Mother of missing Idaho siblings seeks to reduce $5 million bail
Lori Vallow is set to appear in court in Hawaii to ask for a bail bond reduction; Rick Leventhal reports from Los Angeles.
Lori Vallow, the mother of two children missing from Idaho since September, is expected back in court in Hawaii Wednesday to seek to have her $5 million bail bond reduced.
Vallow was arrested last week in Kauai. She appeared in court Friday to contest her extradition to Idaho, where she’s charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, in addition to resisting or obstructing police officers, solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.
During Friday’s hearing, Vallow’s attorney, Daniel Dempsey, unsuccessfully asked the judge to lower his client’s bail to $10,000.
LORI VALLOW'S EXTRADITION FROM HAWAII TO BE EXPEDITED BY IDAHO GOVERNOR IN MISSING CHILDREN'S CASE
In a later court motion seeking a bail reduction, Vallow’s second attorney, Craig De Costa, argued bail for equivalent felonies is normally set between $2,000 and $20,000, Fox 10 Phoenix reported. He said his client is not a flight risk, claiming she offered to turn herself in to authorities before her arrest Thursday.
“Given the extensive media attention, she is clearly aware that the authorities have prioritized her case,” prosecutors countered in their own filing. “She also has the means to move across an ocean.”
Prosecutors also pointed out that her current and fifth husband, Chad Daybell, with whom she's been living with on the island since fleeing Idaho together in November, had $152,000 available to him in an account at First Hawaiian Bank.
Lori Vallow (left) was arrested in Hawaii Thursday and is being held on a $5 million bond in connection with the disappearance of her two children Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, (middle) and Tylee Ryan, 17, (right) who've been missing from Idaho since September.
In January, Vallow ignored a court order to physically produce the two children – 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, who is autistic, and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan – before Idaho child welfare workers or Rexburg, Idaho, police within five days.
Tylee was last seen in September on security camera footage at the entrance of Yellowstone National Park. A photo found on Lori Vallow’s iCloud account showed the teen, her brother, mother and uncle, Alex Cox, all visited the park together that day. Weeks later, JJ was last seen attending elementary school in Rexburg, Idaho, before his mother withdrew him, saying he’d be homeschooled.
Just a month after her kids were last seen, and weeks after Chad’s former wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly in their Idaho home, Lori Vallow married Chad Daybell in October. He’s the author of several religious-themed novels about the end times.
JJ’s grandparents in Louisiana asked police in November to check on the children in Idaho, saying they hadn’t been able to contact them for an extended period of time. That’s when Vallow and Daybell fled.
Vallow’s fourth and former husband, Charles Vallow, died in July in Arizona after he was fatally shot by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox claimed self-defense and was never arrested. He died unexpectedly in his own Arizona home of unknown causes in December.
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Before his death, Charles Vallow accused his wife in divorce papers of joining a doomsday cult and declaring herself god sent to prepare for the end of the world. He also said in court documents he feared his wife would kill him.
The deaths of Tammy Daybell, Charles Vallow and Alex Cox all remain under investigation. Autopsy reports have not been released.
