Husband of Idaho Mom Lori Vallow Claims Her 2 Children Are 'Safe' as They Remain Missing

Lori Vallow‘s husband Chad Daybell is now commenting on his two stepchildren who have been missing for months.

On Monday, ABC News reported that Daybell — a religious author who writes about prophecy and the end of the world, who married Vallow shortly before her children Tylee, 17, and Joshua “J.J.”, 7, were reported missing — now claims that the “kids are safe.” The man still did not disclose the whereabouts of the siblings, who were last seen in September.

On Wednesday, a judge refused to reduce the $5 million bail set for the Idaho mom. Vallow had previously fought extradition to Idaho from Hawaii, where she’d been arrested, but she waived her right to an extradition hearing, meaning she’ll be taken back to Idaho to deal with the charges against her.

Vallow and Daybell got married on Nov. 5, 2019, four months after the shooting death of Vallow’s estranged husband Charles, and two weeks after the mysterious death of Daybell’s wife Tammy.

Authorities located Vallow and Daybell in Kaua’i, Hawaii, on Jan. 25 after they’d vacated their Idaho home. Rexburg police said the two missing children were not with the couple, “and there is no evidence” the kids were ever in Hawaii.

RELATED: Lori Vallow: Tracking the Movements of Idaho Mom Now Under Arrest After Her 2 Kids Went Missing

The stepfather of two missing Idaho siblings speaks out and says “the kids are safe” as their mother awaits extradition. @paulafaris has the latest. https://t.co/fUhVo1nubQ pic.twitter.com/1cpReAXyMw

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 2, 2020

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Vallow was then presented with a court order demanding that she turn over the two kids to police or child welfare authorities in Idaho within five days. The deadline passed with no sign of the children.

In their first documented appearance together, Daybell and Vallow are heard on a Dec. 5, 2018, podcast promoted by an entity called Preparing a People, which is run by a multimedia company that purports to host lectures and videos focused on “helping to prepare the people of this earth for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ,” according to its website.

In early January, Colby Ryan, an older half-brother to J.J. and Tylee, posted a 7-minute video plea on YouTube, asking his mom to safely return the missing children and end the uncertainty “for everybody, for the kids, for yourself, for all of us.”

“I know you know the right thing to do is, and I know you have a good heart,” he said in the clip. “It’s time to do the right thing.”

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RELATED: 2 Idaho Siblings Are Missing and Mom Lori Vallow Was Arrested: What to Know About Disturbing Case

On Feb. 20, police in Kaua’i arrest Vallow and charged her with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. She also is charged with arrests and seizures — resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court — as well as willful disobedience of court process or order.

She is due in court Monday to face extradition to Idaho. She has not yet entered a plea and her attorney, Craig De Costa, could not immediately be reached. But during a hearing last Wednesday, De Costa characterized the charges against her as “false accusations,” reports CNN.

Daybell returned to Idaho ahead of Vallow’s extradition, CBS2 reports.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, according to the prosecutor’s office.