RELATIVES of Lori Vallow's murdered children have voiced relief after her daughter Tylee's remains were finally authorized to be released by a judge - four years after she and her younger brother JJ were brutally killed.
Tylee, 16, was found dismembered, burned, and buried in a pet cemetery on the property of Vallow's fifth husband, Chad Daybell, on June 9, 2020.
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Her 7-year-old brother JJ was also killed at Daybell's Rexburg, Idaho, home and was found buried in a grave nearby, having been bound with tape and plastic bags.
The state of Idaho has maintained custody of Tylee's remains ever since.
But on Wednesday, District Judge Steven Boyce signed an order authorizing her body to finally be released to her next of kin.
It's believed that Colby Ryan, Vallow's only surviving child, will likely take custody of the remains.
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Ryan has not yet responded to a request for comment from The U.S. Sun.
The release of Tylee's remains comes just two months after JJ's body was released.
At the time, JJ's aunt Kresha Easton told The U.S. Sun the news was only "half a relief" because the boy had been separated from his sister.
"It was a relief but only half a relief, though," said Kresha on October 17.
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"Half of me felt relief and the other half of me felt sad. Very sad.
"[Because] with Tylee I'm so torn. She's a part of my family too, although we aren't blood-related, and I know people can separate or compartmentalize things, but that's not how my heart works.
"It just feels wrong without her body being released too," she added.
"Those kids have been through the worst of the worst but through it all, they’ve been together. And they've been together this whole time. And I've found a lot of comfort and solace in that, that they are together even in a morgue.
"So for them to be separated now, that just does a number on my emotions."
'BACK TOGETHER'
Kresha said the past few years have been agonizing for her family as they have been unable to properly grieve without having a funeral for Tylee and JJ.
Her greatest wish, she said, was to ensure the siblings could be "back together."
"These kids are the victims," added Kresha. "They had no say in any of this. Tylee has no say in this and, I mean, this girl should be graduating college right now.
"I feel for the girl, I really do. She deserves to have the utmost human right to a proper burial and to celebrate her life and JJ's.
"[I want to] have them back together. That's just where that's where I envision them. That's where I hold them.
"It is a form of torture that they're holding their remains like this. I don't know what additional testing can be done. I don't know what they're doing.
"There can't be a good reason for them retaining and holding their remains hostage - because that’s what it feels like - by them stringing us along. It really bothers me.
"But I’m always going to advocate for them. For Tylee, JJ, and Charles, that’s my job. They cannot talk anymore. Their voices were stolen and I can be an extension of their voice."
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FAMILY RELIEVED
Kresha has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding Wednesday's ruling.
It's unclear whether the family has yet held a funeral for JJ.
But Kresha's mom, Kay Woodcock, tweeted her delight about Wednesday's ruling, writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday: "Tylee will be home for Christmas after 4 LONG years. We are grateful."
Similarly, Tylee's aunt, Annie Cushing, wrote: "After more than three years since her remains were found on Chad Daybell's property, my niece, Tylee Ryan, has been authorized to be released for burial.
"Her remains will be released to her brother, Colby Ryan. RIP, sweet girl."
Lori Vallow, meanwhile, remains behind bars where she will stay for the remainder of her life without the possibility of parole.
The 50-year-old was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in May for the deaths of Tylee, JJ, and Chad Daybell's late wife, Tammy Daybell.
She is soon to go on trial in Arizona for murder conspiracy charges in the death of JJ's dad and her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in July 2019.
During her trial in May, prosecutors successfully argued that Vallow chose to eliminate her youngest children and Daybell's wife in a sordid plot fueled by her radical religious beliefs, and "money, sex, and power."
The children were last seen days apart in September 2019, and Tammy Daybell died suddenly the following month; Vallow and Daybell tied the knot in Hawaii just days later.
During the trial, prosecutors outlined how Vallow had become convinced that her children, Tammy, and her late husband Charles had become consumed by "dark spirits" who needed to be vanquished.
JJ and Tylee's remains were found in June 2020 in Daybell's backyard in Idaho after police severed a search warrant on the property.
Daybell is due to face trial in April 2024.
He is facing the same conspiracy to murder and first-degree murder charges as Lori, in addition to two counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand theft.
Unlike Vallow, however, Daybell could face the death penalty if convicted after a judge denied a motion to take capital punishment off the table earlier this week.
His legal team filed a motion in November requesting that the judge block the possibility of the death penalty if he were to be found guilty.
They argued that Daybell shouldn't face death row because Vallow did not - despite being "in charge" of the alleged conspiracy that led to the deaths of Tylee and JJ.
In a statement acknowledging the decision to keep the death penalty as an option for Daybell, Boyce wrote: "It is neither uncommon nor outright indicative of arbitrary or capricious application that co-defendants may face differing penalties.
"Throughout the two cases, Daybell has repeatedly raised the need for 'individualized consideration' given the 'mutually antagonistic' position between Vallow and Daybell.
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"It has been individualized consideration of Daybell's right and desire to conduct additional DNA testing that persuaded this Court to sever the cases and afford Daybell additional time.
"At every critical stage of this case, the Court has been mindful of the need for individual consideration of each defendant's rights."
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