Authorities in the small town of Rexburg, Idaho, said they uncovered human remains at a man’s home Tuesday while investigating the disappearance of his wife’s two children.
Chad Daybell was arrested on suspicion of concealing or destroying evidence after investigators searched his property and discovered the remains, the Associated Press reported. He and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, lied to police about their children’s whereabouts and briefly went to Hawaii before Lori was caught and extradited to Idaho.
His stepchildren, 7-year-old Joshua Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan went missing, last September.
Rexburg Assistant Police Chief Gary Hagan, during a press conference Tuesday, said that police had recovered the remains but had not yet identified them. Hagan declined to comment further on the case, only telling reporters that the investigation was linked to the missing children.
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Lori, who was also charged in the disappearance of her two children, was previously investigated by the Idaho attorney general’s office for the death of Chad’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, according to Fox News. Tammy and Chad had been married for nearly 30 years and had five children, and Lori was charged for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy in the death of the ex-wife.
The case is further complicated by the fact that Lori’s husband Charles Vallow was shot and killed by her brother Alex last summer, after he had filed for divorce. Lori, who has been referred to as a “cult mom” by local media, allegedly told Charles she was a god-like figure responsible for ushering in the end times, the Associated Press reported.
Shortly after Lori and her two children moved to Idaho following her husband’s death, she met her future fifth husband Chad, an author of doomsday novels. Email correspondence between the two reveals that Lori asked Chad to judge the “light” and “dark” spirits in her family, including in her own children, according to Fox News.
The mysterious deaths reported in both the Daybell and Vallow families, as well as the doomsday cult ideas associated with the families, led to the story gaining national attention. (RELATED: Texas Military Family Found Dead In Garage In Alleged Murder-Suicide)
JUST IN: Chad Daybell’s mugshot pic.twitter.com/jERCnuutiH
— Adam Herbets (@AdamHerbets) June 10, 2020
Lori is currently being held on a $1 million bond, and Chad appeared in court Wednesday. Investigators from the Rexburg Police Department, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI are continuing to look into the case.