ADRIAN, Mich. — A Michigan mother is seeking a court decision to declare her three sons, who have been missing for nearly 15 years, as deceased. The boys vanished after a Thanksgiving visit with their father, a mystery that continues to haunt a small town near the Ohio border.
Authorities have long suspected that the boys are no longer alive and point to their father, John Skelton, as being responsible, although he has never been officially charged with their deaths. He is anticipated to finish serving a 15-year prison sentence by November, a sentence resulting from his failure to return the boys to their mother, Tanya Zuvers—the only conviction in this tragic case.
Starting Monday, a judge in Lenawee County will hear testimonies in an unusual legal proceeding. The witness list includes Zuvers and police investigators who will discuss the exhaustive efforts to locate Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton.
Since their disappearance in November 2010, Zuvers has held onto hope that someone might provide information about her sons, or that John Skelton would finally reveal the truth about their whereabouts, as stated by attorney R. Burke Castleberry in a legal document.
“Tragically, none of that has come to pass,” Castleberry noted.
Nathan Piwowarski, an attorney based in Cadillac, Michigan, specializing in probate and estate law, explained that seeking to have someone declared dead can serve various purposes, including providing “personal closure for the family.”
Such a legal declaration might also allow the family to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit or other civil claims, Piwowarski added, though he is not involved in this case.
Castleberry chose not to comment before the hearing, and Skelton, now 53, did not reply to an email sent to his prison account regarding Zuvers’ petition.
The brothers, 9, 7, and 5 at the time, were residents of Morenci, a small town adjacent to the Ohio border and about 100 miles southwest of Detroit. During the fall of 2010, while in the process of divorcing Skelton, Zuvers allowed the boys to visit their father just a few houses down on Thanksgiving.
Expected to return to their mother the following morning, the boys never came back. Subsequent police investigations revealed that Skelton’s phone had been in Ohio at 4:30 a.m. before being turned off and reactivated two hours later back in Morenci.
Skelton has maintained that he did not hurt his sons, claiming instead that they were given to a mysterious group for their safety amidst a series of enigmatic justifications, as reported by investigators.
Intensive searches took place across Michigan and Ohio, but no trace was found of the boys. Skelton later hinted that an individual who assists Amish community members might have information about them, although Castleberry dismissed it as “another lie.”
Investigators are expected to recount the improbable and convoluted stories spun by Skelton at the court hearing, highlighting the various wild goose chases they endured.
Despite the years that have elapsed, the Morenci community continues to remember the Skelton brothers. Their names and pictures are displayed on a plaque at a local park near Bean Creek, bearing the words “Faith, Hope, Love.”
