Remains of Lori Vallow’s Children Found, Husband Chad Daybell Arrested
“This is the worst news we will ever get in our lives,” relatives said in a statement.
JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan [Associated Press]
Police took Chad Daybell into custody on Tuesday after investigators discovered two sets of human remains on his property in Salem, Idaho, the Rexburg Police Department has confirmed.
Chad Daybell [Rexburg Police Department/Associated Press]
Daybell is the 51-year-old husband of Lori Vallow, whose missing children, Tylee, 17, and JJ, 7, had not been seen since September. He was booked on two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, according to a criminal complaint obtained by East Idaho News.
The Madison County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office alleged in court documents that Daybell did “willfully conceal and/or did aid and abet another to willfully conceal human remains” sometime after his two stepchildren disappeared.
We are filled with unfathomable sadness that these two bright stars were stolen from us, and only hope that they died without pain or suffering.
On Wednesday, relatives confirmed to Phoenix’s KSAZ-TV that the remains belong to Vallow’s missing daughter and son.
“This is the worst news we will ever get in our lives,” reads a statement from the family. “We are filled with unfathomable sadness that these two bright stars were stolen from us, and only hope that they died without pain or suffering.”
The children’s bodies were uncovered after law enforcement officials obtained a warrant and conducted a new search of Daybell’s property, Idaho Fall’s KIFI-TV reported.
Investigators reportedly had removed computer equipment and dozens of other items during a previous search of his home in early January.
Daybell made his first appearance before the court from the Fremont County Jail via Zoom on Wednesday. Judge Faren Eddins set Daybell’s bail at $1 million and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 1.
The arrest comes after Vallow was taken into custody in Hawaii in February and extradited to Idaho for failure to physically present her children to authorities.
According to a criminal complaint, Vallow, 46, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of a dependent child, among other charges. She remains in custody at the Madison County Jail on $1 million bail.
Vallow and her new doomsday author spouse have been connected with a string of suspicious deaths in the past year, including her brother, Alex Cox, and estranged ex-husband, Charles Vallow, as well as Daybell’s wife of 30 years, Tammy Daybell.
Lori Vallow at a court hearing [Associated Press]
Read more: Crimefeed
