SALEM, Ore. — A large group of local and federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant Friday at the Salem home owned by Chad Daybell and his deceased spouse, Tammy.
Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said the search warrant is related to both the suspicious death of Tammy Daybell and the case involving Chad Daybell’s missing stepchildren.
The group of law enforcement — the Rexburg Police Department, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Forensic Unit from the FBI’s Salt Lake City Office — arrived at the home early Friday. Marked and unmarked vehicles surround the rural property at 202 North 1900 East.
Salem is a small community outside of Rexburg in Madison County.
Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries told EastIdahoNews.com that law enforcement recently obtained sufficient probable cause to get a search warrant for the home. Officers are searching for forensic evidence such as blood or chemicals, he said.
“This has been in the works for several days,” Humphries said. “When you are doing an investigation, you have to accumulate evidence, and the process takes time.”
Humphries would not say what the sufficient probable cause was that led to the warrant. He did say investigators could be at the scene for most of the day.
Police are investigating the disappearance of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, whose mother,Lori (Vallow) Daybell, married Chad Daybell not long after Tammy Daybell’s death.
Joshua and Tylee have been missing since September, and the Daybells are refusing to cooperate with police in their attempts to speak with the children to perform a welfare check.
Tammy Daybell was found dead in the Salem home Oct. 19. Authorities initially thought her death was from natural causes, but have since deemed her death suspicious, and exhumed her remains in early December.
Humphries previously told EastIdahoNews.com that investigators are awaiting results from the autopsy before they can move forward. It will be several weeks before the results are released.
