Lori Vallow-Daybell is getting ready for a court appearance that has popped up suddenly in Hawaii after her attorneys filed a motion Monday for the judge to reconsider the reduction of her $5 million bail.
On Tuesday, the prosecuting attorney in Kaua’i fired back, filing a memorandum in opposition of a bail reduction.
On the same day, the Madison County, Idaho Prosecuting Attorney filed three subpoenas calling for witnesses with information related to Lori Vallow-Daybell, Chad Daybell and Joshua “JJ” Vallow.
The filed documents are piling up in the Vallow-Daybell case, which involves felony charges of desertion and nonsupport of her 17-year old daughter, Tylee Ryan, and 7-year old adopted son, JJ.
The children went missing in Idaho in September, Rexburg police have said. Charging documents revealed Tylee was last known to be in Yellowstone National Park on September 8, and JJ was last seen at school September 23.
RELATED STORIES: The Search for JJ and Tylee
CBS News reported that investigators inside the case are talking about a potential search of Yellowstone National Park in the spring, once the snow has melted. It’s the first mention of a physical search for the children.
Lori was arrested in Kaua’i in February, and her attorney indicated she’s fighting extradition back to Idaho.
The subpoenas filed Tuesday in Idaho call upon Lori and Chad Daybell’s landlord of their Princeville condo, Kaua’i Beach Resort and Kennedy Elementary in Rexburg to provide documents.
“Said records, documents or other information shall include, but are not limited to, booking and/or reservation dates, durations, notes, billings and method of payment, and any and all phone records,” the Kaua’i Beach Resort subpoena reads.
The landlord’s subpoena asks for Lori and Chad’s rental contract, and any other records, documents reports or information pertaining to the couple.
The prosecuting attorney wants Kennedy Elementary to provide, “enrollment…attendance records, financial records, discipline records, and/or teacher/classroom notes and documents.”
Kennedy Elementary has said JJ was enrolled until September 24, the day after his disappearance. The school’s principal said Lori came in to unenroll JJ, saying she was going to homeschool him instead.
Retired FBI Senior Executive Frank Montoya said the subpoenas are meant to establish fact patterns in the case.
“It all supports the charge that… the children were abandoned and possibly are in danger,” he said, during an interview Tuesday.
In Kaua’i, Lori’s attorneys are asking for a judge to lower her bail. The documents say that state and federal law mandates “Excessive bail shall not be required.”
They outlined how $2,000 to $20,000 bail is more in line with the charges in Lori’s arrest warrant.
“Lori’s constitutional rights have been violated,” the document states.
Defense attorneys say Lori is not a flight risk, nor a danger to the public. “There was no need to arrest Lori without a Hawaii warrant or a governor’s warrant,” the document explains.
The Kaua’i Prosecuting Attorney argued in his filing that, “Clearly, the defendant is a flight risk.” The document says Lori fled to Kaua’i within a short time of talking to investigators in Idaho.
“She also has the means to move across the ocean,” the document reads. The prosecutor says that’s because Chad Daybell, Lori’s husband, has $152,000 in his bank account last month.
The document included a bank statement from Chad’s account, showing an average balance of $138,782.42.
Montoya explained that this back-and-forth is all part of the process.
“This is all part and parcel, the dance that occurs once a person is taken into custody and the legal process is initiated,” he said.
The dance will continue in court on Wednesday. Lori is expected to appear at 2 p.m. HST for a hearing on the motion to reconsider the bail reduction.
