Leah Sottile’s investigations, long-form features, profiles, and essays have been published by The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atavist, Outside, and The Atlantic, among others. She is the host of the podcasts Two Minutes Past Nine on BBC Radio 4, and Bundyville – which was nominated twice for a National Magazine Award. When police in Rexburg, Idaho, attempted to perform a wellness check on 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and his sister, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, both children were nowhere to be found. Their mother, Lori Vallow, gave a phony explanation as to their whereabouts, and when officers returned the following day with a search warrant, she, too, was gone. As the police closed in, a more extensive web of mystery, murder, fanaticism, and deceit began to unravel. Vallow’s case is complex. As investigators prodded further, they found that the accused so-called “Black Widow” had an unusual number of bodies piled up around her. When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times (Twelve) tells a gripping story of extreme beliefs, true psychopaths, and snake oil prophets. It also explores the question: If it feels like the world is ending, how are people supposed to act?
