The mother of two missing children arrested in Hawaii last week on a $5 million warrant is expected to appear in a Hawaii court Wednesday to ask a judge to reduce her $5 million bail.
Lori Vallow, 47, was arrested last week in Kauai after she was charged by an Idaho court with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, in addition to resisting or obstruction police officers, solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.
Her two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, have not been since since last September. In January, Lori Vallow missed a court ordered deadline to physically produce her two children to authorities in Idaho. That led officials to issue a $5 million warrant for Vallow's arrest. On Friday, Vallow appeared in court and her lawyer, Daniel Dempsey, unsuccessfully asked the judge to reduce her bail to $10,000.
Police in Rexburg, Idaho have said they believe Vallow's two children's lives are in danger.
A second motion filed by Vallow's second attorney, Craig De Costa, asked the court to reduce Vallow's bail, pointing out that similar felonies usually have bail set between $2,000 and $20,000. De Costa said his client was not a flight risk and had offered to turn herself into authorities before her arrest.
However, prosecutors argue that Vallow was a clear flight risk.
"Given the extensive media attention, she is clearly aware that the authorities have prioritized her case," prosecutors said. "She also has the means to move across an ocean."
Prosecutors noted that her current husband, Chad Daybell,who she'd been living with on Kauai had approximately $152,000 available to him in a First Hawaiian Bank account.
Authorities say Tylee was last seen alive in security camera footage at the entrance of Yellowstone National Park. A photo on Lori Vallow's iCloud account also showed the 17-year-old with her brother, mother and uncle, Alex Cox at the park that same day.
Vallow's 7-year-old, JJ, was last seen attending an elementary school in Rexburg, Idaho before she withdrew him from the school, telling school officials that JJ would be homeschooled.
The strange case also involves an investigation into three separate deaths, including one into the death of Chad Daybell's former wife, Tammy, who died unexpectedly in their Idaho home. Authorities have exhumed Tammy's body to perform an autopsy. Those results are still pending.
Vallow's estranged former husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by Lori Vallow's brother, Alex Cox. Then, Cox, who told authorities that he had killed Charles in self-defense, also died from unknown causes in December.
At some point, Lori became involved with Chad Daybell, who is the author of several religious-themed self-published fiction books, some of which that focus on near-death experiences. According to court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic, Lori Vallow once claimed that she was a "god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020." Lori reportedly didn't want anything more to do with her family so she could better focus on her "more important mission."
Authorities initially questioned Vallow and Daybell about the two children's whereabouts in November. However, when investigators returned the next day to follow-up, they discovered the couple had fled their home in Idaho. It wasn't until January that detectives were able to track them down on Kauai.
Photos: Rexburg Police Department, Kauai Police Department