'Cult' mom Lori Vallow is ARRESTED in Hawaii on several charges including child abandonment in connection with the disappearance of her two missing kids who haven't been seen since September
- Lori Vallow was arrested in Kauai Thursday; she's being held on $5M bond
- Her arrest comes as cops continue to investigate disappearance of her children
- Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, have been missing since September
- Lori failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on January 30 in Madison County
- She has been charged with desertion and nonsupport of dependent children
- Lori was charged with resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court
'Cult' mom Lori Vallow has been arrested by police in Hawaii during the investigation into her two missing children. She is pictured above in a new mugshot taken before she was jailed on a $5million
'Cult' mom Lori Vallow has been arrested in Hawaii as police continue their investigation into the whereabouts of her two missing children.
Police arrested Lori on Thursday on a warrant issued in Madison County, Idaho, and is being held on $5million bail, Kauai police said.
Seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan haven't been seen since late September, and police in Rexburg, Idaho, have said they strongly believe that their lives are in danger.
Lori failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on January 30 in Madison County.
On Thursday, she was charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.
Lori was also charged 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.
Madison County Prosecting Attorney, Rob Wood, said in a statement that the complaint filed by the prosecutor's office alleges that Lori 'abandoned her two minor children, delayed law enforcement's attempts to locate her children'.
The maximum sentence on each count of desertion of a child in Idaho is 14 years in prison.
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Lori's arrest comes two days after she and her husband Chad (pictured on Tuesday at the Kahului Airport) were seen returning to the island of Kauai after their two-day trip in Maui
The couple left the island on Sunday and traveled to Maui. The couple are seen sitting on the plane after boarding on Tuesday to head back to Kauai
Lori failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on January 30 in Madison County. Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in Idaho in September in Rexburg, Idaho and authorities are still searching for them
The couple have reportedly been holed up in this three-bedroom condo at the Kaiulani of Princeville Townhomes in Princeville, Hawaii
In a statement, Kauai Chief of Police Todd G. Raybuck said: 'First of all, we wish to thank the public for the massive outpouring of concern regarding this case.'
'We also want to thank everyone for their patience while investigators worked diligently to comprehensively gather everything they needed in order to obtain this arrest warrant.'
In December, Rexburg police asked Kauai police for help in locating the couple.
On January 25, Kauai police presented an Idaho order to Lori to produce her children before authorities in Madison County.
A day later, Kauai police served a search warrant on a rental car and the condo they were renting in Princeville, a resort town on Kauai's north shore.
'The children were last seen in Idaho and there is no indication that they are on Kauai,' police said in the statement on Thursday.
'There are currently no criminal charges against Vallow on Kauai.'
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A hearing date, where Lori will be given the opportunity to waive or fight extradition to Idado, is yet to be determined.
Shortly after Lori was arrested, the grandparents of JJ spoke to KHON 2.
Larry and Kay Woodcock both said that they are 'very, very happy' that Lori has been arrested.
Kay said she had to dismiss all of the reporters who started calling after Lori’s arrest, so that she could tell their family, and 'they were all hooping and hollering so we are one big happy family'.
She revealed that they knew Lori's arrest 'was coming,' they 'just didn’t know when'.
'I know they [police] have put so much work into this, They’ve worked through the holidays and I know the public doesn’t think they have but we have been working with them and we know what was going on, well what they could tell us,' Kay told KHON.
'But we did not know the arrest was coming today. I felt like it was going to come in the next week,' Larry added.
Kay then revealed that she and Larry were in Hollywood on Wednesday evening where they 'had business for a show coming up'.
She wouldn't go into detail, saying only that they 'can't talk about it yet'.
Kay and Larry said their lives have been like a rollercoaster because 'we never know when the phone is going to ring and it’s going to be God only knows what'.
'It seems to never end,' Larry said before Kay called it a 'never ending saga'.
Shortly after Lori was arrested, Larry and Kay Woodcock, the grandparents of JJ (pictured together) spoke to KHON 2 and said that they are 'very, very happy' that Lori has been taken into custody
Kay then revealed that she and Larry were in Hollywood on Wednesday evening where they 'had business for a show coming up'. She wouldn't go into detail, saying only that they 'can't talk about it yet'
They were then asked about what their upcoming plans are.
'We’ll never give up trying to find JJ and Tylee. That won’t end,' Larry said, with Kay adding that the 'next chapter in our lives will be looking at the law surrounding missing children'.
When asked by a reporter from KHON what they would say to Lori right now, Kay responded: 'Hey hunny you better start talking now and maybe you can save a year or two off your sentence you’re about to have when you go to court.'
It wasn't until the end of the five-minute clip that the couple made a plea for Lori to tell them where JJ and Tylee are.
'Lori tell us where the kids are. Please, God tell us where the kids are and let this work out through the system,' Larry said.
'You’ve had this long enough let’s end this and tell us where they are,' Kay added.
Lori's arrest comes just two days after she and her husband Chad were seen returning to the island of Kauai on Tuesday after their trip to Maui.
The couple - who were married on November 5 - fled to Hawaii in mid-December after leaving Idaho when police started to question them about the whereabouts of JJ and Tylee.
The search for JJ and Tylee was launched in late November after Rexburg police conducted a welfare check ordered by concerned relatives who said they hadn't spoken to JJ, who is autistic, in months.
Both children were last seen in September, but were never reported missing by their mother or stepfather.
When officers first went to Lori's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona - which investigators now say was a lie.
Lori and Chad have been living in Hawaii since mid-December after they fled their home in Rexburg, Idaho, when police began questioning them about the whereabouts of her children, JJ and Tylee
Lori and Chad became the target of a national media firestorm with the revelations that police are also investigating the mysterious deaths of both of their previous spouses and Lori's brother, as well as family members' claims that they are members of a doomsday cult
Police say the couple have refused to cooperate with investigators and have repeatedly lied about where the children (pictured) are
Officers returned the following day and found that Lori and Chad had fled from the home.
Police have said Lori and Chad have lied about the children's whereabouts and even about their very existence, with Chad allegedly telling one person that Lori had no kids, and Lori allegedly telling another person that her daughter had died more than a year earlier.
The couple have both been named as persons of interest in their disappearances. Authorities have said they believe Lori knows where her children are or what happened to them.
On Tuesday, photos of the couple on Tuesday showed them standing at a Hertz counter at the Kahului Airport around 2pm.
They were then seen sitting in their seats as the plane prepared to takeoff.
Passengers and airport employees told EastIdahoNews.com that the couple remained quiet and kept to themselves.
According to the news site, a police officer also came to the gate to verify that the couple were on the flight.
Lori and Chad became the target of a national media firestorm with the revelations that police are also investigating the mysterious deaths of both of their previous spouses and Lori's brother, as well as family members' claims that they are members of a dangerous doomsday cult.
A close friend of Lori's recently revealed that she has been trying to stay out of the public eye as she waits for the 'media hype' to die down.
When the search for the children started in December, an attorney for Lori and Chad issued a statement on their behalf in December, saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to addressing 'allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor'.
The search for JJ and Tylee uncovered a web of mysterious deaths surrounding Lori and Chad that has baffled investigators for weeks.
Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 10.
Charles and Lori had gotten into an argument when the father came to pick up JJ at her home in Chandler.
Lori's brother intervened and shot Charles dead. She then moved with her children to Idaho, where Chad lived, in August.
Police initially determined that he acted in self defense - but the case was reopened during the multi-state search for JJ and Tylee.
There are also suspicions surrounding the death of Chad's wife, Tammy Daybell. She was found dead at the couple's home in Salem, Idaho on October 18.
An obituary stated that Tammy passed away in her sleep and her cause of death was ruled as natural after Chad reportedly declined an autopsy.
Investigators reopened the investigation into her death after learning that JJ and Tylee were missing, as their mother had married Chad just two weeks after Tammy died. They believe the two cases could be linked.
Tammy's body was exhumed on December 11 and the autopsy results have not yet been released.
Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow (pictured together) was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 11, 2019
Chad's wife Tammy Daybell (pictured together) was found dead under mysterious circumstances in October, just two weeks before he married Lori
On December 12, Lori's brother, Alex Cox, was found dead in Gilbert, Arizona.
The 51-year-old's death is now under investigation as police wait for an autopsy to determine the cause.
Kay Woodcock - the sister of Charles Vallow who is also JJ's grandmother - issued a statement in December in which she described how Lori turned into a 'monster' after she met Chad in 2018.
Chad, 51, is a prolific author of 25 books focusing on doomsday scenarios and near-death experiences. He is what's known as a 'prepper' - someone who is getting ready for the End of Times - and was a member of a group called Preparing a People.
Last month DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Chad had been kicked out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints back in the fall after he declared himself a prophet.
Lori reportedly began reading Chad's writing while she was living in Hawaii with Charles, JJ and Tylee between 2014 and 2017.
It's unclear how or when exactly Lori and Chad met, but family members say it was sometime around June 2018.
The pair made their first appearance together in December 2018 on a podcast for Preparing a People, a group which, according to its website, organizes conferences and lectures for those who 'look forward to the rapidly coming changes to our current Telestial way of life, and rejoice in the hope of a far better world to soon come!'
Lori and Charles' marriage crumbles amid her alleged cult ties
Lori and Charles' marriage deteriorated rapidly as she became more and more involved with Preparing a People, and he filed for divorce and for custody of JJ in February 2019.
In court documents, he claimed that Lori had become 'obsessed' with doomsday and believed she was a reincarnated god sent to Earth to help prepare for the second coming of Christ.
'Mother has told Father [Charles] that she is sealed [eternally married] to the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she has lived numerous lives on numerous planets prior to this current life,' the documents state.
'Mother also informed Father that she is a translated being who cannot taste death sent by God to lead the 144,000 into the Millennium.
Charles Vallow (pictured) filed for divorce from Lori in February 2019
'Mother believes that she is receiving spiritual revelations and visions to help her gather and prepare those chosen to live in the New Jerusalem after the Great War as prophesied in the book of Revelations.'
Charles also claimed in the petition that Lori had threatened to kill him.
During a January 29 phone conversation, Lori allegedly told Charles that she was a 'God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020 and that if Father [Charles] got in her way of her mission she would murder him', the documents state.
Charles' sister Kay said she kept in close contact with him during the divorce proceedings, and that he would often call her in hysterics.
She said she suspected Lori and Chad were having an affair at the time and expressed concern over the fact that Lori's three previous husbands had died.
Earlier this month, Kay called Lori a 'black widow'.
'[Husband] three and [husband] four are dead. Five? He's next. How he's gonna go? I don't know. But I wouldn't sleep with my eyes closed,' she said.
No information is known about Lori's first two husbands. Her third husband and Tylee's father, Joseph Ryan, died of an apparent heart attack in April 2018.
Amid the divorce proceedings Charles was granted an order of protection against Lori - who he claimed had drained $35,000 out of their bank account.
When Charles tried to serve the order of protection to Lori, he couldn't find her. The family says she disappeared for nearly two months, leaving her children in relatives' care.
Charles revoked his petition for divorce about a month after filing it and moved to Texas.
Charles predicts Lori or her brother will kill him
Attorneys who represented Charles in the divorce have spoken out, claiming that their client had predicted either Lori or her brother Alex would kill him.
Lawyer Steven Ellsworth told FOX10 that Charles had told him: 'I'm afraid I'm gonna be killed, and I know who's gonna do it.
'I'm telling you, Steve, so that if something happens to me, I wanna make sure you let everyone know that something happens, I'm killed, that it's my wife Lori and her brother, Alex Cox.'
Five months later, his prediction came true.
Charles went to Lori's home in Chandler, Arizona, to pick up JJ on July 10. When he arrived, the pair got into an argument that turned physical, according to Lori's brother Alex Cox.
Lori's brother Alex Cox died under mysterious circumstances on December 12
Cox, who was visiting for the night, told police that he tried to intervene when Charles hit him in the back of the head with a baseball bat. He told investigators that he shot Charles twice in the chest to 'stop him'.
The Chandler Police Department recently released redacted body camera footage of Alex and Lori speaking to officers outside the home directly after the shooting.
Lori calmly answered questions about her relationship with Charles, while Alex appeared much more frazzled as officers repeatedly had to ask him to repeat parts of the story.
He explained how the incident began when he tried to break up a fight between Charles and Lori, saying: '[Charles] told me not to interfere with them anymore or I'd pay.'
He claimed that his niece, Tylee, retrieved a baseball bat from her bedroom to protect her mother from Charles but that Charles grabbed it from her and started hitting him instead.
As he ran to his room to retrieve his gun, Lori and the children fled out of the home.
'I told him to put the bat down and he wouldn't,' Alex recounted.
'I said, "I want you to put the bat tat down and he wouldn't. He came at me with the bat again so I shot him to stop him. That was it.'
Two family members and Charles' attorneys have disputed that account.
'We knew immediately that was wrong,' Charles' sister Kay said at a press conference this month. 'It was a setup.'
Charles' oldest son said he doesn't believe his father would have gotten violent with Lori or her brother.
'I knew my dad was the most passive person. He hated arguing with people. He'd never been in a fight, he was not an aggressive person in any way. I don't believe it at all,' the son told FOX10.
Lawyer Taylor Lawson told the outlet: 'We knew that this wasn't an accident. This wasn't self-defense.'
