"We started finding burnt flesh": Detective recalls finding Lori Vallow Daybell's missing children’s remains

Lori Vallow Daybell, a mother from Idaho, has been accused of killing her two children - seven-year-old Joshua and 16-year-old Tylee. Lori's husband Chad has also been accused of the murders. Chad and Lori are currently on trial for the murders of Tylee Ryan and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, which took place in 2019.

On the second day of the murder trial, Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo took to the stand and recalled finding the remains of the two children. As the sole witness took to the stand, the detective was seen getting upset and weeping as he testified.

The detective said that as the team began digging in a spot at Chad's home, they "started finding burnt flesh, decomposing bones," which belonged to Tylee. Prosecutors also shared some unsettling and disturbing images of the children's remains, which were found in June 2020.

Trigger warning: This article contains graphic language regarding the deaths of children. Readers’ discretion is advised.

The children were reported missing in November 2019, and the couple was arrested in 2020 in Hawaii. Authorities found the remains buried on Daybell’s husband’s property in Idaho in June 2020.

Despite several charges against the couple, both Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband pleaded not guilty to the charges. They reportedly believed in several “apocalyptic and doomsday-driven religious” notions.

Prosecutors claim the entire incident was part of Lori Vallow Daybell’s plot to steal insurance money

Detective Hermosillo took the stand to recall the day authorities discovered the bodies of Lori Vallow Daybell’s children- Joshua and Tylee.

Authorities found Joshua’s body wrapped in duct tape and plastic and buried under a tree. His sister Tylee’s body was burned and it turned into “a mass of blood and tissue.” Her remains were found inside a plastic bucket that had partially melted and then buried in the family’s yard, which was supposedly a “pet cemetery.”

If found guilty, Lori could face life imprisonment while her husband Chad could face the death penalty. It was also revealed that they will be facing separate trials. Hermosillo mentioned how they had to go down on their “hands and knees” to dig up the bodies, which were in the decomposing stage. He added:

“We had to take turns digging because the smell was so bad.”

Joshua’s grandparents, Kay and Larry, reported him and Tylee missing in 2019. Hermosillo testified that upon being asked, Lori Vallow Daybell lied about their whereabouts. The couple also did not cooperate with the investigation to find their missing children and left the state instead.

In January 2020, law enforcement officials arrested the couple in Kauai, where they were found without children. Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband Chad were then extradited to Idaho from Hawaii.

Shortly after that, a search was initiated to find Tylee and JJ. It went on for months before they discovered the bodies in June 2020, on Chad’s property. According to prosecutors, this was all part of the couple’s plan to steal some insurance and Social Security money. Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake told the jury about the condition in which the kids' remains were found.

Detective Hermosillo gave the jury graphic details of how the authorities discovered the bodies that day. He stated that once they removed the topsoil from the yard, they noticed three large rocks on top of a wooden panel. He said,

“At that point, there was a strong odor that through my training I knew was a decomposing body.”

After further digging, they noticed something that appeared to be the “crown of a head.” The body was that of Lori Vallow Daybell’s son. The detective further added,

“His pajamas were soaked with body decomposition; he still had on his pull-up nighttime diaper.”

Shortly after that, they arrested Lori Daybell. The detective then returned to the backyard where Joshua’s remains were found and saw his colleagues digging near the pet cemetery.

He stated,

“We started finding burnt flesh, decomposing bones. Eventually, we uncovered bits and pieces of Tylee, whom we assumed was Tylee, that had been burned. There were pieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh that were falling apart.”

---

An autopsy report stated that Chad Daybell’s former wife was asphyxiated

The case allegedly came within Idaho police’s radar, when they received a call from the Arizona police who needed assistance in locating a Jeep Wrangler. Brandon Boudreaux, who had then recently divorced Lori’s niece complained that a jeep drove by his house and shot at him. Boudreaux testified on Monday and said that the Jeep looked like the one that Tylee had.

After the complaint, law enforcement officials began surveillance on Lori and Chad’s Idaho residence and found that the kids were not with the couple. The detective stated,

“We weren’t told they were missing – we were told their grandmother Kay Woodcock was concerned she hadn’t spoken with JJ (Joshua) for a while.”

That was when officers began keeping a watch on Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad’s residence and also looked for the children in the state of Arizona. According to the police reports, a friend mentioned that Lori would often address her own children as “zombies.”

Another suspicious event was that Chad’s ex-wife Tammy Daybell died unexpectedly just two weeks before Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell’s wedding. While it was initially mentioned that she died of an illness during her sleep, an autopsy report stated that she was asphyxiated.

The trial for Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad is ongoing and only wrapped up day two on April 11, 2023. The deaths of Tylee and JJ have gained a lot of attention, speculation, and sensationalism. They were also the subject of a Netflix docuseries, titled Sins of Our Mother, which is currently available on the platform.