Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell indicted on murder charges in deaths of her two kids

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, the mom and stepfather of two Idaho kids who were last seen in September 2019, were indicted on murder charges Tuesday in the children's deaths.

Joshua"JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan were 16 respectively when they vanished.

Daybell was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and insurance fraud in the passing of the then-wife Tammy Daybell.

Daybell is a self-published author who has written over two dozen novels about near-death and doomsday occasions, and multiple people close to Vallow have raised red flags regarding her bizarre doomsday beliefs and mental condition.

Indictments published Tuesday said the couple"did endorse and espouse religious beliefs with the intention of supporting or justifying the homicides" of Tylee, Joshua and Tammy Daybell.

During Daybell's first court appearance Wednesdayhe had been advised of the charges he faces and potential sentences.

Vallow also appeared in court Wednesday, but Judge Faren Eddins said the bill would be postponed at the request of Vallow's lawyer based on"information provided to the court" He didn't elaborate or put a fresh date.

Attorneys for Vallow and Daybell didn't immediately return a request for comment. If convictedthey could face life in prison or even the death penalty. Prosecutors at Idaho have 60 days to decide whether they will pursue the death penalty.

"Local, state and national law enforcement specialists and local and state prosecutors have worked tirelessly for nearly a year and a half to assemble the facts and evidence necessary to bring forward charges on behalf of Tylee, JJ and Tammy," Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said in a statement Tuesday.

"Due to the ongoing safety restrictions imposed by the courts during the ordeal, we just recently were given permission to provide information to the Grand Jury for their own review. They deliberated and determined there is probable cause to believe that the Daybells willfully and knowingly conspired to commit several crimes that led to the death of three innocent people."

Tylee was last seen on Sept. 8, 2019. Police were able to Locate a photo from that day of Tylee on a trip with Vallow, Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, and Joshua to Yellowstone National Park, according to authorities.

Joshua, who had particular needs, was last seen alive on Sept. 23, 2019 at Kennedy Elementary School in Rexburg. When police went to Vallow's home to conduct a welfare check in the of his grandmother in November, Joshua was nowhere to be discovered .

But Vallow and Daybell had never reported the children missing and failed to collaborate with researchers until they fled the nation, Rexburg authorities said.

They had been located in Hawaii at January 2020, where point police gave Vallow until the close of the month to"physically create her children." She did not, and has been charged with 2 counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.

Back in June 2020, Daybell was taken to custody after the remains of Vallow's children were discovered on his house .

He pleaded not guilty to these charges.

Vallow had previously been charged with misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court. She pleaded not guilty to these charges.

Daybell and Vallow married weeks after Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell was discovered dead in her house in October. She was 49.

Tammy Daybell's death was initially ruled as natural but has since been categorized as suspicious, and her remains were exhumed so that an autopsy could be run. An autopsy was finished in February of the year, and her death was ruled a homicide, the indictments released Tuesday said.

Prosecutors stated that Daybell and Vallow had exchanged text messages stating they believed that Tammy had been"in limbo" and"possessed by a spirit named Viola" before she was killed.

Vallow's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, also expired in 2019. He had been shot to death by Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, in July through a confrontation in Chandler, Arizona. Cox asserted self-defense. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner in Arizona ruled the death a homicide.

Vallow and Cox were challenged by authorities but not charged.

He was appointed by prosecutors Tuesday as a co-conspirator at the murders of both Joshua, Tylee and Tammy Daybell.

Before Charles Vallow expired, he filed for divorce, claiming in papers his wife believed she had been reincarnated and also was a god delivered to direct people throughout the second coming of Christ at July 2020, and she told her husband that when he got in her way, she'd kill him.

Vallow's third husband and Tylee's father, Joseph Ryan, also voiced"real and serious issues" in court records in the middle of their divorce and custody battle. The documents said Vallow was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after she told social workers that"death would be a choice prior to giving Tylee to her father, Mr. Joseph Ryan, even for a trip."

Ryan died of an apparent heart attack in 2018. An online obituary said Ryan was 59.