FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho, June 10, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Chad Daybell has made his first court appearance in Idaho after police confirmed Wednesday morning that two sets of human remains have been found on his Salem property.
During that court appearance, prosecutor Rob Wood said the remains found, while not yet identified, are those of children.
Chad Daybell — the husband of Lori Vallow Daybell whose children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, were last seen in September — appeared in a closed hearing at 11 a.m. in the Fremont County Courthouse.
The courthouse is not open to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The charges being brought against Chad Daybell are two charges of destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence, a felony with a maximum charge of five years in the state penitentiary, which could run consecutively or concurrently, or up to a $10,000 fine.
Judge Faren Eddins described the two charges for the record. Daybell confirmed he understood his rights and forwent the full reading of formal charges.
The judge then heard arguments for bail. Wood asked for a $1 million bail because the evidence is human remains. Wood added that while the identity of those remains is not known “we know those are remains of children.”
Eddins set Daybell’s bail at $1 million, despite his attorney John Prior asking for it to be set at $100,000.
Eddins then set the probable cause hearing for July 1, keeping July 2 available if it is needed.
A news release from Rexburg Police Department Wednesday morning said: “The Rexburg PD would like to release an update in regards to the missing children’s case of Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
“As you may know, on June 9 at approximately 7 a.m., the Rexburg Police Department assisted by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI served a search warrant at the residence of Chad Daybell, located on the 200 block of North 1900 East in Fremont County. During the search of the property, investigators discovered what is believed to be unidentified human remains.
“After proper family notification, we would like to confirm at this time that investigators have discovered two sets of unidentified human remains. Autopsy results are pending.”
Chad Daybell was arrested Tuesday after the human remains were found on his property.
Rexburg police, Fremont County Sheriff’s deputies and the FBI had served a warrant on Daybell’s home in Salem in Fremont County, earlier in the day.
A short while later, backhoes were brought in and began excavating the property.
The human remains are in the process of being identified, officials said.
Lori Vallow Daybell has been incarcerated since February of this year and is charged with two counts of desertion and nonsupport of a dependent child. She has declined to share the location of J.J and Tylee with police.
Lori and Chad Daybell married in last November, two weeks after the death of his wife, Tammy. Police have since described the death of Tammy Daybell as “suspicious,” and exhumed her body from a grave in her childhood home of Springville, Utah. The report on her autopsy has not yet been released.
According to a report by East Idaho News, Lori and Chad Daybell were married with rings she had ordered online prior to Tammy’s death. Vallow Daybell reportedly used a credit card belonging to Charles Vallow, Lori’s previous husband, who in August 2019 was shot to death by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense.
Cox died in December of last year of what was determined to be natural causes.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
