‘Cult Mom’ Trial: Court Shown Pictures of Rocks Buried on Top of J.J.’s Body

On Friday, an FBI agent testified about searching Chad Daybell’s property for J.J. Vallow, who was Lori Vallow Daybell’s missing son.

Special agent Doug Hart said he put a probe in the ground but it did not go in because it was hitting a board and rocks that were on top of J.J.’s body. Hart was also present when Tylee Ryan’s remains were found on Chad Daybell’s property in June 2020, according to East Idaho News.

“Ultimately we understood why the probe didn’t go in. Once we lifted the sod away, we saw a board and rocks [that] were placed on top of J.J.’s body,” Hart explained.

East Idaho News reported that the court was shown pictures of the rocks that were placed over the board that was also on top of J.J.’s body. Another image depicted a yellow spot on Chad Daybell’s property where vegetation was not growing as well — presumably because J.J.’s body had been buried in the vicinity.

Hart testified that the yellow area stuck out to him because it was surrounded by green vegetation. In addition to inspecting a mound of dirt, he also touched the ground and noticed it felt different.

“If hard, undisturbed ground exists, it doesn’t go in,” he said, referring to the probe he used. “If you’ve dug the earth up, it goes in considerably easier.”

Lori Vallow’s two children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, vanished in September 2019. Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow got married in Hawaii in November 2019, amid her children’s disappearances.

Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell are charged with killing Ryan, J.J., and Tammy. Tammy, who was Chad Daybell’s wife, died under suspicious circumstances in October 2019.

Lori Vallow is currently standing trial and Chad Daybell will be tried later.

Lori Vallow’s children were missing for nine months before their remains were discovered on Chad Daybell’s property in June 2020. J.J.’s body was reportedly found in a plastic bag that was wrapped in plastic. His face, arms, wrists, and feet were wrapped with duct tape. Ryan’s burned remains were on the property, though her entire body was not intact.

Prior testimony revealed that J.J. was suffocated with a plastic bag and duct tape. Ryan’s cause of death was undetermined due to the condition of her remains.

Lori Vallow has said she was with Melanie Gibb, David Warwick, or her husband when her son and daughter died in her brother’s apartment in Rexburg, Idaho. She allegedly said she was at her residence, also in Rexburg. She claimed she was in Hawaii when Tammy was killed at her husband’s home in Salem, Idaho. She stated she was with two other people at the time.

Lori Vallow — believed to have been involved in a so-called doomsday cult — allegedly told a friend that her children had become zombies and the only way to exorcise their bodies of evil spirits was to kill them.

In Arizona, Lori Vallow is charged in connection with the death of her fourth husband Charles Vallow, who her brother, Alex Cox, fatally shot in July 2019. Cox died, reportedly of natural causes, in December 2019.

Lori Vallow, who is not facing the death penalty, underwent psychiatric treatment twice before she was deemed fit to stand trial in Idaho. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom per a court order.

The trial continues.

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[Featured image: Handout]