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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Police Find Human Remains at Property of Idaho Man Linked to Missing Kids

Chad Daybell, the husband of Lori Vallow whose children have been missing since last fall, was taken into police custody Tuesday morning after police found human remains at his Idaho home.

(CN) — Chad Daybell, the husband of Lori Vallow whose children have been missing since last fall, was taken into police custody and charged with two counts of felony destruction and concealment of evidence after police found human remains at his Idaho home Tuesday.

Rexburg, Idaho police held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to announce that they discovered what is believed to be unidentified human remains on the property, while serving a warrant on Daybell’s Fremont County property.

On Wednesday, Daybell was brought before Judge Farren Eddins where he was charged with two counts of felony destruction and concealment of evidence. His bail is currently set at $1 million.

Rexburg Police Assistant Chief Gary Hagen said early Tuesday that Daybell was taken into police custody for questioning.

Law enforcement officials did not take questions during the conference and did not reveal any further details on the unidentified remains. Chad Daybell has not been officially charged with a crime at this time.

Wednesday's development comes after Daybell and his wife Lori Vallow has been at the center of an investigation into the disappearances of Vallow’s children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. Neither of the children have been seen since last September.

Vallow is currently being held at an Idaho jail and has been charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She is also facing misdemeanor charges for resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.

These charges came after Vallow and Daybell left their home in Rexburg last November after JJ's grandparents began to raise concerns over the wellbeing of the of the children. A resulting welfare check left police unable to locate JJ. Vallow reportedly told authorities that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona, but law enforcement said that was not true.

When officers returned to Vallow’s home the next day, they discovered that Vallow and Daybell had fled.

Vallow and Daybell were later found in Hawaii, where Vallow was charged and brought back to Idaho.

While this string of developments has attracted intense focus, the case has been enflamed even further after Vallow and Daybell have been reportedly linked to four mysterious deaths.

The first is the death of Vallow’s third husband Joseph Ryan. While Ryan appeared to have died from a heart attack in 2018, law enforcement reportedly began to look deeper into the matter when the investigation into the missing children intensified.

In 2019, Vallow’s fourth husband Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Alex Cox, Vallow’s brother. The police initially determined that the shooting was in self-defense, but the case was later reopened.

In December, Alex Cox was found dead in Arizona and his death was placed under investigation as well.

Chad Daybell’s former wife Tammy Daybell was found dead at the couple’s Idaho home in October, a death that was at first listed as natural after Chad reportedly declined an autopsy.

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were married just two weeks after Tammy’s death in Hawaii – after the children had been reported missing. Police have launched an investigation into Tammy’s death and both Daybell and Vallow have been named as suspects.

The story develops further, as family members have reportedly claimed that Daybell and Vallow are members of a doomsday cult.

According to reports, before the disappearance of the children, Vallow asked Daybell, a doomsday author, to determine the “light or dark spirits” of JJ and Tylee.

In October of 2018, when both Daybell and Vallow were still married to other people, Daybell reportedly sent Vallow an email that contained a rubric that could be used to determine the light or dark spirit value of the children.

Daybell reportedly believed in a number system that suggested an individual was either a light spirit or a dark spirit, and that while those with two or three denominations were “fluid” and could “change sides during earth life” those with a 4.1 rating or above “rarely switched sides.”

Daybell reportedly told Vallow in the email that Tylee was a 4.1 dark spirit and JJ was 4.2 light spirit.

Daybell's email was reportedly sent to Vallow less than 11 months before the children disappeared.

Police have maintained that both Vallow and Daybell know where the children are and what may have happened to them.

A preliminary hearing for Vallow is currently set for July, where prosecutors will make the case that the charges against Vallow are supported by enough evidence to be allowed to proceed.

Spokespeople for Chad Daybell did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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