Two of three attorneys representing an Idaho mother charged in the disappearance of her two children have walked off the case, according to a report by ABC News.
Lawyers Edwina Elcox and Brian Webb removed themselves from Lori Vallow’s legal team last week Friday, just days after two-day preliminary hearing was postponed for at least a month.
They offered no explanation for their decision, ABC reported.
For now, the abrupt departures leave attorney Mark Means as Vallow’s only representative.
“As with any citizen of our Country, Mrs. Daybell is entitled to all the privileges and rights that accompany our cornerstone belief of innocents, until proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise,” Means said in a statement, according to ABC News. “It is this innocence that Mrs. Daybell assertively maintains regarding all charges.”
A week ago, Means called for the judge in the case to recuse himself, delaying the preliminary hearing until May. No reason was given.
Vallow's children, 17-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan, and her son, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, have not been seen since September.
Since her arrest, Vallow has not offered an explanation of their whereabouts.
The 46-year-old mother faces two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, among several other misdemeanor charges. She continues to maintain her innocence.
She was taken into custody Feb. 20 in Hawaii, where she was staying with her husband, Chad Daybell, since the couple was married in early November. There were no signs her children were ever with her.
Credit: John Roark
Credit: John Roark
Police accuse Vallow of being uncooperative with investigators.
She first came under suspicion when the boy’s grandparents reported him missing Nov. 25, but Vallow lied to police and vanished from her Rexburg, Idaho, apartment just as authorities were preparing to carry out a welfare check, according to reports.
Before she left, Vallow reportedly told neighbors she sent her son to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to spend time with relatives, which turned out to be untrue, investigators said.
Police next announced the children missing in December.
After Vallow resurfaced in Hawaii, police served her with a court order from Idaho that gave her five days to bring the children in front of a judge by Jan. 31, a deadline she missed.
She was extradited back to Rexburg, Idaho, in early March.
For now, Vallow is being held in the Madison County Jail on $1 million bail — an amount the judge reduced from the $5 million bond she faced while jailed in Hawaii.
The focus of the investigation has turned to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, not far from the family’s last-known residence in Rexburg.
Authorities there said they are just waiting for the snow to melt to be able to search the grounds that cover nearly 3,500 square miles.
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