The grandmother of missing boy Joshua “JJ” Vallow, who was 7 years old at the time he was last seen, said Wednesday that JJ was one of the people found dead Tuesday on the property of Chad Daybell. She and her husband later confirmed that the child’s sister, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, was also discovered.
BREAKING: Grandmother of JJ Vallow confirms one set of human remains found on Chad Daybell’s property – identified as JJ Vallow. #fox10phoenix pic.twitter.com/vlSdjcAd3Z
— Justin Lum Fox 10 (@jlumfox10) June 10, 2020
HEARTBREAKING: The two sets of human remains found on Chad Daybell’s property have been confirmed to be 8-year-old Joshua “J.J.” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, according to the missing children’s grandparents. https://t.co/JBWAohB9QB pic.twitter.com/UAAdLGsML2
— Emma Iannacone KIFI/KIDK (@EmmaIannacone) June 10, 2020
Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood was more cryptic about it during Daybell’s initial court appearance. Though the two sets of human remains are still unidentified, they were children, and the manner of concealment of one was “particularly egregious,” Wood said.
Police previously said an autopsy of the remains is pending.
Chad Daybell was arrested Tuesday; he was charged Wednesday with two counts of felony destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence. His wife–JJ’s and Tylee’s mother Lori Daybell–was already charged in a desertion case. Police in Rexburg Idaho say she bolted out of town in Nov. 2019 instead of helping them find her missing children. Ryan’s last whereabouts were on a family day trip to Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 8, and Vallow was last seen on Sept. 23, according to police. Through an attorney, Lori Daybell has maintained her innocence.
The family had moved to Idaho less than two months after Lori’s brother Alex Cox shot and killed her then-husband Charles Vallow back when they lived in Arizona. The shooter maintained self-defense, but died in December; a medical examiner’s office determined this was “natural,” though police in Gilbert, Arizona said at the time they were still investigating this.
Charles Vallow previously alleged that his then-wife threatened to kill him.
Wood asked at the initial appearance Wednesday that Chad Daybell get a $1 million bond to reflect the facts of the case. Defense lawyer John Prior argued for a total $100,000 bond, saying it was more appropriate for the charges against his client: felonies punishable by up to five years in prison per count. He asserted that the prosecutor would have brought more charges already if there were going to be more charges. The attorney maintained that nothing in Daybell’s history indicated he was a flight-risk.
Judge Faren Eddins sided with the state, and handed down a $1 million bond.
Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and Tylee Ryan
Update – June 10, 2020, 3:51 p.m.: We added that the children’s grandparents say that both JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were found.
[Screengrab via Law&Crime Network]
