I'm seeing signs that Chad is starting to crack under the pressure. It's a small snapshot but I think it's quite revealing.
It's not that he doesn't hold the door or check to see that Lori gets in behind him, it's the way he is not walking with her. I think it shows she's not number one in his thoughts, and my guess is he's starting to combust because he's not in control of the media. Feeling impotent is the word that is coming to mind. I think the church is about finding nice people who can get the message out for him that what's in the news is not true - and I think it's becoming apparent he is really really dependent on external validation and support. I hope it means they are arguing already, because he will be thinking of his survival I would think. I hope media keeps up the pressure while LE sort themselves out.
He looks pretty mad here too, in the shot with Nate Eaton-
Nate Eaton - Reporter
moo
Yes, he looks mad in that photo! But he's looking at Lori, not Nate. Maybe gauging her reaction to Nate's approach. Nate just introduced himself, then the photo, then Nate asking "Can you tell me where your kids are?" as they start walking.
Question for those who were at funeral or related services for Tammy (
@RexburgSleuth @Randocalrissian ): Did Chad already have his "new" haircut then? I noticed he's sporting it in his Hawaiian wedding photos Nov 5. I'm wondering if he essentially left town and turned into a new person, or if he's had that haircut for a while and the original photos we saw of him were just outdated. I'm trying to wrap my head around how abruptly he changed after Tammy's death of if it was more gradual. Or perhaps the haircut changed in early Sept when LVD arrived? It might give us an inkling (albeit circumstantial) that they were seeing each other already, and whether or not he may know the actual details of the kids' whereabouts? Would love any insights.
MOO
He appeared exactly like he normally looked at the funeral services in Utah.
All new look. Not so much a new haircut, but a hair grow! His hair at the memorial and before was as you've seen in the driver's license photos (much like Nate's as well): very short cut. In the photos of the family vacation he had started to grow the top out, but not gone full grey as in the Hawaii video (see attached taken at SLC Airport Gate D7 not sure if Nov 27 or Nov 26, likely not Nov 28. removed people in background unrelated to case.). I do wonder if it's stress or sun that's helped him go grey.
There are a few plants in Hawaii that are extremely common and you can extract extremely powerful drugs from. One that comes to mind is Angel's trumpet (datura). You can make scopalamine, atropine, and various other drugs from it. One of those is belladona which paralyzes your pupils in the dilated state. It is also a poison.
I have it on my property. One day a few months ago I was working in the yard, mostly weedwhacking and chainsawing. I was wearing safety glasses. I felt a sting in my eye at one point like a bead of sweat got in my eye. My vision in that eye got blurred. I was almost done so I finished up, assuming it was just dirty sweat. I took a shower then looked in the mirror and quickly noticed one pupil was fully dilated and the other was normal. Differential dilation can be a sign of a serious head injury so I was briefly freaked out. I got a flashlight and checked my pupil response and that pupil was unresponsive to light. I vaguely remembered that belladona can do that and wondered if datura did as well. A little googling and I found medical reports about it. So I rinsed my eyes out and waited. It took about two days for everything to return to normal! My exposure would have been incidental because I was not working on a datura plant.
Symptoms of datura poisoning can include very dry throat, loss of balance and coordination, tachycardia, and it can lead to death. Wasn't Tammy coughing (dry throat), fell out of bed....
And here's the fun part - when bees make honey from datura flowers the honey contains the toxic compounds.
The plant is a common source of poisons used for suicide in Europe.
That's just one of literally millions of plant species here that could potentially yield an unusual poison. Given the knowledge of some of our POI's associates in areas like this, they could easily have extracted some novel compound that might not even be tested for.
If Chad (or Lori) was a regular in Hawaii they could easily have gotten ahold of some. It is an extremely common plant and grows wild all over the place.
Or if Lori had lived in or gone to Hawaii for an extended period beforehand, she could have figured out how to get rid of Tammy by doing some research. Oh...wait. She could have.
The Chad I thought I knew would be horrified to be seen negatively. I would think he would consider ending things if he saw no way out. But he does not seem to be the Chad I knew, so now I have no idea.
@Randocalrissian You and me both, brother! This is all new Chad.
Does anyone have a picture of them in the store shopping? I'm not finding it in the link, unless it has been taken down. Also If I remember correctly, medicine bottles or containers were in the list of seized items from the Daybell home/property, so hopefully since she was sick there may have been evidence in those!! It's too bad the search warrant was so long after her death, because that left lots of time for him to rid the home of any evidence. Does anyone know for certain where Chad vacationed with his family over Thanksgiving? If I were LE I would be investigating there too!! Honestly so many twists and turns in this case it is crazy!!
Not the shopping trip, but here's Chad on vacation. See below.
Also, I meant to say Tammy's hair might reveal sedatives. I suppose that depends on whether it had happened before or it had a chance to work through her system into the hair follicle.
They used that science in a case I followed before but the victim had been sedated over several months and the levels of sedation built up gradually.
Here's a link that might shed further light on this -
Hair Analysis in Forensic Science - Houston Hair Transplant | Dr. Jezic
If that could have been prolonged exposure and the "paintball gun" attack was planned to trigger the poison, then I think we might have a chance with hair follicle analysis.
Yes, and why not wonder about all those children's scooters and everything on the porch if she has no children?
I'm on the fence about CD meeting the kids. LV is a world class liar. TR is 17, has finished school, divorce documents say she is emancipated (I have no idea what that means legally). JJ is not her biological child, so if she says she has no minor children there is a grain of truth under the bed of lies.
As far as toys, scooters, kids clothes that CD encountered, that is just another lie away from explanation. MB lives next door and has 4 kids. If we leave out the fact that MB does not have custody of her kids why wouldn't CD believe MB's kids come visit auntie Lori?
FWIW I don't believe what I have just said is true, but it could be. MOO
I've posted a theory on how Chad could have missed seeing the children's toys on the front porch:
ID - ID - Joshua Vallow, 7, & Tylee Ryan, 17, Rexburg, Sept 2019 *mom, stepfather found* #12
It doesn't explain how she kept them from his knowledge in the repeated interactions of the events and podcasts leading up to their disappearance, but that could just be Lori lying. Remember the Nov 27th call from Colby to Lori about the PD looking for them at his house? Her reply "'I got it, I'll take care of it... Love you and that was it". If she was with Chad at that very second, there's no way she has to explain that response whereas, anything of their live existence would have drawn more questions from Chad. She hangs up. She can quickly think up anything to tell him about Colby. No worries. It keeps the narrative "Lori has no minor children".
On another topic, I see that Rexburg Police Dept is looking to hire a new full-time police officer:
Rexburg Police Department
I wonder if someone left the RPD and they are hiring a replacement or if that means they are adding an additional officer (growing the police force) due to the extra workload of investigating the missing children? I hope it's the latter and that they have someone working on this around the clock along with the FBI. We might not see much movement but that doesn't mean they are not doing anything to try to locate the kids. MOO.
I hope they're really good. I can only imagine how busy our LE are right now!
I really don't know anything about how the LDS church is run but in my church anyone is free to attend and it likely wouldn't be brought up from the pulpit at all if some suspected criminal talked to the pastor privately and said he wanted to start attending church (unless said criminal had just recently converted and wanted to be baptised, share a testimony of his conversion, etc). The way it was told in the press is that Lori and Chad were seen talking to the leaders and someone overheard Lori and Chad telling the leaders they wanted to attend there and that it was all lies and one-sided in the media. We don't really know what else she may have told the leaders. Plus that statement from an anonymous source is hearsay that I wouldn't expect to stand up in court-- unless the church member who overheard it came forward to testify, but even that seems iffy on if the judge would allow. MOO.
