A forensic pathologist testified on Tuesday that Tylee Ryan’s cause of death was listed as unspecified due to the condition of her remains.
According to East Idaho News, Dr. Garth Warren said a specific cause of death could not be pinpointed but it was determined Tylee died via homicide. Tylee’s remains were found burned and dismembered on Chad Daybell’s property in 2020, and Warren said he identified several large bones — including a femur and pelvis.
“There weren’t nice clean bones. These were bones that had significant artifacts secondary to the fire. They were blackened and charred,” he testified.
According to East Idaho News, Warren also said that they located Tylee’s heart, lungs, one of her kidneys, and parts of her brain.
He explained, “These organs had severe decomposition, significant burning artifacts, they were charred and shrunken. Presumably the rest of the organs burned away or were never found.”
Tylee and her brother, J.J. Valow, 7, were missing for nine months before their remains were found on Chad Daybell’s property in June 2020. Lori Vallow Daybell is their mother, while Chad is her fifth husband whom she married after their disappearances.
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. Tylee’s remains were discovered burned and dismembered on the property.
Lori and Chad are charged with the children’s murders. They are also charged with killing Tammy Daybell, who was Chad’s wife. She was also killed in Idaho in 2019.
Lori is currently standing trial for the three slayings. In Arizona, she is charged in connection with the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot by her brother, Alex Cox, in 2019. Cox died, reportedly of natural causes, in December 2019 — though prosecutors have implicated him in J.J. and Tylee’s murders.
Lori 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. Lori allegedly said she was at her residence, also in Rexburg.
Lori claimed she was in Hawaii when Tammy was killed at her husband’s home in Salem, Idaho. Lori stated she was with two other people at the time.
Lori — who is 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.
Lori — 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.
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[Featured image: Tylee Ryan and Lori Vallow/Chandler Police Department]
