Idaho 'cult mom' Lori Vallow pleads not guilty to charges, requests bail bond to be reduced from $1M again
REXBURG, IDAHO: The attorney for 'cult mom' Lori Vallow entered a not-guilty plea to all charges against his client and requested to reduce her bond from $1 million. Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, have been in the national headlines over the past year over the disappearance and death of her two children, seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan.
The children were last seen in September 2019 but were not reported missing by either Vallow or Daybell, who both went on the run when authorities started looking into the case two months later after being alerted to it by concerned relatives. Vallow was eventually arrested in Hawaii in February and extradited to Idaho, where she was charged in Madison County with two felony counts of desertion and non-support of dependent children, as well as resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court.
The felony counts of desertion and non-support of dependent children were later dropped by a judge, but Vallow was indicted on multiple new charges during an appearance at the Fremont County Court on June 30. She appeared via Zoom call and was filmed wiping away tears as she was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence in connection to new evidence uncovered by investigators.
Almost a year into their investigation, authorities who executed a search warrant and raided Daybell's Salem, Idaho, home had made a breakthrough and uncovered human remains in a pet cemetery in his backyard. They were subsequently confirmed belonging to Joshua and Tylee. Court documents indicated that Joshua had been easy to identify, but stated Tylee's body was so badly burned and decomposed, investigators had to call upon the expertise of an orthodontist for help.
"It was not possible to identify those remains by simply looking at them as they were too damaged by fire and dismemberment and no longer had any recognizable features," a report read. "However, Dr Glen Smith, an orthodontist and Deputy Coroner in the Ada County Coroner's Office was able to identify these remains as belonging to Tylee Ryan by matching an irregular jawline with an X-ray of Tylee when she was alive."
Earlier this week, her attorney entered a not guilty plea to those charges, as well as to misdemeanors for contempt, resisting and obstructing, and criminal solicitation to commit a crime. He had also asked that his client's bond be reduced, a request that has previously been rejected.
Court documents submitted on her behalf, and viewed by KTVB, argued that her bond amount should reflect that some of the charges against her had been dropped, and should include only the evident charges against her. The 'cult mom,' a name given to her over her obsession with cults and doomsday prophecies, also filed a motion requesting a change of venue for her upcoming pre-trial on Friday, July 17.
Daybell has been similarly charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, as well as two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, and is also being held on a $1 million bond. However, neither has been formally charged in the deaths of Joshua and Tylee.