CHILLING GRIN
‘Cult mom’ Lori Vallow SMIRKS in first court appearance as bail is set at $5million in missing kids case
"CULT mom" Lori Vallow smirked in her first court appearance Friday, as a judge denied her request for a lower bail and set it at $5 million.
A judge denied a request to lower bail to $10,000, as Vallow fights extradition to Idaho where she faces charges over the disappearance of her two children five months ago.
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Vallow's court appearance follows the day after she allegedly "resisted arrest'" when cops swooped on her over her two kids who have been missing since September.
Hawaiian cops confirmed Vallow, 46, refused to go quietly when they booked her for charges relating to her missing children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17.
She faces two counts of desertion and nonsupport of her children, along with a sling of other charges in Idaho, where prosecuting attorneys are trying to extradite her.
As well as the charges relating to the disappearance of the kids, Vallow is now facing two more counts of resisting arrest.
When the judge questioned her Friday afternoon, Vallow looked around the court room, seemingly bothered to be there.
Vallow smirked as the judge questioned if she understood the charges she faces, and if she understood her rights to surrounding the extradition to Idaho.
She gave brief answers, only simply replying "Yes" as she confirmed to the judge she understood the charges and her rights.
Her appearance comes the same day .
The documents also reference the mysterious deaths surrounding Vallow and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell.
Vallow's new husband Daybell, sat in the back of the courtroom somberly during his wife's hearing Friday.
Dan Hempey, Vallow's lawyer, had asked the judge for bail to be reduced to $10,000, claiming she has remained in Hawaii since December and there was no reason to arrest her in the first place.
“It seems like it was a mainly made for media event at taxpayer expense," Hempey said of Vallow's arrest Thursday.
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Prosecuting attorney Justin F. Kollar maintained reasons for the high bail, saying the alleged charges were "serious," and asked for the hearing to be set after March 5.
He argued that Vallow's only tie to the island is a rented condo in Princeville.
The judge ultimately set the hearing for March 2, and set the bail at $5 million.
If she posts bail, Vallow must surrender any passports she has to Kaua'i Police, the judge ordered at Kollar's request.
Hempey claims Vallow does not have a passport.
Vallow faces a maximum of 14 years in prison for each count of child abandonment.
Photos of the arrest on Thursday show Vallow being patted down and searched with rubber gloves five months after her kids vanished.
Wearing a black sweater, yoga pants and flip flops, she was frisked right next to a cop car before being taken to Kauai Police HQ in front of her husband, Chad Daybell.
On Friday, Rexburg Assistant Chief of Police Gary Hagen told The Sun Daybell has not been arrested or charged.
The kids were last seen in but there was no indication they were ever in , police said.
'WHERE ARE THE KIDS?'
Vallow's adopted autistic son JJ and his sister disappeared in September - but Vallow didn't report them missing.
It was only when Idaho police completed a welfare check at the request of JJ's grandparents that authorities were alerted to their disappearance.
Although JJ has been reported missing, Tylee has not been officially filed as a missing person, so that charge may ultimately be dropped.
JJ's grandma Kay Woodcock told : "We are ready for the next step which for Lori is: where are the kids? Where are the kids? Where are the kids?"
Speaking via , Woodcock told Vallow she "better start talking now and maybe you can save a little year or two off your sentence you’re about to have when you go to court."
Police say the couple told one individual that Tylee had died a year before her father, while Chad said she had no minor children.
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Vallow in five days and has had little to say about where they are.
After being questioned by Idaho cops, she bolted to Hawaii with religious author Daybell, who is a member of the Latter Day Saints Church.
Vallow and Daybell were married just a few weeks after the children were last seen - and both of their spouses have died in mysterious circumstances.
She reportedly became obsessed with his work heralding the end of the world while still living with her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Charles was shot dead by Vallow's brother Alex Cox, who then died in December, while Daybell's wife - and the mother of his five kids - Tammy also died.
DISTURBING DETAILS
Tammy's body was exhumed in December as part of the investigation into her suspicious death on Oct. 19.
Charles' states Vallow thought she was “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020."
In the divorce documents, he claimed Vallow said she could not be with him “because she had a more important mission to carry out."
Charles said she threatened to kill him and JJ if they got in her way, according to these records.
Vallow allegedly told him she would not be charged because she had the help of "an angel there to help her dispose of the body."
'LIES'
Now, cops say Vallow and her fifth husband "repeatedly lied" about the children's whereabouts after searching their rented car and condo.
They had been living in Hawaii since mid-December, after Idaho police questioned them following a prompt from JJ's grandparents.
Vallow and Daybell claimed her son was with other family members when officers knocked on their door - they took off before cops could investigate further.
They issued a statement via Idaho lawyer Sean Bartholick denying the allegations against them, dismissing them as "speculation and rumor."
The "cult mom" and Daybell were reportedly staying in , before they were found.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Video also emerged which shows Vallow and a man — thought to be her brother — at a storage unit facility shortly after her two children were last seen.
Vallow was charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children issued by Madison County prosecutors in Idaho.
Kaua‘i cops also charged Vallow with arrests and seizures – resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court – willful disobedience of court process or order.
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'Cult mom' Lori Vallow got married in Hawaii just WEEKS after kids last seen alive
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