POLICE are facing questions over why it took them so long to find the bodies of “cult mom” Lori Vallow’s children after cops raided the property where they were hidden five months ago.
Chad Daybell’s home in Salem, Idaho, was searched by police back in January but cops missed the bodies of JJ, 7, and Tylee, 17, that were buried in the backyard.
Cops finally dug up the property on Tuesday and discovered the remains of the two children who have been missing since September.
Vallow, 46, and her fifth husband Daybell, 51, are both in custody charged over the children’s disappearance after failing to report them missing for months.
The couple abruptly jetted to to Hawaii following the disappearance and at failed to cooperate with police.
Vallow’s family members have accused her of being part of a “doomsday cult” with her husband.
She’s also been connected to the mysterious deaths of three people, including her brother.
Vallow was arrested in February, while Daybell was arrested after investigators found the remains on Tuesday.
Detectives are refusing to answer questions about why it took so long to find the missing kids and make arrests, reports DailyMail.com.
Mystery also looms as the search warrant remains sealed amid the case which has gripped the US.
Jennifer Shen, a former cop and crime lab manager, said: “I don’t have any idea why it took that amount of time. There are so many legal issues that have to be dealt with prior.
“I don’t know when it was the police would have gotten the information from that there were bodies on that property but they can’t do any of that without probable cause.”
Ms Shen added: “It’s called fruit of the poisonous tree.
“If you wind up finding evidence but not legally, that evidence can be thrown out, all the evidence could be no longer useful they have to do it the right way. It could have catastrophic consequences.”
The children’s grandparents Kay and Larry Woodcock have released a statement confirming the bodies found in Salem are that of JJ and Tylee.
During Daybell’s first court appearance on Wednesday, prosecutor Rob Wood said there were “children’s remains” found at Daybell’s Salem property.
He added that “the concealment of one of the bodies is particularly egregious.”
This indicates the body was hidden in a particularly offensive, appalling or shocking manner.
Daybell, 51, appeared before a judge via Zoom at 11am – the day after cops found the two bodies at his house.
Mr Wood said: “One of the primary reasons we are asking the bail to be set at that amount is these are human remains and although those remains have not yet been positively identified, we are aware that these remains are the remains of children.”
He highlighted that Daybell had a strong incentive to flee if he posted bail – so the judge set the high sum of $1million.
The judge said if Daybell does manage to post bail, he can only live in four counties in Idaho, he has to let the court know where he’s living, and he must wear an ankle monitor.
The kids were last pictured with their mom and uncle, Alex Cox, at Yellowstone National Park on September 8, while JJ’s last day at school was on September 23.
Frank Montoya Jr, who retired from the FBI in 2016, previously said cops would have been forced hold off until they had hard evidence.
Speaking before the kids’ bodies were found, he said it simply “wasn’t enough” that Vallow wasn’t cooperate with authorities.
He said: “When the parent herself is not cooperating.. it isn’t enough to arrest them.
“What’s the charge? If it’s just child endangerment and she refuses to talk, how do you prove the children have been harmed or more tragically if they’re dead? You can’t.
“A judge and jury have no choice but to say there’s no evidence to hold her in cases like this you’ll hugely dependent.”
Vallow has already been charged with child abandonment, obstructing an investigation, contempt of court and soliciting a crime, pleaded not guilty, and is in jail on $1 million bond.
Daybell has published apocalyptic novels and reportedly graded Vallow’s children as “light and dark spirits” in a disturbing email.
He and Vallow were once Latter-day Saints but were kicked out of the church last fall after Daybell proclaimed himself a prophet.
The doomsday believer has been connected to the death of his wife of 23 years, Tammy Daybell, who died under mysterious circumstances days before Chad married Lori.
Last July, Vallow’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead in Phoenix Arizona by her brother, Alex Cox.
Cox then died died from a pulmonary blood clot last December in Arizona
Daybell’s next court appearance has been scheduled for July 1 and July 2 will also be made available in case the probably cause hearing runs over.
