The record of a two-year-old kept from his mother
Local Redwood Valley domestic abuser and drunk driver and family abduct 2-year-old child from his mother after she flees to safety in Florida — with a Mendocino lawyer drafting the papers, a Mendocino judge signing them, Lee County deputies taking him from her home on a draft marked “Proposed,” and DAs, sheriffs, and judges on both coasts refusing to act.
Making the most of their victims’ misfortune.
I am Carli Heller — JJ’s mom. My son is two. On August 19, 2026 he was taken from our home in Florida and he has been kept at his grandparents’ house in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California, ever since. I hold the only custody order in either state that was made after notice and a hearing. The paper he was taken under had an expiration date printed on it. Every office I asked to act — two sheriffs, two prosecutors, and the courts — declined, in writing, with a date.
This site is the record. Every line on it comes from a court file, a recording, or a letter from a public office, and every document is here to download. Nothing is on request.
Where he is
J.J. — two years old — taken from his home in Bonita Springs, Florida on August 19, 2026
He has been kept since then at 9501 Laughlin Way, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California, in the house of Judith and Michael Hyler, with Vincent Michael Hyler. His mother holds the only custody order made after a hearing in either state. No independent person has seen him and reported to her since the day he was taken. His therapy — three sessions a week — stopped that day.
If you have seen him since August 19, 2026 — in Redwood Valley, Ukiah, Potter Valley, Willits, or anywhere — write to me. You can leave your name out. Every message is read by his mother.
Where to start
The series
Making the most of their victims’ misfortune
Five parts. The family, the tape, the taking, every office, the order that rewrote the minutes.
The record
The Timeline
Every dated event, April 2024 to today, each linked to the document that proves it. Sorted five ways.
The record
Every case
Every case number in two states and five courts, by court, each with its documents.
The record
The recordings
From the home’s own cameras, 2025: the 3:01 a.m. doorbell, the living room, the hallway.
Part 1
He said it on tape
March 15, 2025: “All I have to do is call the cops and you are gone.” He filed two days later.
Part 2
The shadow grandma
What the lawsuit alleges Judith and Michael Hyler knew, paragraph by paragraph.
Part 3
The taking
A no-notice order with its own expiry line; a warrant marked “Proposed”; the clinic at 1:00 p.m., the travel order at 1:11 p.m. the next day.
Part 4
Every office
Seven refusals, each with its date — and the arrest the day after she reported them.
Part 5
The order that rewrote the minutes
Sworn on a Wednesday, signed differently on Thursday; three one-line denials above it.
The record
The gun
A court ordered his shotgun surrendered in March 2025. His own receipt shows it never was. He swore it had been, on the paper used to take his son.
The record
The documents
All of it, downloadable — the orders, the warrant, the receipt beside the oath, the complaints, every letter of refusal.
Her words
In her own words
The declarations she filed, under penalty of perjury, as she wrote them. Starting with April 10, 2025.
For reporters
Press
The release, the three documents to open first, case numbers, contact. She speaks on the record.
Questions
FAQ
Who has custody of J.J.? Why don’t the police return him? What about the gun? Why sue the grandparents?
Local
This happened in Mendocino County
Redwood Valley, Ukiah, Potter Valley: the local record. If you have seen J.J. since August 19, 2026, write to me.
Redwood Valley
Have you seen J.J.?
Two years old, kept in Redwood Valley since August 19, 2026. You can leave your name out.
Write
Contact
Press, public officials, and anyone with information about J.J. You can leave your name out.
“It’s not my fault that no one will do it. It’s expired. Just because there’s no federal enforcement mechanism and he’s still there doesn’t mean that he’s supposed to be.”
“It’s like saying it’s legal to abduct a child as long as you do it with a lawyer.”
On file now: Heller v. Hyler, Mendocino County Superior Court No. 26CV04599 (filed October 15, 2026; served October 26, 2026); Heller v. Hyler, Mendocino County Superior Court No. 26CV04707 (accepted November 9, 2026; summons issued) — a verified complaint for domestic violence and aiding and abetting it, 89 paragraphs, jury trial demanded; sworn referrals to the California Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (No. 852678-SDR), the FBI, the ATF, and Mendocino County Probation.
Every statement about a court proceeding on this site is drawn from a filed court record, cited by case number; where a recording is quoted, the quotation is verbatim and the time stamp is given.