Remains of Lori Vallow’s missing children found on husband Chad Daybell’s property: family

Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in September, although they were never reported missing, the Rexburg Police Department said in a statement. Authorities say Lori Vallow, Joshua’s adopted mother and Tylee’s biological mother, and her new husband, Chad Daybell, had lied about Joshua staying with a friend in Arizona. (Rexburg Police Department)

It was the grim end an extended family feared since September.

The remains of doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow’s long-missing children, daughter Tylee Ryan and son JJ Vallow, were identified as those found on her husband Chad Daybell’s Idaho property on Tuesday, relatives said Wednesday.

The horrific news came just just hours after Daybell’s bond was set at $1 million in a virtual hearing.

“We are filled with unfathomable sadness that these bright two stars were stolen from us, and only hope that they died without pain or suffering,” Larry and Kay Woodcock and Colby and Kelsee Ryan said in a joint statement.

In this aerial photo, investigators search for human remains at Chad Daybell's residence in the 200 block of 1900 East, Tuesday, June 9, in Salem, Idaho. (JOHN ROARK | jroark@postregister.com/AP)

The Woodcocks are JJ’s grandparents. Colby Ryan is Lori Vallow’s oldest son, and Kelsee is his wife.

Police have yet to confirm identification of the bodies, but prosecutor Ron Wood said during the virtual hearing that the remains likely belonged to children — and that concealment of one of the bodies was “particularly egregious." He provided no further details.

JJ, 8, and Tylee, 17, had been missing since September.

Daybell, 51, was arrested Tuesday and has been charged with two counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, a felony charge. He’s due back in court on July 1 for a preliminary hearing.

Vallow, 46, has been jailed since February on charges of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, as well as lesser counts of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime and contempt.

In this March 6 photo, Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing, with her defense attorney, Edwina Elcox, right, in Rexburg, Idaho. (John Roark/AP)

The remains were discovered Tuesday after police executed a search warrant at Daybell’s house, but it’s unclear what prompted the search.

Judge Faren Eddins set Daybell’s bail at $1 million during a Zoom hearing after Wood argued he posed a flight risk. Daybell’s newly hired attorney, John Prior, unsuccessfully countered his client “has every intention to stay in the community and address these charges.”

The disappearance of the siblings has created national attention, particularly amid scandalous rumors of ties to a doomsday cult.

Human remains found on property of Lori Vallow’s husband, Chad Daybell, arrested in missing kids probe »

In his February 2019 divorce filings, Vallow’s late husband, Charles, accused her of becoming "infatuated at times obsessive about near death experiences and spiritual visions,” according to a filing obtained by Fox 10.

“Mother has told Father (Charles Vallow) that she is sealed [eternally married] to the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she has lived numerous lives on numerous planets prior to this current life," the court documents read.

RELATED GALLERY

(AP)

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Timeline of the disappearance of Lori Vallow's children

“On January 29, 2019, during a phone conversation between the parties and after their physical separation, Mother informed Father that she was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020 and that if Father got in her way of her mission she would murder him.”

Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, in Phoenix in July. Cox pleaded self-defense, claiming that Charles had attacked him first. Cox died in December from a blood clot in his lung.

Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died at home in October, just two weeks before he and Vallow were married. Her body has since been exhumed and is pending an autopsy.

Vallow and Daybell wed in Hawaii in November with a $39.95 malachite-and-silver ring she bought days before Tammy died, according to East Idaho News.