We have Annie Cushing's account of Lori's behavior in May 2018, when she went to stay to support Tylee after Joe's death.
from timeline:-
May 2018 – Lori asks JR’s sister Annie (Tylee’s aunt) to visit AZ to support Tylee. “I decided to put my personal feelings aside about not being told about Joe’s death and I flew out there, hoping to connect with Tylee,” Annie said. When Annie arrived in AZ, Lori discouraged Tylee from mourning her father’s death. “When I got there, it was as if, nothing had happened,” Annie said. “People were hardly talking about Joe and when Lori did, the tenor was — she would actually say, ‘the world is a better place without Joe Ryan.’” Annie also noticed, “There was also a lot of tension between Tylee and Lori” (KSLTV).
24 May 2018 –After visiting Lori and Tylee, JR’s sister Annie texts her daughter: “It was absolutely exhausting. I dealt with so many lies, even with little things. I think [Lori’s] unhinged and untethered from truth” and “Lolo was crazy. I saw a dark side of her when I was there that makes me question some of her claims” and “I regret going down there. She may be a sociopath.” And “Way More. That’s what makes me feel Lori was a sociopath. To her, this was all a game. She had no empathy for the suffering anyone else was experiencing, including Tylee” (KSLTV).
After May 2018 – Tylee’s aunt Annie was so shaken that she decided to cut ties with Lori. “I just left exhausted from the constant campaigning [against Joseph Ryan] and Lolo’s out-of-control ego. But I feel trapped. I connected with Tylee but don’t want anything to do with Lolo ever again.” Annie said in a text message to her daughter. That visit was the last time Annie ever saw Tylee (KSLTV).
Then there was another source, perhaps the latest Dateline?, where we heard that Colby moved back to AZ from Hawaii, I think when he was about 19, which would have been around 2015. I mention this because it could be an indication (and I think I detected something left unsaid when I watched it) that there was a tension which may have contributed to his move. Certainly he indicated something about Lori not wanting anything to do with him when he met his girlfriend and I think Keith said something along the lines of Lori behaving more like a girlfriend than a mother and Colby agreed. Whatever it was that happened at that time, I think it shows that Lori was unsettled.
They moved to Hawaii around the end of 2014 and then back to AZ in early 2017. Again I think that shows Lori was not content with her life.
In Jan 2019 Charles said this -
CV: She’s not here, she’s lost her reality.
O: Is this just all recent or has it been going on?
CV: It’s been going on for about 4 or 5 years, it’s gotten really, really bad lately.
Which goes back to 2014/5.
Then there's this in the timeline -
Lori’s friend says in a Dec 2019 interview that Lori first became “obsessed” with Chad’s books about 4 years ago. [my note - 2015]
JJ’s grandmother, KW says in a 30 Jan 2020 presser that she believes Lori & Chad may have met in 2016 or 2017.
I say the indications are that Lori started looking outside her marriage around 2014/15. Not necessarily for an affair but for something new - she lacked drama and conflict after 8/9 years of marriage. Those hadn't been quiet years of marriage either, there were court hearings and custody battles and the odd psych. evaluation, as well as JJ's formal adoption in 2014 as a two year old. Big moves, mainland to island, then back to mainland, especially knowing how much Lori loves Hawaii, likely signal a problem she was trying to fix.
I'd go with Charles' observations. He doesn't describe her as hitting rock-bottom, but in approx 2015 he noticed a concerning change that he was able to pinpoint 4 years later, and that sounds to me like a crisis point. April confirms that is when Lori developed an obsession, and Colby leaving could be to get away from family problems, even though he had a new baby brother. He said wtte that he thought it strange that they would adopt JJ at this time in their lives. The circumstances were different in that the opportunity for adoption presented itself, but with Lori indulging a new obsession so soon after adopting JJ, and moving to AZ when JJ was 4 1/2, it does make me think that her heart wasn't in the place that people around her thought it was. I think Colby said early on (his interview with Justin Lum) that Tylee was more or less competing with Charles to parent JJ (my words not his). He didn't say competing with Lori. I think she just has always been able to fool people, even those closest to her, and people including family are dispensible to her. Colby being a case in point. Ian wrote that she abandoned Melani. People who knew her don't recognize her now, Colby, April, Kay and Larry, Annie...and I think it's because she dropped the pretense. It stopped serving her because she wanted to leave them all behind and start afresh, and she did what she is good at, instead of taking responsibility she had to create fault in others. Charles was a cheat or possessed, Kay was threatening her, JJ was her niece's drug-baby, JR was an abuser.
I thought it was very interesting that Summer said -
"She’s made a lot of mistakes and she’s paid high prices for those mistakes. She is a very humble person. She doesn’t blame other people, she takes responsibility for herself."
It doesn't tally with the Lori we've seen on bodycam footage and in police reports, and running away. It's a whitewash. Which is very silly with the evidence now out there.
moo