Idaho man tied to missing children held after human remains found on property

June 9 (UPI) -- Police on Tuesday arrested an Idaho "doomsday" author, whose wife is in custody in connection with the disappearance of her two children, after investigators found evidence of human remains on his property.

Chad Daybell was taken into custody after investigators with a search warrant used backhoes to dig near his Rexburg, Idaho, home. Police have been searching for the two children of Daybell's wife, Lori Vallow, 46, since last year.

Rexburg Assistant Chief of Police Gary Hagen said the remains had not been identified.

Vallow has been in custody since she was arrested in Hawaii in March after family members became concerned about the whereabouts of Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua, "J.J." Vallow, 7, who were last seen together in September. She was charged with child abandonment and obstruction.

The FBI and Idaho authorities have been searching for the children.

Police investigators say the Daybells lied about the children's whereabouts and then fled from Idaho. Investigators also have followed the couple through the mysterious deaths of both of their first spouses and Vallow's brother over the past year.

Vallow married Daybell two weeks after the October 2019 death of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, who was described in an obituary as dying of natural causes.

In April, the Idaho attorney general's office announced it was investigating Chad Daybell in connection with Tammy's death. Chad and Tammy Daybell were the parents of five children.

Vallow's estranged late husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, in Phoenix in July, 2019.

Charles Vallow had filed for divorce, claiming Lori Vallow believed she had god-like powers connected to the biblical end times, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Cox then died in December 2019 of unknown causes, investigators said. Police are investigating the death.

Daybell, who was affiliated with a sect of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, is the author of more than a dozen apocalyptic-themed novels that have been called religiously extreme by former co-workers, who said he claimed he could "cast out demons."

The two children were last seen together in September at Yellowstone National Park on a family vacation with Lori Vallow and a relative. Joshua was later seen at school in Idaho.