JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan hadn’t been seen alive since 2019 when their remains were recovered in June 2020, as CBS News explains. Vallow’s father, Charles Vallow — Vallow Daybell’s fourth husband — had also just died; shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense in the shooting. Cox died before he could stand trial and his cause of death was later determined to be from natural causes, via East Idaho News.
Prior to the swift marriage between Vallow Daybell and Daybell, Daybell’s wife Tammy Daybell also died under mysterious circumstances, per Inside Edition reporting. Both Daybell and Vallow Daybell were Mormon, and Daybell was the author of Mormon-themed doomsday fiction. Vallow herself had begun to espouse similar philosophies, causing concern for the Vallow family, as NBC News reports. Both Vallow Daybell and Daybell claimed they could see zombies and Vallow Daybell claimed openly that JJ and Tylee had been overtaken.
Read Related Also: Man allegedly shot, killed girlfriend’s lover as he drove away after ‘drugs and sex’ rendezvous
By June 9, 2020, both Vallow Daybell was under suspicion for the disappearance and possible deaths of their children. As Inside Edition explains, authorities used backhoes to excavate the Daybell property. The top layer of soil was removed, and three large white rocks were revealed, as CBS News notes. Underneath those rocks was a layer of wood paneling and beneath that was black plastic. It was under that plastic that the first signs of human remains were found.
