Husband of woman in Idaho missing children case charged with destroying evidence after human remains found

Bodies have not yet officially been identified, but prosecutor says they belong to missing children

Authorities have charged an Idaho man with destroying or concealing human remains after they found the bodies of two children on his property.

Chad Daybell was taken into custody after the discovery of the remains on his rural Idaho property on Tuesday.

Police were searching for his wife’s two children who have been missing for months in a complex case that began in late 2019.

The bodies have not been officially identified, but a prosecutor said that they belonged to the children and the way one was concealed was “particularly egregious”. He did not elaborate, the Associated Press reports.

The grim discovery is a turning point in the case that drew global attention due to Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell’s doomsday beliefs and the suspicious deaths of their former spouses.

The couple married in September 2019, a few weeks after authorities say her children were last seen.

Police began searching for seven-year-old Joshua Vallow, known as JJ, and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan in November after relatives raised concerns.

The couple lied to investigators about the children’s whereabouts before quietly leaving Idaho for Hawaii. They were located there months later.

Ms Vallow Daybell was arrested in February in Kauai. She has been charged with child abandonment and obstructing the investigation. She is in jail on $1m bond and intends to defend herself against the charges.

In court documents, Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood said he believes Mr Daybell either concealed or helped hide the remains knowing that they were about to be used as evidence in court.

Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, the missing children of mother Lori Vallow Daybell (AP)

Mr Wood said the first body was hidden or destroyed sometime on or after September 8, when Tylee was last seen. The second body dates slightly later, to on or after September 22, the last known day that JJ was seen.

Mr Daybell’s bail was set at $1m in court on Wednesday, and he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and stay in the region if he’s released before trial. He mostly responded with one word answers when questioned.

The complex case spans several states and began with Ms Vallow Daybell’s brother shooting and killing her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in suburban Phoenix last summer in what he asserted was self-defence.

Mr Vallow was seeking a divorce, saying his wife believed she had become a god-like figure who was responsible for ushering in the biblical end times.

Her brother, Alex Cox, died in December of an apparent blood clot in his lung.

Shortly after Mr Vallow’s death, Lori and the children moved to Idaho, where Chad Daybell lived.

He ran a small publishing company, putting out many fiction books he wrote about apocalyptic scenarios loosely based on the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also recorded podcasts about preparing for biblical end times, and friends said he claimed to be able to receive visions from “beyond the veil.”

He was married to Tammy Daybell, who died in her sleep last October of what her obituary said were natural causes.

Authorities became suspicious when Mr Daybell and Ms Vallow married just two weeks later.

Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed in December, but the results of the subsequent autopsy have not been released.

WIth reporting from the Associated Press