Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
Tyler Ashley and joshua jaxon ( J.J) vallow were two american children from chandler , Arizona,who dispappeared in september 2019.and whose remains were found on june 9,2020 buried in shallow graves in Rexburg , idaho , in their stepfather chad daybell´s backyard .
Tylee was last seen alive at Yellowstone National park. The park located mostley in wyoming ,is the last place 17- year old Tylee ryan was seen , according to authoities.
The family had traveled to the park in a silver 2017 Gord F -150 pickup with an Arizona license plate CPQUINT , according to the FBI .J.J was last seen alive on september 22 ,2019.at Rexburge kennedy Elementary schol-it´s has been 4 months since JJ and tylee were last seen .
Authorities believe that the children´s mother , lori and her fifth husband ,chad daybell , ” abruptly vacated their residence and left to Rexburg” after police returned to their home to ask questions about the missing children follwong the nov. 26 welfare check.
Since then ” lori ,the adobted mother of joshusa ( J.J ) and the biological mother of tylee , has completely refused to assist this investigation “
Rexburg police chief shane Turman wrote a statement Dec .30 , adding that ” we also have information indicating that lori knows either the location of the children or what happened to them”
J.J .attended kennedy Elementery on sept .23 .2019 .
One of the major questions surronding the disappearance of J.J. is why they the local school system didn´t repiort them missing last september.
Now there is an explanation . The principal of kennedy Elemantery school in rexburg ,where joshua ” J.J” says his mother , lori unerolled him the dasy after he was last seen on sept 23.
Principal josh wilson told EastldahoNews.com friday he recalls daybell coming to the chool on sept.24. and telling administrators that she planned to home school josuha. lori had enrolled JJ at the school only three weeks prior on sept .3.
” It´s a common process ,there was nothing at the time that would cause us ay alam.” wilson said in Idaho if a parent decides to homeschiool their child or move they visit the school and fill out the paperwork to disenroll them . once the child is disenrolled the chool is no longer responsible for the situation.
” He wasn´t absent for months ,” wilson says . “once they´re disenrolled we don´t track attendance .”
JJ was not reported as missing until December , when the Rexburg Police Departement issued a bulletin asking for any information abut the whereabouts of the children. Police had been trying to perform a welfare check . but lori and her new husband chad daybell were refusing to tell police where the children were , and had actively lied to authorities about the children´s location , Rexburg Police chief shane Turman told EastldahoNews.com
chad and lori daybell./ The wedding photo were taken a month after her children J.J and tylee were last seen .
daybell and lori were married two weeks after daybell´s wife, tammy ,was found dead in october tammy daybell´s remains were buried on sprinville , Utha, and were exhumed after further investigatiion determined her death may have been suspecious, according to reports from CBS2 Bois.It was during the course of their investigation into tammy daybell´s death that authorities learned J.J.and tylee Were missing.
Tammy and Chad Daybell.
” just was horrified , shaking when i first saw it ,because this is the last guy that ever thought would be involved in something like this “said benjamin hyde.
A Uthan who was comapnions with chad daybell while the two served missoins for the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
meanwhile…a friend of tylee´s says she texted the teen´s phone in october , a month after she vanisched , and received a massage back saying “hi , miss you guys too . luv ,ya.”
Police seem to be no closer to finding JJ. and tylee .since that time ,the story has gained international attention as it´s taken twists and turns involving a purported dult ,dead spouses ,delusions of divinity and preparing for the end of the world.
Despite all the angles , and the ever -growing number of people realted to the case ,the facts remains essentially the same as when it was first announced. The two children reamins missing and the parents , Lori vallow-daybell and her new husband chad daybell ,refuse to disclose their whereabouts to police . both have been named peresons of interest in the disappearance of the children
. law enforcement is also investigating the death of the daybells previous respective spouses , charles vallow and tammy taybell, thoug neither chad nor lori have been named suspects in those cases.
chad,lori, JJ. and Tyler.
timeline along with a family relationsihip graphic to help readers tkeep this bizarre story straight………….
Chad and tammy daybell married on march, 9. 1990 . in manti ,utah, ,according to her obituary , the couple lived in springville Utha ,where they foudn spring crek book company, through wich chad daybell , an author , published many of his books . the couple had five children before moving to their home in salem , idasho . in 2015. tammy daybell worked as a school libarian.
In 2006 marriage records show lorie married her fourth husband charles vallow, lori came to the marriage with her kids , includiing tylee the daughter of her third husband joseg ryan ,Jr .family members say that in 2014 , charles and lori vallow adopted J.J. vallow he is the biogolical grandson of charles sister kay woodcock , who is married to larry woodstock
Charles and Lori Vallow
socialmedia posts indicate that sometime in 2014 ,the vallows moved to the island of kauai in hawaii . the couple operated a small buisiness on the island , as indicated by buisness records . The f amily then moved back to the mainland between 2016- 2017.
While the vallow family lived in Arizona , Tylees father joseph ryan , dide on april 3,2018
according to a copy of the medical examine´rs report obtained by EastidahoNews .com . the cause of death was ruled as a heart attack . he was cremated ,but little other informations is avaible about his death.
Almost one year before the public announcement of the cases , chad daybell ands lori made their first appearance together on the Preparing a People Podcast Network´s “time to warrior up ” the two appeard with others on several of the podcast ,many of wihch talked about the end of the world. preparing a people has since removde th podcast and publicity dissociated itself from chand and lory daybell.
Two months after the podcast began ,charles vallow filed for divorce from lori in february 2019 . claiming she viewed herself as a god preparing for the second coming of chirst. Accordingss to court documents obtained by Fox phoenix . charles vallows alsod claimed in these documents that his wife would kill him if he got in her way to perform that mission.
charles vallow tells police ihis wife lori vallow wants him dead .( Gilbert Arizona, police body cam.
Charles Vallow, the former husband of Lori Vallow Daybell, called the Gilbert Police Department in January 2019 after he was unable to speak to his two kids for a few days. When police arrived, Vallow told an officer about alarming beliefs his wife was sharing.
” she´s not here , she lost her reality.” charles said .
charles told officers lori considered hereself a translated being an d a god who spoike with an ancient prophet and jesus christ dailty.he said her strange religious views were several the making but became increasingly worse .
Even more concerning to charles was when lori told him a man named nick schneider had taken over his body and she would kill him .
vallo said lori told him ” i can murder you now with my power.”
charles told officer he called them as he feared for his , JJ and Tylee´s safety. he said earlier that dsay , while was on as business trip in houston , lori had called and told him to take the kids. when he arrived home ,charles found his truck was not at the aurport, and lori said she had trhrew out all of his clothes. she also allegedly emptied their joint bank account that day. Charles keys to get into their home had been isnide the truck , and the police body cam footage shows him , as well , kicking in the door of the house.
Tylee and J.J
Document say cox believed his mission on earth was to protect his sister(lori) and document say he shot his brother in law . then waited to call police. befor alex called during this time , one records indicated that alex called lori.
Questions were raised publicly about charles vallow´s death after lori´s children disappeared. were eventually found dad ,drawing national scrutiny to several untimely deaths of people close to her .
Documents explain that lori and those around her including her brother and chad daybell used alternate names for people including calling charles vallow ” Ned Sneider”- a dark spirit he was said to be possessed by – and Hiplos .It says lori and chad believed they had extraordinary abilities ,like teleportation, praying ,away demonic spirits and visionary capabilities .They also believed they were qualified to detect dark and light scales associated with people and scores of trust.
chad daybell , loris fifth husband , also faces charges in connection with the deaths of the two children and the death of his first wifte , tammy who died in October 2019 . lori and chad were married within a month of tammy daybells passing.
charles is shot to death in Lori´s Arizona home on july,11.2019 . By lories´s brother Alex cox, cox claimes self -defense in the shooting ,wich ocurrs while he ,lori , and JJ. sand Tylee , are inside the residence. . cox is noit charged.
The killing of charles vallow occured july 22. 2019 returne months before J.J. and Tylee went missing.- although around 17 years older than his wfie, charles was considered an ideal partner for Lori owing to the way he not only took care og her and her young children but also matched her faith.
the lifelong catholic actually became a member of the LDS church upon tying the knot with her in 2006 ,following wich he even quit drinking to enable a deeper bond between them as a familiy. The couple then happily adopted autistic grandnewphew joshua jaxon “J.J.” vallow as their own in 2013 to expand their brood , yet everything changhed by the time february 2019 rolled around.
JJ´s .service dog
WTHR-13 reports that on july 22 , lori sent an email asking to return J.J ´s service dog to the company that trained it.
Neal Mestas , who trained the service dog Charles and Loris aquired the previous year for J.J – who had an autism diagnosis- tells PEOPLE that with J.J´s father now desceased ,he finds her request ” really puzzling, because now you think ,doesn´t J.J need the dog more than ever ? that´s a traumatic thing to have happen” lori tells him the family is moving to Idaho” It´s just to hard ” Mestas says she tells him.
september 5. 2019. lori´s sudden move. Lori explains in a sept 5 email to J.J´s school , the laurens institute for education in Gilberrt Arizoan , that he wont be re- enrolling because the family had to ” move quckly” so che could accpet n out -of -state job . by then she has enrolled him at kennedy elementery school in Rexburg , Idaho. near Daybells home base.
the laurens institute for education in Gilbert Arizona.
September 8. 2019 . Tylee disappears.
Tylee / photo national center for missing and exlpoited .
The last knwon image of tyler was taken sept .s8 . 2019 . while she was on a dsay trip to yellowstone national parl with her mother ,brother and loris brother alex cox . according to a court filing. she was 16 years old when the photograph was taken .
sept 23, 2019 . J.J. disappears.
Joshua “J.J./ photo national center for missing and exlpoited .
J.J was last seen sept 23, 2019 at his rexburg school before vallow windrew him and told the principial she was considering home-schooling.. this is also one dasy befor his sisters Tylees´s 17 th birthday.
Oct.19 . 2019 another shocking death.
chad daybell at left ,eith his deceased wife tammy daybell.
On oct.19 . chad daybell reports the death of his wifte tammy pictured with him at right ,saying she had gone to bed with a caught and didn´t wake up .The manners of death is initially ruled as “natural causes” and there is no autopsy. But as concerns start to rise about lori and chad tied to the children´s disappearance, police later say they consider tammys death” suspicious.”
Nov.5 2019 .wedding wows.
four months after the shooting death of loris husband charles , and two weeks after the mysterious death of chad´s wife tammy , lori and chad are married on Nov.5 2019 . in kaua´i ,hawai .
kay and larry woodcock.
After getting a call from J.J.´s grandparents kay and larry woodstock at right , poilice in Rexburg, Idaho ,conduct a welfare check and realize that J.J and Tyler haven´t been seen since september. Police open a missing persons investigation. The grandparents later offer a 20,000 reward for helpful tips .
Nov ,27 ,2019 . couple abruptly vacates home
As police begin to investgate the children´s apparent disappearance after disproving lori´s initial claim that J.J. with a friend in Arizona , they show up Nov .27 at the Rexburg residence of lori and chad daybell, at right
with s search warrants Police discover the couple has ” abruptly vacated ” the home and left the area ,they say. A later statement says police ” strongly believe that J.J and Tylee´s lives are in danger ” and alleges that lori “has refused to worlk with law enforcement to help us resolve this matter .
Dec.12 . 2019 , another death.
Alex cox.
Lori´s brother alex cox ,51 – who had fatally shot her previous husband, charles, in loris home during alleged altercation an then claimed self-defense- is dicovered unresponsive in the bathroom of the residence he shares with his wife of 12 dsays in Gilbert ,Arizona. a medical examiner eventually ruled in may 2020 that cox´s cause of death was bilateral plumonary thromboemboli and the manner of death was natural . a toxicology report showed cox had nalaxone in his system , Nalaxone is an overdose drug more commonly known by its brands namn , Narcan.
Dec 2019 . tammy daybell´s body is exhumed.
Tammy Daybell.(deceased )
In December , authoritites labeled the death of 49 old tammy daybell as suspicious .CBSNews reports . Her body is exhumed and an autopsy is contucted to determine her cause of death . the result were not immediately released.
January 2020 . a son´s plea.
Colby Ryan / photo :youtube.
Colby ryan ,an older half -.brother to J.J. and tylee psoted a 7 minute video plea on youTube, asking his mom to safely return the missing children and the uncertainty
“for everybody ,for the kids , for yorself, for all of us ” he says. ” i know you know what the right thing to do is and i know you have a good heart. it´s time to do the right thing”.
Jan 25 , 2020 :hiding in paradis
Chad and Lori.
On jan 25. 2020 . authorities locate lori and chad in Kaua´i,hawaii . were local police say the couple had been staying for an ” unconfirmed period of time” . Rexburg police said the two children wre not with the couple.” and there is no evidence” the kids were ever in Hawaii. Lori is presented with a court order demanding that she turn over the two kids to police or child welfare outhoriities in Idaho within five days. The deadline passes with no signe of the children.
Feb.20 ,2020 : a mother´s arrest.
Police in kaua´i arrest lori and charge her with two felony counts of desertion of dependent childten.she also is charged with arrests and seizures -resisting or obstructing officers,criminal solicitation to commit a crime ,and contempt of court- as well as willful disobedience of court process or orderBond is set at 5 million.Each count carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison ,according to the procsecutor´s office.
March 2020 :
chad says “kids are safe”
Chad Daybell
In brief comments given to ABC News CHAD said.” the kids are safe”however ,he refuse to provide more detalis chad mad the pronouncement while leaving hawaii for Idaho ahead of loris´extradition. According to ABC, chad also told his neighbors in Hawaii the kids were safe.
In early March 2020 . The FBI and the Rexburg ( Idaho). police departement are asking that visitors to yellowstone national park into the disappearance Tylee an J.J.
An ongoing investigation has determined that the children were in yellowstone National park with their mother , lori and uncle alex cox. the group was traveliing in a 2017 silver ford pickup , with Arizona license plate CPQUINT . .
Marsh 6. 2020. lori´s bail is reduced to 1 m.- but kids still missing.
During a march 2020 court hearing , an Idaho judge reduced lori´s bail 1 million .Her then defense attorney , Edwina Elcox , asked for a bail . amount no higher than 50.000 lori”poses no flight risk whatsowver.”
prosceturor Rob wood countered that lori previously defied a directive from law en forcement to produc her two children, saying ” she cannot be trusted obey a court order”
Mars 13,2020 .:2nd of lori´s lawyers withdraw .
Two of loiri´s attorneys wihtdrew from defending her against charges related to the disappearance of her two kids , according to a videotape of the court proceedings obtained by East Idaho Newas. Lori´s remaining attorney, mark Means also filed a motion seeking the removal of judge Farren Eddins , who agreed to remove himself with no reasoin given for the chanhe, according to the video.
March 19,2020: lori allegedly believed children were ” Zombies”
according to court filings from march 2020 , lori allegedly expressed a belief that her children were” zombies”. The court documents were filed in an Arizona court by vallow´s niece ex-husband ,brandon bourdreaux, in a child cuistody case against his ex , melanie bourdreaux pawlovski, the East Idaho News reports.
In the filing ,
melani pawlowski allegedly told her current husband Ian powlowski that she ” hade been told by chad and lori that her children had been possessed and had become zombies”.
” she shared concerns that she´s been told brandon needed to die ands that may indicate that Tylee and J.J. needed to die as well . NBC reports .
June 9.,2020 . J.J . and tylee ´s remains are found .
Chad Daybell´s property
By tracing cellphone records of vallow´s deceased brother , alex cox, who was on chad daybell´s Idaho property on two dates that align with the last time the children were seen , authoritis on june 9 , 2020 , discovered their remains buried on chad ´property .J.J. was wrapped in plastic and bound by duct tape , Tyler was dimembered and burned,the East Idaho News reported ,citing court documents.
June 20 ,2020 , new charges against the couple.
after the discover of the children´s remains on daybell´s property , chad is arrested and charged with two counts of destruction ,alteration and concealment of evidence , and two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.
He pleads not guilty . lori is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alternation or concealment of evidence. she later pleads not guilty as well.
june 22. 2020.
sister says she ” was wrong ” to support lori.
In a facebook post. loris´s sister siummer Cox shiflet ,who had been one of loris staunchest defenders ,says she “was wrong” to come to loris defens. “losing our preciious Tylee and JJ in this horrific way is more than we can bear” she wrote ” we had prayed our hearts out for them and hoped with all of our hearts they were safe. But sadley have to face this new reality and our family will never be the sam.”
Nov.2020. authorities look into the death of lori´s third husband
Lori vallow and josef ryan .
after the children´s bodies were found , police in Arizona said in november 2020 , they were reviewing the death of loris third husband, josef ryan . 50 .pictured with her . his death had been ruled a heart attack after he was found in his apartement in April 2018 .
A recording provided to police by ryan´s sister reportedly captured lori talking about wanting to kill joseph , by then her ex , and citing the bible as justificatiion .
” He told everybody that i was this lying crazy mormon and got up in court and said all these hiorrible things about me ” . she is heard saying in th tape. ” i was going to kill him. like the scripture says .Like Nephi killed – just to stop the pain and to stop him coming after me and to stop him coming after my children. “
Police have since ruled out foul play in ryan´s death and no charges against lori have been filed in connection with his death.
january 2021. lori´s former sister .-in -law . speaks out .
Before the string of mysterious deaths , lori had been a devoted member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints who attended church regularly and raised her children in the same faith. but in 2018 , after meeting chad , an author of doomdsay scenarios and self-proclaimed prophet who focused on the end times
” there was a tectonic shift in her , and she went over the edge “
her former sister – in -law annie Cushing , told PEOPLE in january 2021.
may 24 , 2021 , lori and chad charged with murders of 2 kids.
An Idaho grand jury indicted lori and chad oncharges of first -degree murder. and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of loris children tylee and JJ. chad also was charged in the murder of his previous wiufe , tammy ,whose death had drawn added attention after the children went missing.
The couple´s religous beliefs allegedly drove their actions , according to the indictment, wich said lori and chad ” did endorese and espouse religious beliefs for the purpose of encouraging and / or justifying ” the murderese , they have since pleaded not guilty to the charges.
June 29 , 2021,lori charged with murdering ex -husbanband.
Charles Vallow
Weeks after lori and chad were indicted on murder charges in the deaths of her two children , lori was indicted by an Arizona grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to commit first -degree murder in the death of her fourth husband , charles vallow , who was fatally shot in 2019. An indictment from a Maricopa County grand jury dated June 24 allegese that vallow had ” agreed ” with her brother , alex cox, that ” at least one of them or another would engage in conduct constituting the offense of first degree murder .”
Cox was not charged on since he died on Dec.12 .2019 from what the maricopa county medical examiner´s office previously dtermined were natural causes .
Agust .6 2021 , prosecutors seek death penalty for chad daybell .
In august prosecutors announced they plan to seek the death penalty against chad daybell . we determined that the nature and magintude of these crimes warrant the possibility of the highest possible punishment ” proscecutors said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
In court documents , prosecutors said the murders were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel , manifesting exceptional depravity ” and that daybell “exhibited a propensity to commit murder, wich will probably constitute a continuing threat to society..”
daybell has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him .
sept .1,2021. chad´s children defend their father.
A screen grab of video from a remote court hearing sows chad dsaybell grinning during a may 25 ,2021 initial apprance.
The adult children of chad daybell a defended their father after he was charged with murdering their mother as well as children the woman ,lori vallow that he swiftly married after his wifie died
chad´s five children tolld CBS news 40 hour that they beliieve in their fahe´s innocencell,
” He was framed ‘´ chad a daughter emma mryphie told correspondent jonathan vigliotti ,who ccompanied her to the site whre JJ and tyees bodis were recovered ,” this is his property If there´s bodies buried here , it would be atribute to him “
” who framed your father ?Vigliotti asks her
” I think it´s pretty clear it was lori and alex “murry replies ” alex came …and left for periods of time we don´t know… exactly what he was doing
April , 2022 . lori vallow daybell deemed fit otstand trial.
Lorie vallow dasybell is mentally fit to go trial and face charges over the deaths of her two children ,an Idaho district judge declared in 2022.
Lori is mentaly fit go to trial and face charges ove the death of her two children. an Idaho districkt judge declared in 2022.
Lori was commited to a psychiatric ward in june 2021, however,judge steven boyce has now determined that she is ” restoired to competency and fit to proceceed.”NBCNewvs reported.
March 21 , 2023 , lori valow will not face death penalty , judge rules.
A judge ruled that Lori vallow would noit face the death penalty in her murder trial .
According to Fox 13 , in the motion to remove the death penalty , lori´ lawyers said that the media attention on this case would possibly contaminate the juroir pool and called lori a “mentllay ill person” .
Shortly after the ruling ,proscecutors in this case – madison county procecuting attorney rob wood and fremont county prosecuting attorney lindsay blake released a joint statment the East IdahoNewss reports.
April 3, 2023 , Lori vallow goes on trial .
lori is seen outside the fremontCounty courthousein St . anthony/ photo.EastIdahoNews.
Jury selection begins on April 3,2023, for lori vallow murder trial .
Lori is accused of killing JJ and T ylee ,along with tammy daybell.
Chad daybell,who is also accused of murder in all three deaths ,will be tried separately
Lori is separately charged in Arizona on accustions she murdered her ex-husbands.charles vallow.
Enhanced ,higher -quality surveillance footage appears to ansver questions about who visited lori´s storage unit in rexburg last year. (2019)
video apears to show missing kid´s mom dumping their belongings at storage facility. and Enhanced video shows who visited loris storage unit the same day the relative was shot in Arizon.
Lori rented the unit at Self Storage Plus in Rexburg on Oct.1 over the next two months she and sometimes one or two men vistited the locker 10 times.personal belonings were children´s item,a photo album,blankets featuring pictures of the children and childrens bikes and scooters
The big question is who was with her when she visitid the facility Oct .2.
Meanwhile , in Arizona…….
That morning , in Gilbert ,Arizona, Brandon bourdreaux was shot at while driving home from the gym ,at the time ,he was married to lori´s niece. melanie pawlowski, and court documents show he had alarge life insurance policy and assets totaling more than a million dollars.
The bullet missed bourdreaux´s head by inches . and police say the person who shot at him was driving a jeep registered to charles vallow. loris´s former husand .at his this point, charles had been dead for nearly three months, and tylee routinely drove the jeep , but she had been missing for about a month.
Rich roberts. a privat investigator from Arizona , said police have strong evidence alex ,loris brother, was the driver and may have been the one who took the shot.
Arizona police have not confirmed who they believe was driving the jeep when the shooting occured . palowski has denied she had anything to do with the attempt on boudreaux´s life , and her lawyerss said Cox coulds not have been in Arizona and Idaho at the time .
Surveillance video shows lori driving into the business in her blue nissan rorgue with a man EastIdahoNews.com . originally thought was Alex Cox. her brother.
A closer look at enhanced video recently obtained by EastIdahoNews.com . shows it likely wasn´t Cox but chad daybell .,her now -husband ,based on the the man´s walk looks and mannerisms.
Timestamps on the video show a blue rogue arriving at 1: 25 . p.m . but the owner of the storage facility says clocks were off by one hour, so Lori actually puilled in at 2.25. p.m. she made her way to the door of the building where her unit was , and two minutes later , at 2.27pm. got out of the vehicle with the mean we believe i shad. At 2:23. pm. he pulled a tire out of the back of the rogue and rolled it into the storage unit . One minute later , he and lori carried in what appears to be a removable rear car seat together. They put it in the locker, shuit the door and left the facility at 2:32 p.m. the entire visit was seven minutes.
lori and a man , who appears to be chad daybell enter a self storage Plus Building in Rexburg on oct 2. 2019 .
The next day:
surveillance footage shows a seond man visting the storage. unit around 2.11 pm this man ,likely Cox walks differenty tan chad and carries the tire rather then rolling it.He also carries the car seat by himself,rather than woreking with her like the day before.
A man who appears to be Alex Cox carries a tire and car seat out of a unit at self storage Plus , on october 3.2019.
The tire and t he saet are noteworthy because many , jeeps have spare tires on theit bac k doors, and the rear window will not open if the tire is attached when the f tire is off, the window opens It´s possible the tire and seat put into the storage unite the day of the shooting were from the jeep and, Cox could have been the driver when boudraux was shot at.
Alex Cox car on security cam
That wasn´t the only time Cox appeared at self storage Plus. on Oct 6 . he returned by himself in his silever pickup truick , and went back five other times that month,incluiding a visit on Oct. 28 ,2019 . with a man who apears to be chad . chad´s former wife. tammy ,had died nine days earlier , and her funeral was held 0ct .22. Cox and chad stayed six minutes and drops bikess and other items.
( alex Cox can´t comment on his vistits to the unit because hi died suddenly in december)
But the last time anyone vistied the stoirage locker was snov .24 lori and chad daybell, who had returned to Idaho from their hneymoo n ,came for four minutes and left the personal belongings of JJ. and Tylee . They never returned ,and Rexburg police have seized all of the items from that unit.
“It was disturbing to see that it was the children´s belongings that were in the storage unit” Private investigator Rich Robertson said .Robertson had been working on the case with JJ´s grandparents ,kay and larry woodcock.
” If they had expected the kids to be coming home soon,why would that stuff be in a storage?on the other hand , if they didn´t think the kids were ever coming back, why keep it? Robertson asked.
Lori and chad have both denied any wrongdoing in the case.
Robertson , the private investigator working with JJ´s grandparents , said that one of the victims, lori´s ex-husband charles , had 1 million life insurance policy.
“At this point we think that lori believed she was the beneficiary “.
he said.
This aerial photo provide by East Idaho News shows , authorities investigating a home in Salem , Idaho , on Thuesday june 9, 2020 .
Authoritie´s say they uncovered human remains at an Idaho man´s home as they investigated the disappearance of his new wife´s two children. The case has drawn. global attention for its ties to the couple´s dommsdsay beliefs and the mysterious deaths of ther former spouses . Police in the small town say chad daybell was taken into custody.
court documents realeased firday evening detal the horrific manner in which JJ and tylee were found in chad daybell´s backyard . JJ was rapped in plastic and bound by duct tape, while Tylee was dismembered and burned.
The information is an 11 -page affidavit of probable cause that was unsealed by magistrate Judge Faren Eddins . the documents are about chad daybell ,who is charged with two felony counts concealment or destruction of evidence. he was arrested and booked into the fremoint county jail on june 9. after investigators excavated tow sections of his salem property and discovered the remains of Tylee and JJ.
Chad Daybell taken in to custody ,Idaho ,Salem./ fox13KSTU.BREAKING NEWS.
The childrens mother ,lori vallow daybelle , is in the madison county jail charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors.
so what happened to Tylee…?
It´s not clear how tylee died . but police learned about a possible motive for the death from loris friend melanie Gibb. Months earlier in the spring ,
Months earlier in the spring , lori had told Gibb that Tyler had become a “zombie” meaning her spirit had left her body , and she had become “dark”.
“Gibb was on the phone with lori and heard lori call Tylle a zombie to wich Tylee responde.”not me mom ” .the affidavit states .”this arose out of lori requiring Tyler to babysit JJ and Tylee did not want to . Lori also told Gibb that Tylee had turned into a zombiie when she was 12 or 13 ,wich was approximately the same time Tylee had become “difficult”to deal with.”
Gibb traveled from Arizona to Rexburg with her boyfriend , david warwick , from sept 19 . through sept 23. they never saw Tylee and lori said she was attending school at Brigham young University- Idaho.
Cox had a townhouse in the same complex as his sister . investigators obained Cox´s cell phone records and compared his activites on sept 9. with other days the same month.
” On monday ,sept 9. from 12 a.m and 12 :44 a.m . Cox´s phone located at his apartement ,however at 2.42 a.m . to 3.37 a.m Cox is located again at loris apartement . where lori lived with tylee and JJ. this is significant , not onsly because he is therre in the middle of the night , but also because this is the only time in september he appears to go over to lori´s between midnight and 6 a.m. ” the probable cause , states.
Cox returned to his apartement at 4.:37 a.m and at 9: 21 a.m he was located at chad daybell´s property. The GPS datapoint placed him near the east end of the barn ,according to court records , and he was still at the property at 10 : 30 . a.m .
“At 10 .47 a.m his phone shows a hit at the city of st .anthony . at tihs time we are unable to tell if he was actually inside the city limits of st anthony . …or if this was a cell tower ping on his phone while he was still at the day bell residence ,”
Lt Ron ball of the rexburg police departement wrote in the statement “At 20:57 TO 11:30 Cox is located at the daybell property at 11:52 to 1:02.he was at dell Taco in Rexburg. He apears to spend most of the rest of the day in his apartement.
That same day , the FBI the following text message conversation betweeen chad and his wife, tammy daybell:
Chad told tammy at 11: 53. a.m ” well , i´ve had an interesting morning! i felt i should burn all of the limb debris by the fire pit before it got too soaked by the coming storms. while i did so, i spotted a big raccoon along the fence . I hurried and got my gun , and he was still walking along . Igot close enoug that one shot did the trick . he is now in our pet cemtetery. fun times!!
chad to tammy at 11: 56 a.m ” gonna shower now and then go write for a while at BYU . love you!
Tammy to chad at 2:47 p.m. “good for you !
chad to Tammy at 2:48 pm. “i´m back home now.
Ball wrote the following about t he exange.
” I found the text suspicious because raccoons are normally nocturnal animals and are not regularly out during the day . It should be noted that from interviewing neighbors of chad. we are aware that in mid-july of 2019 , Garth daybell.chad´s son . told their neighbors that chad had shot a raccoon out of a tree on their property during the day .Garth told a neighbor abouit the raccoon in response to a question from a neighbor about hearing a gunshot. neighbors informed me that the rfire pit in the back of the dsay belle property was hardly ever used until the last few month.
chad´s property.
As a police learned this new information , they consulted with tammy daybell´s sister samantha Gwilliam. They asked her if she knew about a pet cemetery on the daybell´s property.she said she knew about it as both she and tammy ” were pet people” and they both had pet cemeteries.
When asked the location of the pet cemetery on the daybell property, she stated that it was east of the red barn and near the fire pit “.
The affidavit reads.
“she informed me that she was aware of the location of the pet cemetery on the i daybell property because Tammy had shown it to her. samantha was then shown an aerial photograph of the daybell ´s property and she pointed to the same area near the fire pit where Alex cox´s phone pinged on sept .9 . 2019.
Investigators dug at the location while executing their search warrrant and made a grisly discovery.
“Ground in this area was probed with a steel pole. and several areas of disturbed ground were located .during a search of this ground , a buried cat and dog remains were found . A backhoe was used to dig further layers of dirt .while doing this ,bricks were located apporximately a foot below the ground ” .affidavit reads.
“The dirt in tihs area was searched,and severeal other items of interest were found, including other bones , charred tissue and charred bones.
Cheryl Anderson ( a boise state university anthropologist on – site) indicated these additional bones , both charred and uncharred , and tissue found were human remains. “
Jailhouse recording speaking by phone to each other on the day autorities founds the childrens bodies. on chads property .
The recording was played during a court that will determine whether chad daybell will stand trial on charges related to the hiding of the remains of tylee and JJ. vallow. there was no indication that either was aware of the discovery and nothing was said by either about what they knew about the mystery.
The recording was among nearly 30 pieces of evidence prosecutors have submitted that will be used by a judge to decisde whether there is enought evidence to proceed to trial .
” i love you so much” chad said in the recording after telling lori police were searching the field behind the house.
” i love you ” lori respond.” should i try to call later?
” i dont know .” chad said . ” you can try”
chad was taken into custody later that day . after searches found one of the childrens bodies .
investigator siad they find the bodies by tracking the movement of loris brother .Cox. using cellphone data. Alex cox .died of an apparent blood clot in his lung. last december , but .police in court documents said Cox was inv olved in the conspiray to hide the childrens remains, and his name come up frequently in the hearing.
What about JJ…?
A friend melanie Gibb ,said lori vallow told her at diffrenet times last year t that both chidlren had become zombies ant that the couble believed the only way torid a person of a dark spirit was by killing them. Gibb testified , much of her testimony revolving around a phone conversation Gibb recorded after she became suspicious and confronted the couple about the missing children and accused them of multiplies lies.
” i know your salvation is in trouble for what your´ve done”
Gibbs told them.” i´m sorry you feel that, sweatheart. ” lori respond .
Lori told Gibb she couldn´t reveal the childrens location for Gibbs´own protection because other relatives were trying to get her children. lori also questioned Gibb´s religious faith and expressed concern Gibb was recofing the conversation for police.
Gibb acknowledged to chad daybell´s defense attorney ,john prior. that she initially lied to police about having J.J vallow with her .
Gibb said she was persuaded to lie by lori. Gibb said she became concerned that she could be blamed for the childrens disappearance, leading her to call chad and lori and record the conversation . wich she shared with police and that was also played in court.
Gibb also described how the three of them and otheres involved in the case becoma aquainted through a doomsday belief system that led them to”prepraredness” meetings affiliated with the church of jesus christ of latter – dsay saints .
The strange case began summer after Cox fatally shot lori´s estranged husband, charles vallow, in surburban phoenix in what he asserted was self-defense. vallow had been seeking a divorce , saying lori believed she had become a good – like figure who was responsible for ushering in the biblical end times.
A short time later ,she and kids moved to Idaho ,where chad daybell lived . he ran a small publishing company and had written many fiction books about apocalyptic scenarios loosely based on the theology of the churche of jesus christ of latter -day saints .friends said he claimed to be able to receive visions from ” beyond the veil.”
At the time chad daybell was married to tammy daybell, she died in october of what her obituary said were natural causes, authorities grew suspicous when he married lori vallow just two weeks later .Police had tammy´s body exhumed last december autyopsy have not been released Police began searching for tylee and JJ in november after relatives raised concerns , and they soon discovered that both children were last seen in september . Police say the daybells lied to investigators about the children´s whereabouts before quietly leaving Idaho. They were found in Hawaii months later.
