ADRIAN, Mich. — Key investigators in the ongoing case of three missing Michigan brothers provided testimony on Monday, asserting there is no evidence to suggest the boys are still alive, nearly 15 years after their disappearance. The brothers, Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton, vanished from Morenci, a town close to the Ohio border, in 2010.
At the time of their disappearance, Larry Weeks served as the police chief of Morenci. He shared that the boys’ father, John Skelton, offered statements about the children’s whereabouts, which were eventually proven false. “I’m confident they’re deceased,” Weeks stated during the hearing.
This uncommon hearing took place in Lenawee County, southern Michigan, where Tanya Zuvers, the boys’ mother, is petitioning for a court to declare the boys legally dead. Although authorities suspect John Skelton’s involvement, no charges have been brought against him for the deaths of his sons. Skelton is nearing the end of a 15-year prison sentence for the unlawful detainment of the boys, following his refusal to return them to Zuvers.
Appearing remotely via video, Skelton, aged 53, expressed his reluctance to engage in the proceedings. “Everyone has got lawyers. I don’t,” he remarked, indicating his perceived disadvantage. “I’m at a disadvantage. Anything I say isn’t going to make a difference.”
Before the hearing, Zuvers’ lawyer, R. Burke Castleberry, refrained from discussing the motivation behind seeking a legal declaration of death. Nonetheless, court documents revealed a mother’s longing for closure, be it through the revelation of her children’s whereabouts or a truthful account from Skelton.
The Skelton boys, aged 9, 7, and 5, resided in Morenci, approximately 100 miles southwest of Detroit. Amid divorce proceedings from Skelton in 2010, the boys spent Thanksgiving in his care, only a short distance away from Zuvers. When they failed to return the following day, investigation efforts traced Skelton’s phone movements from Michigan to Ohio and back in the early hours.
Authorities accessed Skelton’s home while he was hospitalized with an ankle injury, uncovering a chaotic scene with broken glass, severed appliance cords, and a hanging noose. A Bible lay open with a passage circled, and a note to Zuvers ominously stated, “You will hate me forever and I know this,” according to FBI agent Corey Burras, who took this as an admission of guilt regarding the boys’ fate.
Agent Burras recounted a confrontation between Skelton and his church pastor, during which Skelton allegedly described sending the boys “home,” implying heaven. Although searches ensued in an old schoolhouse and a dumpster in Ohio based on Skelton’s claims, nothing conclusive was found. Skelton’s assurances that the boys had been handed to others for safety were also debunked.
Further scrutiny of Skelton’s computer reflected disturbing searches, including the effects of rat poison on humans and methods to break a neck, as stated by Weeks.
Despite years passing since their disappearance, the Skelton boys remain in the hearts of Morenci residents, commemorated by a plaque in a park near Bean Creek bearing the words, “Faith, Hope, Love.”
Nathan Piwowarski, a Michigan lawyer with expertise in probate and estate law, noted that a legal declaration of death can provide families with “personal closure.” Additionally, it could authorize the pursuit of wrongful death or other civil claims, although Piwowarski is not associated with the case.
