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BOISE — A detective and an FBI agent testified Friday about searching for Lori Vallow Daybell's two missing children, including searches of her Rexburg townhome and, months later, Chad Daybell's Salem, Idaho, backyard where their bodies were found.
Items found during that excavation were presented to jurors in the Chad Daybell murder trial as physical evidence, including a charm thought to belong to 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and tools that were found in that backyard.
Lori 'left in haste'
On Thursday, retired Rexburg police detective David Stubbs said he initially got involved in the case when he was contacted by authorities in Arizona searching for a Jeep owned by Tylee that had been involved in an attempted shooting.
The Jeep was found on Nov. 4, 2019; and then a few weeks later, on Nov. 26, Stubbs participated in a welfare check for 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow requested by his grandmother.
He testified Lori Daybell answered the door and told police JJ was not there but was in Arizona with her friend Melanie Gibb. Body camera video from this interaction was played in the courtroom.
Stubbs testified police tried to contact Gibb — who eventually answered and said JJ was not with her — and found no evidence to support Lori Daybell's statements that JJ was enrolled in a special needs school or that Tylee was going to BYU-Idaho.
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Stubbs said police went back to Lori Daybell's apartment the next morning with warrants for her home and two other townhomes rented by people she knew.
"We were concerned as to these people's state of mind, what they would be willing to do," he said.
On Friday the jury watched body camera footage of the no-knock entry warrant they served the next day. Stubbs said there were no clothes in the master bedroom closet.
"It made me think that the occupant, because of our visit the day before, left in haste," he said.
He also served warrants on other homes in the complex belonging to Lori Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, and her niece Melanie Boudreaux. Stubbs said officers' search expanded to include looking for Tylee as well.
Physical evidence
Steve Daniels, an FBI agent who was part of the team that eventually found the children's bodies, testified about that day: June 9, 2020.
He said they had clues of where to dig: They knew there was a fire pit on the property; they knew of a text message sent by Chad Daybell mentioning a pet cemetery; and they had phone location data pointing to a few spots on the property.
Daniels talked about a series of pictures from that day, some showing items investigators found and others showing what the burial locations looked like from inside the Daybell home.
He listed important things they found in the fire pit — a silver charm, possible bone pieces, a chain and possible cloth pieces. He described going through the fire pit layer by layer.
The chain, a Pura Vida chain, and the charm that was one of the first pieces of evidence found were both brought into the courtroom, along with a photo showing Tylee wearing a necklace with the same charm. Photos were also shown to the jury of excavations that were conducted.
Daniels said JJ was buried under stones and cement, and since his body was found before Tylee's, they thought they might encounter similar buried markers, but they did not find anything.
Once investigators started smelling decomposing remains, they treated the scene carefully to learn how the remains were buried. He said they found pieces of Tylee's body that they placed in a body bag.
Daniels said once they found "charring pink flesh" and determined it was a human body they were uncovering, they set up a perimeter and planned to come back the next day to finish the excavation.
He said they analyzed some shovels and hand tools from Chad Daybell's property, as well, which is typical when investigating a burial. A pick and yellow-and-black-handled shovel were brought into the courtroom.
Daniels said the pick was a tool that could have been used in the fire pit and the shovel looked dirty, so officers confiscated them for additional investigation.
Clues in search history
Stubbs also testified about using internet search histories to help find the children. He said Lori Daybell's account had searches for wedding rings right after they believe JJ was killed, and the meaning of "possessed."
He said investigators saw Chad Daybell had searched for wind directions for Sept. 9, 2019, the day before, and they believe Tylee was burned and buried that day behind his house.
Jurors were also shown photos of Chad and Lori Daybell's wedding in early November 2019 in Hawaii, shortly before police began looking for the missing children.
Chad Daybell is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of JJ and Tylee, as well as the death of his former wife, Tammy Daybell, in late 2019. He is also charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of each of the victims, grand theft and two counts of insurance fraud.
Daniels will return to the witness stand on Monday.
Thursday's testimony:
