Lori Vallow Daybell, the mother of Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, is being held on $5 million bail on the island of Kaua'i, Hawaii, pending extradition to Idaho.
Lori Vallow Daybell will be brought back to Idaho as soon as possible after giving up her extradition fight.
Lori's attorney, Craig De Costa, unsuccessfully asked a Hawaiian judge to reduce Lori's bail from $5 million Wednesday, arguing in court that "she's more than willing, if bail is reduced to a reasonable amount, to actually pay for herself to go back to Idaho and face those charges and defend against those charges."
Judge Kathleen Watanabe denied the request, as Idaho authorities seem more than happy to pay for Lori's ticket back to the mainland, where she faces two counts of felony desertion of a child in the disappearance of her two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17. She also faces misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime, and contempt, according to the Madison County, Idaho, prosecutor's office.
Lori told Watanabe she would go willingly with an agent sent by the state of Idaho to face those charges, and her attorney asked that it happen as soon as possible. Lori is being held in a Hawaiian jail and Watanabe set a hearing for March 4 to make sure Lori's transport had been coordinated by that date.
Lori's fifth husband, Chad Daybell, an end-times author and publisher, did not appear to be in the courtroom Wednesday, EastIdahoNews.com reported.
Chad and Lori Daybell wed just weeks after the death of Chad's previous wife, Tammy, who was found dead at their home in Rexburg, Idaho on Oct. 19. Lori's previous husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, at her home on July 11. Cox himself died on Dec. 12. All three deaths are now under investigation.
Chad has not been arrested or charged with a crime and both he and Lori have denied any wrongdoing. Lori's attorneys in Hawaii and Chad and Lori's attorney in Idaho did not immediately respond to InsideEdition.com's request for comment Thursday.
Wednesday's hearing also shed new light on previous child custody battles involving Lori. In arguing against the bail reduction, Kaua'i County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar referenced Lori's defiance of court orders regarding the custody of her kids in 2009 and 2011. At that time, Lori had two children, Colby Ryan and Tylee Ryan. She had divorced Tylee's biological father, Joseph Ryan, in 2004.
"What was telling in those reports is Joseph Ryan's statements that she has a history of disappearing when the child's custody is at issue," Kollar said.
Joseph Ryan died of an apparent heart attack in 2018. Colby Ryan has repeatedly pleaded with his mother to tell authorities where his siblings are.
Kollar, the prosecuting attorney, has continuously argued that Lori is a flight risk and that she and Chad have the financial resources to leave the state, pointing out that Lori already left Idaho.
"Our position remains that Ms. Daybell is certainly a flight risk, she has resided in numerous states in recent years, has had identification from numerous states in recent years and is in open defiance of court orders, not only from Idaho, but has a history of digging out when the chips are down," Kollar said during Wednesday's hearing.
Authorities have previously said there is no evidence that either Tylee or JJ were ever on Kaua'i with their mother after they were last seen in September. JJ was last seen on Sept. 23 in Rexburg, Idaho, and Tylee was last seen Sept. 8 in Yellowstone National Park.
On Wednesday, De Costa argued that an Idaho court order requiring Lori to produce JJ and Tylee to authorities by Jan. 30 was "unlawful and should be quashed." Lori did not meet that deadline, and her attorney offered an explanation as to why.
"That order didn't say simply produce your children in Idaho in court. It pretty much said bring your children so that we, the government, can take the children and put them in foster care. And that's the reason why she's fighting that order," De Costa said.
In an affidavit of probable cause filed by police in Idaho, Rexburg Police Department Detective Ron Ball says investigators have found no evidence that Lori has been paying someone else to care for her children since they were last seen.
The Rexburg Police Department asks anyone with information regarding the children's whereabouts or welfare to contact the department at 1-208-359-3000 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST.
JJ has brown hair and brown eyes, is 4 feet tall and weighs 50 pounds. He has autism and "may be in need of medical attention," according to authorities. Tylee has blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds.
RELATED STORIES
