REXBURG, Idaho — The bodies were discovered on the other side of the fence near a brick home surrounded by farmland, where Peggy Jeppesen now stands on a cold and snowy spring night in southern Idaho. Miles to the east, the Grand Tetons loom., killed and buried in a shallow grave, in a disappearance that captured the attention of the country and weighed on the small, southern Idaho community.
The property is idyllic. It's a short walk from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, just 6 miles from the St. Anthony Sand Dunes, and on a clear day, Wyoming's Grand Teton mountains are visible from the back yard. Cattle roam the adjacent pasture, trudging through the snow and wading into the flooded fields. Cottonwood trees tower over the brick, ranch-style home and the red barn behind it. The only noise that drowns out the singing birds is the occasional car whizzing by.
And, from a helicopter's view, the heartbreaking news of the children's remains discovered behind Daybell's home.of the couple, who shortly after the November welfare check were holed up at a resort in Hawaii, earned him millions of online page views and more than 100,000 Facebook followers. He was invited to speak at a true crime conference and was bombarded with selfie requests. Fans still do "the Daybell tour," driving by the home where JJ and Tylee were discovered, the jail where Lori was held and East Idaho News' newsroom in Idaho Falls, hoping to meet Eaton.When asked if the trial will be a weight off his shoulders, Eaton is quick to respond. "Yes. Without a doubt," Eaton said. "... I think we're getting near the finish line.
Rexburg will have spent several million dollars when the trial is over, Nielson estimates, factoring in the resources and countless hours detectives, attorneys and other city employees have spent working on the case, traveling around the state and navigating the publicity."We want this to be done," said Natalie Powell, of Rexburg. "Just as much as the snow."
"You didn't know who is believing in this stuff," they said, referring to the obscure doomsday beliefs espoused by Daybell in his numerous books and lectures. It's now widely reported that Chad and Lori, as they're referred to here, viewed certain people as "zombies," consumed by "darkness." Death, they said, was the only path to light.