The niece of Lori Vallow denied that she knows where the cult mom’s missing children are and admitted that she spent hours meeting with FBI agents over three separate meetings.
Melani Pawlowski, through her lawyer, says that she met with FBI agents who were investigating the disappearance of her aunt’s children, Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
‘Mrs. Pawlowski has cooperated with law enforcement, including meeting for hours with the FBI on three separate days,’ wrote her attorney in a statement,
The niece of Lori Vallow, Melani Pawlowski denied that she where her aunt Lori Vallow’s children, Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow and Tylee Ryan are after both went missing
Joshua ‘JJ’ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in Idaho in September in Rexburg, Idaho, and authorities are still searching for them
The attorney’s remarks came in response to the allegations made by her ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, reports KSTU.
Pawlowski charges that Boudreaux is lying, making up the allegations about her knowledge of the missing kids as part of a bitter custody battle over their children.
The revelations were reported by news outlets when court documents filed in the custody fight between Boudreaux and Pawlowski over their four children surfaced.
The couple divorced last year.
‘Sadly, and irresponsibly, much of the media has quoted Brandon Boudreaux’s biased, vindictive, and fake accusations as truth and fact when they are his resentful, vengeful, and dishonest efforts to get full custody of Melani’s children,’ wrote the attorney.
Brandon Boudreaux with his now ex-wife Melani, before the couple divorced last year. They are now embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their four kids
In the court filing, Boudreaux states: ‘Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies.’
The filing came to light days after Vallow was arrested Feb. 20 in Kauai on charges of child abandonment and desertion after she failed to comply with a court order to produce JJ and Tylee to authorities in Rexburg, Idaho, by January 30.
She is being held in lieu of $5million bail while awaiting extradition to Idaho.
Vallow and her doomsday author husband Chad Daybell, whom she married weeks after her children went missing, fled Rexburg in late November, hours after police began asking questions about where her children were.
Lori Vallow and her doomsday author husband Chad Daybell, whom she married weeks after her children went missing, fled Rexburg in late November, hours after police began asking questions about where her children were
Lori Vallow was arrested Feb. 20 in Kauai on charges of child abandonment and desertion after she failed to comply with a court order to produce JJ and Tylee to authorities in Rexburg, Idaho, by Jan. 30
Doomsday author Chad Daybell is pictured visiting the Kauai Community Correctional Center on Tuesday, a day before his wife Lori Vallow was to appear in court for a bail reduction hearing
Police say the couple have refused to cooperate with investigators and have repeatedly lied about where the children are.
They became the target of a national media firestorm with the revelations that police are also investigating the mysterious deaths of both of their previous spouses and Vallow’s brother, as well as family members’ claims that they are members of a dangerous doomsday cult.
Broudeaux has long held that Vallow’s alleged cult ties were linked to the disappearance of her children and the three deaths, as well as an attempt on his own life last fall.
He was targeted in a drive-by shooting on Oct. 2, just as he arrived home from the gym in Gilbert, Arizona.
Melani Pawlowski is pictured with her now ex-husband, Bradon Broudeaux. Boudreaux in a court filing states: ‘Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies’
Brandon Boudreaux with his now ex-wife Melani. Broudeaux has long held that Melani’s aunt Lori Vallow’s alleged cult ties were linked to the disappearance of her children and three deaths, as well as an attempt on his own life last fall
Broudeaux told investigators he saw a rifle with a silencer emerge from the backseat of a 2018 Wrangler Jeep seconds before a bullet shattered the driver’s side window of his Tesla, missing his head by inches.
Police later determined that the Jeep was registered to Charles Vallow, Lori’s former husband who was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in July.
The new court filing states: ‘Brandon believed Melani, his wife at the time, had a million dollars of reasons to have him killed … hoping to cash in on the policy to help support the cult that she is believed to be a part of.
‘Melani left Arizona almost immediately after the attempt on his life, leaving without a trace and leaving her children behind.’
The filing was in response to a recent petition Pawlowski filed to amend their custody agreement.
Broudeaux alleges that Pawlowski is seeking the amendment now because ‘she feels that the suspicious death of her uncle, Alex, … has somehow freed her from her role in the attempt on Brandon’s life.’
Alex Cox died on December 12 at a home in Gilbert. His death is under investigation and the results of an autopsy to determine the cause have not yet been released.
A search warrant uncovered earlier this month suggested that Cox may have been under investigation for homicide in connection with the fatal shooting of Lori Vallow’s estranged husband Charles on July 11.
Charles, who filed for divorce months earlier, had gone to Lori’s home in Chandler, Arizona, to pick up JJ, the couple’s adopted son, when they got into an argument that turned physical.
Cox told police that he intervened and that Charles hit him with a baseball bat. He then went to get his gun and shot Charles two times in the chest.
Police initially determined that Cox acted in self-defense, but the investigation was reopened amid a multi-state search for JJ and Tylee.
Weeks after Charles’ death, Lori moved her children from Arizona to Idaho, where her soon-to-be husband, Chad Daybell, lived with his then-wife Tammy.
She was found dead under mysterious circumstances on October 19.
The 49-year-old’s death was initially ruled as natural causes but an investigation was opened after police learned about Chad’s quick marriage to Lori while searching for her kids.
Tammy’s body was exhumed on December 11 and the results of her autopsy have not yet been released.
Lori was arrested in Kauai on Thursday evening and appeared in court the following day, where a judge ruled against her motion to reduce her $5million bail.
Her attorney Dan Hempey had argued that Lori’s bail bond be lowered to at least $10,000, saying that she was not a flight risk and did not have a passport.
Hempey also scolded authorities for taking Lori into custody so publicly, after photos of the arrest outside her rented apartment were published by media outlets nationwide.
‘We remained willing to produce her as soon as police wanted her to be produced,’ her attorney Hempey said.
‘Instead, she was arrested and media was calling us all day. It seems like it was a made for media event at the taxpayer’s expense.’
In response, the prosecution cited charges that imply she poses a risk to the community and will engage in illegal activity.
‘She has no ties to this island, apart from a rented condo,’ the prosecution argued. ‘If ever there was a case suitable for a person to be denied bail, this is the case’.
The judge denied the request – pointing out that Lori had already fled from Idaho, where the charges were filed, and that she is accused of obstructing justice.
Lori is scheduled to appear again in court on March 2 for an identity hearing – the next step in the extradition process which could take up to 90 days.
Her husband Chad sat in the public gallery during the hearing.
He had refused to answer reporters’ questions outside the court.