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<\/p>\nThe mother of two missing children in Idaho who were found dead last year will appear in court Wednesday after she was charged with murder in their deaths.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors announced Tuesday the new charges against Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell, her husband who is also facing murder charges in connection with the children’s death and his former wife’s death.<\/p>\n
The Daybells had been facing lesser charges, but Tuesday’s announcement of a grand jury indictment\u00a0marked the most serious ramping up of the criminal case against the couple.<\/p>\n
Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7,\u00a0and Tylee Ryan, 17, went missing in late 2019 in a case that drew national attention as details emerged of multiple suspicious deaths, “doomsday” religious beliefs and the Daybells\u00a0fleeing to Hawaii.<\/p>\n
New court documents lay out\u00a0the sequence of events that led to the children’s deaths and, for the first time, adds charges in connection with the death of Tammy Daybell, Chad’s former wife.<\/p>\n
The couple could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
News of the charges prompted messages of relief and hope from family members of the children and Tammy Daybell. The announcement came on what would have been JJ’s ninth birthday.<\/p>\n
Here’s what we know:<\/p>\n
In November 2019, police in Idaho performed a wellness check for JJ after his grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, alerted police they had not heard from him in several months.<\/p>\n
Lori Daybell\u00a0allegedly lied\u00a0about the child’s whereabouts and the next day fled with Chad Daybell.\u00a0The Daybells had married in early November and then moved to Hawaii in December, but their whereabouts were not immediately known.<\/p>\n
The public was first alerted that the children were missing and possibly in danger in December. Police also said Tammy Daybell’s remains had been exhumed and her death, initially said to be of natural causes, was then deemed suspicious.<\/p>\n
In January 2020, the Woodcocks announced they were offering a reward for information about the children’s whereabouts. Several weeks later, Lori Daybell, spotted in Hawaii, was issued a court order to bring the children to authorities, which she failed to meet.<\/p>\n
She was arrested in February and then extradited to Idaho.<\/p>\n
In June, JJ and Tylee’s remains were found on Chad Daybell’s property, and he was arrested. Both Lori and Chad Daybell pleaded not guilty to the previous charges they faced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Rexburg Police Department released these photos of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow, who are wanted for questioning. Vallow's children have been missing since September, police said, and Daybell's previous wife was found dead in October. (Photo: Rexburg Police Department)<\/span><\/p>\n In the new indictments, prosecutors said Chad and Lori Daybell as early as October 2018 began to “endorse and espouse religious beliefs for the purpose of encouraging and\/or justifying” the deaths of JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell.<\/p>\n Past court filings had alleged Lori Daybell told a friend,\u00a0Melani Gibb,\u00a0she believed her children were “zombies.” Gibb also told authorities the couple was\u00a0part of the \u201cChurch of the Firstborn\u201d with a mission to lead the \u201c144,000\u201d mentioned in the Book of Revelation and to rid the world of \u201czombies.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple first\u00a0appeared on a podcast together almost a year before the children were announced missing, and family and friends said they were espousing divergent, “prepper” beliefs.<\/p>\n Chad Daybell had operated a publishing company where he wrote books with themes of the end-times and near death experiences.<\/p>\n This combination photo of undated photos released by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children show missing children Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Their relatives are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to their recovery. (Photo: AP)<\/span><\/p>\n In September 2019, Lori Vallow moved from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho \u2013 where Daybell lived with his family\u00a0\u2013 with her children and brother.<\/p>\n However, the move came just months after Cox \u2013 Lori’s brother \u2013\u00a0fatally shot Lori’s then-husband Charles Vallow. Cox claimed the shooting was in self-defense, but the case remains open. Cox died in December 2019 of what a medical examiner ruled was natural causes.<\/p>\n Weeks after Charles Vallow’s death, Lori and Chad Daybell began texting about “death percentages for Tammy and JJ,” the indictments say.\u00a0<\/p>\n The indictments do not detail how JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell\u00a0died.<\/p>\n Past court documents said Tylee was last seen in photos at\u00a0Yellowstone National Park dated Sept. 8, 2019, with her brother, mother and uncle.<\/p>\n Authorities have said Tylee’s body was burned, and past court documents say Cox’s cell phone places him at Daybell’s property around the time Tylee is believed to have died. Chad Daybell also allegedly texted\u00a0Tammy Daybell\u00a0that day about lighting a fire in the backyard and shooting a racoon.<\/p>\n The new court document also allege Chad Daybell searched\u00a0“ssw wind” and was on a webpage titled “What is the definition of SSW wind direction?” on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n JJ was last seen a couple weeks later when he was with Cox, the new charging documents say. Gibb had told investigators\u00a0Vallow told her that\u00a0Cox took the child because he was acting like a “zombie.” His body was also found on Daybell’s property, wrapped in\u00a0plastic bags and duct tape.<\/p>\n <\/strong>Prosecutors say Lori Daybell continued to collect Social Security Survivor benefits on behalf of her children after they died.<\/p>\n In October, Cox allegedly tried to shoot Tammy Daybell and recorded online searches related to shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prosecutors said Chad Daybell also increased Tammy’s life insurance policy and texted with Lori Vallow about his wife “being in Limbo, and Tammy being possessed by spirit named Viola.”<\/p>\n On the night Tammy Daybell died, Cox was allegedly parked in a church parking lot 2.5 miles away.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to assure everyone that despite the delays, we have been working diligently to pursue justice for the victims in this case, to ensure we have the evidence required to prove the facts beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,\u201d Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said at the news conference Tuesday.<\/p>\n Kate and Larry Woodcock speak to reporters at the Rexburg Standard Journal Newspaper in Rexburg, Idaho, on Jan. 7, 2020. The Woodcocks are offering $20,000 for information that leads to the recovery of Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Joshua Vallow and Ryan were last seen Sept. 23, 2019. (Photo: John Roark\/The Idaho Post-Register via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n The Daybells were already facing charges of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence after the two children’s bodies were found last June buried on Chad Daybell’s property. Lori Daybell had also been arrested after missing a court ordered deadline earlier in 2020 to bring the children to authorities.<\/p>\n Lori and Chad Daybell are now both charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder tied to JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell’s deaths, and two counts of first-degree murder\u00a0tied to JJ and Tylee’s deaths. Only Chad Daybell was charged with first-degree murder tied to Tammy Daybell’s death.<\/p>\n Both were also charged with conspiracy to grand theft by deception in connection with JJ and Tylee’s death. Alex Cox, Lori Daybell’s late brother, was also implicated in the charges of\u00a0conspiracy to commit murder and\u00a0grand theft by deception.<\/p>\n Lori Daybell was charged with\u00a0grand theft for allegedly collecting Social Security Survivor benefits for the children after their deaths. Chad Daybell was charged with two counts of insurance fraud after he allegedly lied to collect benefits from Tammy Daybell’s life insurance.<\/p>\n In a statement published on East Idaho News, Tammy Daybell’s parents and siblings thanked law enforcement and “all those who\u2019ve continued to seek out the answers during the investigations surrounding Tylee, JJ and Tammy.”<\/p>\n “We appreciate their pursuit of justice, and ultimately some measure of peace for those of us left in the wake of our loss,” the statement said.<\/p>\n Annie Cushing, Tylee’s aunt, told KSAZ-TV, “I’m celebrating today’s news knowing that we still have a lot ahead of us, but it’s just been a jolt of confidence that they can go after Chad and Lori for all of the deaths.”<\/p>\n Colby Ryan, the adult\u00a0brother of JJ and Tylee, posted a photo on Facebook of his siblings and Charles Vallow with the caption: “YOU WILL ALL HAVE JUSTICE!”<\/p>\nHow did\u00a0religious beliefs lead to deaths?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat are the new charges against Chad and Lori Daybell?<\/h2>\n
What are JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell’s relatives saying?<\/h2>\n