Lori Vallow struts in bikini in vid from 2004 Mrs Texas pageant as she tries to reduce bail over missing kids
LORI Vallow was a beauty queen who competed in the Mrs. Texas pageant before she was known as the “CULT mom” accused of murdering her two children.
Recently resurfaced video shows Vallow — whose last name was Ryan at the time — performing and strutting in the 2004 pageant.
In addition to being a beauty queen, Vallow also was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, where she won $17,500, Crime Online reported.
The 47-year-old was arrested Thursday in Hawaii and is held on $5 million bail, after her two kids, Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, disappeared more than five months ago.
She faces two counts of desertion and nonsupport of her children, along with a slew of other charges in Idaho, where officials are trying to extradite her after she failed to produce her kids in front of police at the end of January.
In a recently resurfaced video from the pageant, Vallow performed a line-dance with other Mrs. Texas contestants at the beginning of the show, clad in a short skirt and red cowboy boots.
At the time, she was named Lori Ryan, because she was married to her third husband, Jason Ryan.
As part of the swimsuit portion of the competition, Vallow wore a teal bikini and strutted on the stage in heels.
In her third onstage appearance for the evening gown portion, Vallow smiled and waltzed around the stage with her hand on her hip, wearing a white sparkly evening gown.
The presenter said Vallow was married to Jason, who was her daughter Tylee’s father.
At the time, the couple had been married three-and-a-half years, the host said.
She was also described as having two children, ages eight and one.
The presenter also said that Vallow was recently on the game show Wheel of Fortune, where she won more than $17,000.
Sony Pictures Entertainment did not immediately respond to The Sun, but previously confirmed to Crime Online that Vallow was on the show and won $17,500.
The company declined to provide video or pictures of Vallow on the show to Crime Online, citing the active investigation.
Vallow will appear in court Wednesday as she tries to reduce her bail from $5 million, so she can get out of prison ahead of her expedition hearing next week.
The former beauty queen and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell — whom she married just a few weeks after her kids were last seen — are alleged members of a “doomsday cult.”
In a motion seeking reduced bail, Craig De Costa, another attorney for Vallow, said equivalent felonies typically range $2,000 to $20,000, The Associated Press reported.
Although her children were last seen in September, they were not reported missing until November, after JJ’s grandmother asked police to do a welfare check on the kids.
The mother was given five days to show her children in front of police at the end of January, and was arrested in Hawaii last week on a warrant from Idaho after she failed to do so.
During her first court appearance in Kaua’i on Friday, Vallow smirked as she confirmed she understood the charges and her rights before the judge set her bail at $5 million.
Vallow’s defense attorney, Daniel Hempey, asked for her bail to be reduced to $10,000.
Prosecuting attorney Justin F. Kollar backed up the high bail, saying the alleged charges were “serious.”
Prosecutors have argued Vallow is a flight risk, noting that she would have “the means to move across the ocean” if she were released on bail.
The “cult mom” and Daybell have $152,000 in a First Hawaiian Bank account, prosecutors said.
At her court appearance last week, Kollar argued Vallow’s only tie to Hawaii is a rented condo in Princeville.
The judge ordered as her bail was set at $5 million that if Vallow makes bail, she must surrender any passports she has to the police.
Hempey has claimed Vallow does not have a passport.
In an interview that aired on Good Morning America Wednesday, Daybell had little to say when asked about the welfare of the kids and dodged questions about if they were safe.
He initially declined to speak at all, saying “I just can’t comment. I just can’t comment.”
Daybell later told GMA he is “Just grateful for any support. We just have to wait for the legal process to work through.”
“I have to go. No comment,” he said when asked again about the safety of the kids.
Daybell was spotted visiting the Hawaii jail, where Vallow is held on the $5 million bail.
As police desperately search for the missing children, who they “strongly believe” whose “lives are in danger,” reports have resurfaced showing other people close to Vallow and Daybell have died under mysterious circumstances.
MOST READ IN NEWS
New court documents filed in Arizona allege Vallow’s niece, Melanie Boudreaux, knows where JJ and Tylee are, but won’t cooperate with authorities.
“Melani’s knowledge of the whereabouts of her aunt’s two missing children and her unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement is daunting,” the documents obtained by Fox10 News said.
Police recently widened the search for the kids to Yellowstone National Park, where Tylee was last seen on a day trip in September with her mother, little brother and uncle, authorities said.
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552.