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Doorbell camera video shows last known footage of missing 7-year-old in Rexburg

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Posted at 8:48 PM, Feb 22, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-23 00:56:22-05

A doorbell camera video obtained by East Idaho News shows the last known footage of Joshua "JJ" Vallow, a 7-year-old who has been missing for months.

The video from a Ring doorbell belonging to a neighbor of the Vallow family in Rexburg shows JJ playing outside with another child on Sep. 17.

Several days later, he was pulled from school at Kennedy Elementary by his mother, Lori Vallow.

Lori, JJ and Lori's 17-year-old Tylee Ryan had only moved in on Sep. 1 or 2, according to police.

Another neighbor told FOX 13 he often saw JJ outside playing until late September. He was told JJ went to live with his grandparents, which police said isn’t true.

“It's crazy,” Bernard said. “Baffling how we knew these kids, they were playing with my kids, and all of a sudden — poof, they're gone.”

Then in late November, Lori left town and never came back.

Bernard said that one day, a police officer showed up on his doorstep, asking about Lori and her children. He said about a week later, two nights before Thanksgiving, he saw Lori and her brother packing up a truck. He figured they were going somewhere for the holiday, but he never saw them again. Seth said Lori left behind her belongings, including JJ's toys. Police later found a storage unit rented by Lori that had many of the kids' belongings inside.

Related stories: The search for JJ and Tylee