conspiracy Convictions At the hearing, Kay Woodcock read a letter written from JJ’s perspective: “I can’t be here to read this letter, because I am dead. I was murdered by the defendant Lori Daybell, or as I used to call her, mom… I should be 13 years old now, but I’m forever seven.” When she finished, she screamed at Daybell, “I trusted you!” before breaking down.23ABC News. Lori Daybell Sentencing Murder Conspiracy Arizona
Restitution Ordered in 2025
In October 2025, Judge Beresky ordered Lori Vallow Daybell to pay $11,747.99 in restitution to Kay Woodcock for travel, lodging, counseling, and related expenses she incurred because of the case. The judge ruled that restitution takes priority over any other fines or fees and must be paid from Daybell’s prison account at the maximum allowable rate.24Idaho News. Lori Vallow Daybell Ordered to Pay Nearly $12,000 Restitution in Murder Case Across three trials between 2023 and 2025, Woodcock went from a grandmother in Lake Charles making unanswered phone calls to the person who stood up in court, trial after trial, to speak for a seven-year-old boy who could not speak for himself.