Chad Daybell’s son has spoken out in the wake of his father’s criminal charges. On Wednesday, Daybell was formally charged with concealing the remains of his wife Lori Vallow‘s two children. Garth Daybell is the first of Daybell’s own adult children to comment publicly, expressing horror over the allegations.
Authorities have been searching for 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan since September, while their mother and her new husband, Daybell, proved uncooperative. On Tuesday, Daybell was arrested when investigators found two bodies hidden on his property in Idaho, which were later identified as J.J. and Tylee. Daybell had five children from his previous marriage to Tammy Daybell, all of whom were grown and out of the house. When interviewed by videographer Tyson Draper on Thursday, Garth was having trouble even wrapping his head around the allegations against his dad.
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“I’d say it happens, but it doesn’t,” Garth said. He thanked the people who have reached out to him and his family throughout this difficult time, saying: “Keep supporting us, we appreciate your love and support… We feel your prayers.”
Draper caught up with Daybell at his father’s house in Salem, Idaho, where he was carrying boxes out of his parents’ old home. He smiled and gave a thumbs up to the camera, trying to maintain an upbeat demeanor.
Daybell and Tammy raised five children in Utah during their apparently happy, decades-long marriage. According to a report by The Post Register, Daybell claimed that he heard a voice urging him to move to Rexburg, Idaho in 2015. Taking this as divine instruction, he and Tammy moved to neighboring Salem that summer.
Tammy’s death was one of the first big suspicious events in the saga of Daybell and Vallow’s arrest. In October of 2019, Tammy Daybell filed a police report saying that she was attacked by a man in a ski mask in her own driveway. Ten days later, she passed away in her sleep at home. Initial reports ruled that she had died of natural causes, but as the other suspicious events around Daybell and Vallow added up, authorities exhumed Tammy’s remains for another autopsy.
Those that knew the Daybell family in years past have expressed doubt that the children knew about Chad’s alleged crimes, and expressed sympathy with them. A neighbor named Boyd Price told KUTV: “I feel for the kids, and I think they’ve got a long road ahead of them.”
