After arrest on Kauai, judge confirms bail for Idaho mother of 2 missing kids at $5M

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Idaho mother who has drawn international headlines following the bizarre disappearance of her two children will remain at Kauai’s jail on $5 million bail as she fights extradition on felony child desertion and other charges.

A judge confirmed Lori Vallow’s bail Friday and set her extradition hearing for March 2.

In court, the 46-year-old displayed no emotion as her husband looked on from the gallery. He didn’t answer reporters’ questions as he rushed back to his car.

Kauai detectives arrested Vallow on Thursday in Princeville after a warrant was issued in Madison County, Idaho. She did not resist arrest, Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck said at a news conference.

After her court hearing, she was taken to Kauai Community Correctional Center.

“We are all hopeful that we are able to locate the missing children,” Raybuck said, adding that there’s been no sign of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan in Hawaii.

[Read more: Police detail series of bizarre events leading up to Lori Vallow’s arrest on Kauai]

Vallow — whose two children have been missing since September — missed a January deadline in Idaho to prove her children are alive.

CBS News has reported that her financial records show she hasn’t spent any money to care for her children since they disappeared.

Vallow is charged with with two counts of felony desertion of a child along with misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime, and contempt.

Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood said the complaint filed against Vallow alleges she abandoned her two children and then stymied officers’ attempts to find them.

Officials, however, have not said whether they believe her children are still alive.

“Hopefully, our involvement in this process can lead to some kind of just resolution,” said Kauai Prosecutor Justin Kollar. “We are also hoping against hope that Tylee and JJ are out there somewhere.”

Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, left their home in Rexburg, Idaho in November ― three months after the children were last seen ― and moved to Kauai.

After Vallow’s arrest Thursday, JJ’s grandparents expressed hope they’d soon get answers.

“We are elated. We are relieved. We are ready for the next step which for Lori is: Where are the kids? Where are the kids? Where are the kids?” grandmother Kay Woodcock told EastIdahoNews.com.

Annie Cushing, Tylee’s aunt, said she was shocked and elated to learn of the arrest.

“Then I’ve kind of felt a tempering of my enthusiasm (because) ... we still potentially have a long road ahead of us," she told CBS This Morning. “But it really felt like the first jolt of hope for me that we are hopefully one step closer to finding Tylee and JJ.”

Further complicating the story, police are also investigating the deaths of the couple’s former spouses.

According to East Idaho News, Vallow has been married five times. Two of her prior husbands have died, and it’s not clear what happened to the other two.

Vallow had Tylee with her third husband, who is dead.

And she reportedly adopted JJ with her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who’s also dead.

Court records show Charles Vallow had filed for divorce, expressing his concerns over what he called his wife’s doomsday and cult-like beliefs.

Then, in July, Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Lori Vallow’s brother in Arizona.

“It’s one of the most unusual situations I’ve ever heard of in my career in law enforcement,” Kollar told Hawaii News Now in January.

Authorities are also investigating the death of Daybell’s first wife, Tammy. She was found dead in their home in October. He married Vallow two weeks later.

This story will be updated.

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