Missing Skelton brothers: 14 years later, Thanksgiving disappearance remains unsolved
The Skelton brothers
MORENCI, Mich. (FOX 2) - On Thanksgiving 2010, Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton were spending time with their father. It was the last day they'd be seen.
The boys – Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, spent the holiday with their father, John Skelton, in Morenci, Mich. Their mother, Tanya Zuvers, was supposed to pick them up from her ex-husband the next day. However, she stopped hearing from John.
Zuvers went to his home to find that John nor the boys were there because John was at a hospital after he broke his ankle. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he told hospital workers that he injured his ankle while trying to commit suicide.
(From left to right): Tanner, Andrew, and Alexander
Police were able to get into his home, where they found the house destroyed, but did not find the boys.
John is accused of changing the story of where they were while he was at the hospital. He said they were with friends before telling investigators that the boys were given to an unknown woman. He also told police that he gave them to an underground group that would keep them safe.
Phone records helped police place John the day after his boys were last seen. He had been in Morenci early Nov. 26, 2010. According to Michigan State Police, he went to Ohio. His phone pinged him in Ohio about 20 miles from his home, was shut off, then pinged him back in Morenci about 2 hours and fifteen minutes after he left Michigan.
Search parties looked for the boys, but they haven't been found, and John hasn't told anyone where they actually are or if they are even still alive, aside from his stories of giving them to unknown people.
According to Zuvers, John previously "claimed that the boys would hibernate until they graduate." All three boys are now old enough that they would have graduated from high school.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Thanksgiving Day 2010 wasn't the first time John took the boys from Zuvers. He was accused of taking the boys out of school two months before their disappearance. It is alleged that he said he was taking them on a trip to Florida, where his parents live.
John and Zuvers divorced after this, and Zuvers was granted custody of the boys, just before they disappeared.
John was later arrested, charged, and convicted of three counts of unlawful imprisonment. He has been in prison for years, but is set to be released next November.
John Skelton (MDOC)
Late last year, Zuvers took steps to have her boys declared dead by filing a request in Lenawee County Probate Court.
In Michigan, a person is typically considered to be dead after they have been missing for five years.
Missing Skelton brothers: Mother seeks to declare 3 boys dead
The mother of the Skelton brothers, who have been missing since 2010, is asking the court to declare them legally dead. Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner were last seen on Thanksgiving in 2010.
"This decision came after much thought and discussion with my family and friends. It did not come lightly and was definitely a difficult decision to make. No parent wants to lose a child, but to have to have the courts step in and declare them deceased is just unfathomable," Zuvers wrote in a statement over the summer.
The case is still moving through the court system.