The husband of “Doomsday cult” mom Lori Vallow was hit with felony charges Wednesday — a day after human remains were found at his home in Idaho.
Chad Daybell was arrested and charged with two counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, according to a criminal complaint.
The counts cover alleged criminal conduct sometime between Sept. 8, 2019 and June 9 and Sept. 22, 2019 and June 9.
Vallow’s two children Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in September.
The complaint says Daybell allegedly “willfully conceal[ed] and/or did aid and abet another to willfully conceal human remains, knowing that said human remains were about to be produced, used and/or discovered as evidence in a felony proceeding.”
Joshua was last seen at school on Sept. 23, while his sister was last seen in a photograph taken at Yellowstone National Park, pulled from her mother’s iCloud account, on Sept. 8, authorities previously alleged in court records.
Daybell was booked into the Fremont County jail and will make his first court appearance at 11 a.m. Wednesday local time.
Rexburg Police Assistant Chief Gary Hagen held a press conference Tuesday night but didn’t release more information about the human remains, which were found at Daybell’s home in Rexburg.
He said more information will be released when an autopsy is completed.
Authorities have been investigating the disappearance of Vallow’s two children and have said the couple lied about the children’s whereabouts before quietly leaving Idaho for Hawaii in November.
Investigators say Vallow and Daybell lied about the children’s whereabouts before quietly leaving Idaho for Hawaii in November.
The couple, who married in November, are believed to be part of a doomsday cult called Preparing a People, which says its mission is to “help prepare the people of this earth for the second coming of Jesus Christ.”
Daybell is a self-proclaimed Latter-day Saint author who’s written books about the end of the world.
Vallow was arrested in February on two counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She is being held on $1 million bail.
The couple is also being investigated by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office in connection with the death of Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy Daybell.