‘Cult mom’ Lori Vallow was sued by ex-husband for hiding daughter – years before charge over disappearance of her kids
THE alleged cult mom charged over the disappearance of her two children was previously sued for hiding her daughter from her ex-husband, it can be revealed.
Lori Vallow's third husband Joseph Ryan filed a motion back in 2006 stating he had been denied all visitation with his daughter Tylee for the month of August.
The lawsuit led to a dispute between Ryan and Vallow's brother Alex Cox during which her ex-husband was attacked with a stun gun.
The filing by Ryan began a custody battle that lasted until his death in 2018.
Vallow, 46, was arrested back in February and charged with multiple offenses, including two counts of desertion and nonsupport of her children.
The whereabouts of daughter Tylee, 17, and 7-year-old son Joshua 'JJ' are still unknown, and Vallow has repeatedly refused to produce the children in court.
She is currently being held in jail on $1million bond, an amount she has unsuccessfully attempted to reduce twice.
Vallow continued to refuse to cooperate with police.
It has now been almost eight months since the children were last seen, though multiple family members have claimed that the children are safe.
Those claims were not made in court or to police, but rather in network interviews that provided concerned family members with compensation for their time.
Family members also say that Vallow refuses to turn over the children because she might lose custody, a concept she showed a total disregard for back in 2006 according to her ex-husband.
In his filing, Ryan reiterated the terms of the custody agreement the court had approved just one year prior, which stated that Tylee was to be with her father on:
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- The first, third and fifth Friday of each month starting at 6pm and ending at 6pm the following Sunday
- The second and fourth Thursday of each month beginning at 10am and ending at 6pm until Tylee enters Kindergarten
- Fourteen days during the summer of 2016 starting on June 1 assuming Vallow is informed of dates by April 1 and Joseph agrees to keep Tylee for at least seven consecutive days
The agreement also stipulated that Ryan must live 100 miles or less from Vallow, a requirement that he went out of his way to avoid over the years as it forced him to move whenever his ex-wife skipped town.
He decided to take legal action after Vallow failed to deliver Tylee on multiple occasions over the course of a month.
Ryan stated in his filing that Vallow did not bring Tylee for her extended summer stay from August 9 through August 15, her scheduled weekend visit on August 4 and her Thursday visit in August 28 of that year.
The filing asked that the court fine Vallow, hold her in contempt and jail her for failing to comply with the custody order.
[Joseph] believes that based on the conduct of [Vallow], that [Vallow] will continue to fail to comply with the order," stated the remarkably prescient motion.
As for the length of her sentence, Joseph asked that Vallow be held for 18 months of until she complied with the court's ruling in the case.
He also asked that she be responsible for all his legal fees.
The case then dragged on for 12 years, with much of the same antics that are now on display in Vallow's current trial.
Her brother, Alex Cox, also threatened Ryan's life.
Court records show that four months after Ryan filed this motion, Cox followed Ryan into a parking lot after a custody exchange and pulled out a stun gun.
He then proceeded to fire the weapon at Joseph two times, after which he threatened to kill his former brother-in-law.
Ryan managed to summon help and was treated at the scene by Austin EMS.
Vallow's brother entered a guilty plea to an aggravated assault charge in the second degree, resulting in a three-month prison sentence.
A decade after his release, Alex again attacked one of Vallow's ex-husband's during a custody exchange.
In that instance, he killed Charles Vallow and served no time after claiming it was all in self-defense.
A few months later he died of natural causes at the age of 51.
He was proceeded in death by Vallow's ex-huband Joseph Ryan, who died at the age of 58 in 2018, and the wife of Vallow's fifth husband Tammy Daybell, who was 49 when she passed away last November.
The initial autopsies for all three determined the deaths to have resulted from natural causes, but the FBI is now taking a closer look at the deaths of Joseph and Tammy as well as the shooting death of Charles Vallow.
It is unclear why police in Arizona did not conduct a probe in to Alex's claim given his arrest a decade earlier in Texas for threatening to murder one of his sister's ex-husbands.
Lori Vallow is a person of interest in all three of those investigations.
Joseph Ryan was not without his fault however according to Vallow's oldest son, who recently claimed he was sexually abused by the cult mom's third husband.
Colby Ryan said that his stepfather was also physically abusive and would often hit him without reason.
In a interview with Dateline, Colby opened up about Vallow's refusal to cooperate with authorities and the abuse that he claims occurred while he was in her care.
"He went out of his way to make a point when he would spank me and weird things like little hits on the head, and thought it was funny," Colby said while appearing on Dateline.
"So there was just a lot of things like that."
Colby then paused for a second before adding: "He was sexually abusive as well."
Host Keith Morrison then asked if Joseph Ryan sexually abused Colby, to which he nodded and said: "Yeah."
Colby has been identified as Ryan's son in some reports, but court documents obtained by The Sun reveal that he was never actually adopted by Joseph but did take his last name.
He is the son of Vallow and her second husband, William Lagioia.
Colby also said that his mother Lori has provided him with no information about his sister Tylee or what her intent was in hiding his sister and half-brother JJ from authorities.
He is a father himself, and even got a chance to speak with his mother after she was extradited to Idaho from Hawaii.
Colby has not revealed the nature if their discussion and instead continues to call out his mother for not cooperating with authorities.
Joseph Ryan died in 2018 under mysterious circumstances, and Vallow is now a person of interest as police probe his death.
Colby meanwhile is still hoping to reunite with his siblings.
He wrote a message for his sister and JJ on Facebook back in December
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"I pray for you both everyday. I always have to ask how is this possible? You both mean so much to me. My heart is broken over all of this. I’m going to speak with our mom," said Colby.
"I need to know what is happening with you both. Just know I love you with all of my heart.
"I’m here to stand up for you. I won’t leave no matter how hard this gets. I love you Tylee and JJ."