The record

The documents

Every document below is a public court record or a letter from a public office, reproduced in full, with the case number it comes from. Where a page is quoted anywhere on this site, the quotation is verbatim and the page is here. Names of children appear as initials; the mother’s address is redacted; nothing else is.

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The custody order

Findings and Order After Hearing, February 11, 2026 — Mendocino County Superior Court No. 25FL01030: sole physical custody to the mother; Florida residence permitted. PDF
Registration in Lee County, Florida, September 22, 2026 — No. 26-DR-006457; final October 16, 2026 with no contest. PDF
Order of September 10, 2026 — the Mendocino court’s own order calling the February 11, 2026 order “the standing orders for the parties to follow.” PDF
Lee County temporary injunction, July 6, 2026 — No. 26-DR-031586: the Florida court’s finding that the mother appeared to be a victim of domestic violence by Vincent Hyler. PDF

The paper he was taken under

Temporary order, August 12, 2026 (FL-305) — obtained without notice; expires by its printed terms at the September 2, 2026 hearing “unless extended by court order.” PDF
Register of actions, August 12, 2026 — the court’s own entry: “NOTICE NOT GIVEN.” PDF
Clerk’s minutes, September 2, 2026 — no extension recorded. PDF
Florida child-pickup warrant, August 19, 2026 — executed August 19; every page footer reads “Proposed Emergency Ex Parte Order and Child-Pickup Warrant.” PDF
Ukiah clinic record, August 26, 2026, 1:00 p.m. — Vincent Hyler’s own exhibit: the child at a Ukiah clinic. PDF
Florida travel order, August 27, 2026, 1:11 p.m. — authorizing travel to California, signed the day after. PDF
Denial of the application to be told the child’s whereabouts, September 2, 2026 — the same hearing the August 12 order named as its own expiration. PDF

The extension that came later

Declaration and brief of Vincent Hyler’s lawyer, October 14, 2026 — placing the only ruling on October 6; brief, p. 295: a court “may not create a different judicial decision retroactively.” PDF
Order of October 15, 2026 — signed on counsel’s draft without a hearing, reciting a September 15 extension “not reflected in the minute order.” PDF
Petition to enforce the custody order, docketed September 28, 2026 — never ruled on. PDF

The gun

The firearm record, December 2, 2024 to April 22, 2025 — six pages: the December 2, 2024 message recording a Remington shotgun coming into the household; the April 15, 2025 surrender receipt and its item 7 (“No” to any other firearm); the April 22, 2025 messages noting the Remington was not on the form. PDF
Restraining order, March 18, 2025 — served March 20; firearms listed as “shot gun and other guns at mother’s house.” PDF
Firearm surrender receipt, April 15, 2025 — two rifles; item 7, “No” to any other firearm. PDF
Application of August 12, 2026, with Exhibit F — the sworn statement that “the firearm referenced in the 2025 directive” was surrendered, with the April 2025 receipt attached. PDF
Second sworn firearm statement, October 27, 2026 — filed through counsel. PDF posted soon
Referral to the ATF, September 28, 2026 — “file is complete,” October 13, 2026. PDF

The offices

Mendocino County District Attorney’s investigator, September 8, 2026 — the mother’s transcript of the call, made the same day and provided to the Attorney General: “All you’re doing is every day writing stuff to file in court”; “maybe you had to think about hiring a lawyer.” PDF
California Department of Justice, Missing Persons, September 8, 2026 — the matter “does not pertain to missing or unidentified persons.” PDF
Lee County Sheriff’s Office, September 11, 2026 — “unable to enter your son as a missing person”; “civil in nature.” PDF
State Attorney, 20th Circuit, September 15, 2026 — “strictly to prosecute cases brought to us by our local police agencies.” PDF
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, September 28, 2026 — the welfare check declined by telephone, “taking the DA’s position”; the mother’s sworn declaration of the call, made that day. PDF
Sworn missing-child report to the Lee County Sheriff, September 24, 2026 — the report the Sheriff declined to enter. PDF
California Court of Appeal, First District, September 23, 2026 — the order asking which custody orders govern and when they expire (A177840). PDF
First District denials, August 31, October 6 and October 14, 2026 — one sentence each. PDF · November 2, 2026 — habeas corpus for the child (A177840), denied in one line. PDF posted soon
Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal, November 6, 2026 — denial, No. 6D2026-2448. PDF posted soon
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, October 18, 2026 — confirmation of the complaint, No. 852678-SDR. PDF

The recording

March 15, 2025 — the transcript, 39 minutes, time-stamped — the living-room camera, 2:08 to 3:02 p.m., the quoted passages highlighted. PDF
Declaration for the April 10, 2025 hearing — nine pages, as filed, with its exhibits described. PDF posted soon

The lawsuits and the referrals

Complaint, Heller v. Hyler, No. 26CV04599, filed October 15, 2026 — served on Vincent and Judith Hyler October 26 at Stan’s Maple Cafe, Ukiah; Michael Hyler added October 27. PDF
Amendment naming Michael Hyler (Doe 1), accepted October 27, 2026 — No. 26CV04599. PDF
Heller v. Hyler, the second complaint — verified complaint for domestic violence and aiding and abetting, 19 pages, 89 paragraphs; submitted to the Mendocino County Superior Court clerk November 8, 2026 (case number posted when the clerk issues it). PDF
Statement of disqualification, November 3, 2026 — personally served in No. 25FL01030. PDF
Sanctions motions, November 6, 2026 — California (eFile 25820255) and Florida (Portal 260916725). California PDF · Florida PDF
Cover pages of the sworn referrals, October 2026 — California Attorney General; U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (No. 852678-SDR); FBI; Mendocino County Probation. PDF

Case numbers: Mendocino County Superior Court 25FL01030 (consolidated with 25FL01032), 26CV04599, and the second complaint submitted November 8, 2026; Lee County, Florida 26-DR-006457 and 26-DR-005826; California Court of Appeal, First District A177556, A177795, A177840; Supreme Court of California S299133, S299168; Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal 6D2026-2448; People v. Hyler, Mendocino 25CR09666.