DISAPPEARANCE:
The Skelton brothers – Alexander, Tanner and Andrew – were reported missing by their mother, Tanya Lynn Zuvers Skelton, when they didn’t show up at her house as expected. The children had been with their father for a Thanksgiving visitation on November 25, 2010, and were supposed to be returned to her custody the following day.
Tanya tried to get ahold of her ex-husband, John Russell Skelton, but was unable to reach him. This prompted her to visit his residence, but he wasn’t there. Instead, he was at the hospital, as he’d broken his ankle while trying to take his own life. The rope from the attempt was found hanging from a stairwell banister at his home, along with multiple tow straps.
INVESTIGATION:
The boys’ father initially told investigators he’d left them with friends, before changing his story to say they were in the care of a woman he’d met online several years before. “Joann Taylor” was supposed to return them to Tanya, as John had planned to take his own life and didn’t want his children to see. He said Taylor was married to a pastor named Mark; lived in either Jackson County or Hillsdale, Michigan; and drove a white or silver minivan.
An Amber Alert was issued for Tanner, Andrew and Alex, but police were unable to find any sign of the brothers, nor Taylor, leading them to believe she never existed and something else had happened to the trio.
While hospitalized, John continued to change his story, claiming his sons had been given to an underground group that would keep them safe. He stated that, while they were still alive, they wouldn’t be returned as long as their mother had sole custody. He also claimed to have had a vision of them being put in a dumpster in Ohio. While officers searched dumpsters in the indicated area, nothing was found.
John was immediately arrested upon his release from hospital and placed on suicide watch. He was subsequently charged with three counts of felony parental kidnapping, three counts of kidnapping and three counts of false imprisonment. At a hearing in December 2010, he changed his story once more, stating Andrew, Alex and Tanner were in the care of an Amish organization called “United Foster Outreach and Underground Sanctuaries,” which isn’t believed to exist.
Investigators learned that, in mid-September 2010, John had withdrawn Andrew and Alex from school, under the pretence of going on vacation, and taken them to Florida without Tanya’s knowledge. According to school officials, he’d also implied that he might need their records forwarded. Tanya subsequently went to Florida and had authorities force John, under the threat of arrest, to return her sons.
It was shortly after that Tanya filed for the divorce, leading to a bitter custody battle. John had asked the court to severe her custody rights, given she was once a registered sex offender – she’d pleaded guilty to misdemeanour fourth-degree criminal sexual misconduct against a 14-year-old boy in 1998, when she was 32. Following her sons’ disappearances, John said he’d feared his ex-wife had been abusing the children, but no evidence could be found to confirm this.
In July 2011, John took a plea deal, pleading no contest to three counts of false imprisonment. He was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison and is scheduled to remain incarcerated until November 2025. He has tried on several occasions to receive parole, but has been repeatedly denied.
While speaking to local media in 2018, John claimed he’d given the boys to two women and a man in a light-coloured van, who’d planned to take them to a farm along the Ohio-Indiana border. He also stated investigators needed to speak with Mose Gingerich, a reality television star and author who could allegedly bring them back. Police tracked Gringerich down, but he’d never heard of the children.
Gingerich agreed to visit John in prison. Upon them meeting, the latter became visibly shaken. Despite attempts to garner information, Gingerich was unsuccessful.
Investigators have been investigating Alex, Tanner and Andrew’s disappearances as homicides, with John the prime suspect. Cellphone records show he was in Morenci, Michigan, on the morning of November 26, 2010, with State Police adding that it also pinged in Holiday City, Ohio, approximately 25 miles from his residence. The phone didn’t ping again for over two hours, when it showed he was back in Morenci.
John’s blue Dodge Caravan, Michigan license plate 9JQ H93, was spotted on the Ohio Turnpike, along the Michigan-Ohio border, between 4:29 AM and 6:46 AM on the morning of November 26. On top of this, his online search records showed he’d looked up how to break a neck prior to his sons going missing.
In September 2017, the remains of there children were found in a shed in Missoula, Montana, but forensics showed they didn’t belong to the Skelton brothers. Three years later, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released age-progression images of them, showing Andrew at 19, Alex at 17 and Tanner at 15.
Thirteen years after they went missing, Tanya asked the Lenawee County Probate Court to declare her sons legally deceased. A pretrial hearing was held in June 2024, with the next postponed until that December. There hasn’t been an update as to whether the hearing was held and, if so, what the outcome was.
There’s a Facebook page dedicated to the case, Missing ~ Skelton Brothers, Morenci, Michigan.
Over the years, the case has been investigated by Michigan State Police, the Morenci Police Department and the FBI, with the former agency becoming the lead investigating force in 2013. John’s mother, Roxann Skelton, doesn’t believe her son had anything to do with Alex, Tanner and Andrew’s disappearances.
DETAILS:
The Skeleton brothers went missing from Morenci, Lenawee County, Michigan, on November 26, 2010.
Alexander William “Alex” Skelton was seven years old, and he was last seen wearing black pyjama pants and a grey shirt. He also wore glasses, but it’s unknown if he had them with him at the time of his disappearance. He stood at 3’9″, weighed 45 pounds, had short brown hair and brown eyes, and two scars: one on his chin and another near his hairline.
Tanner Lucas Skelton was five years old, and he was last seen wearing camouflage pyjama pants and a Scooby-Doo shirt. He was 3’6″ tall, weighed 40 pounds, and had short strawberry blond hair and blue eyes.
Andrew Ryan Skelton was nine years old, and he was last seen wearing brown pyjamas with orange trim. He stood at 4’1″, weighed 57 pounds, and had short brown hair and brown eyes.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Currently, all three brothers are classified as Endangered Missing, with foul play suspected.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Morenci Police Department at (517) 458-7104. Tips can also be called into the Lansing Post of the Michigan State Police at either (517) 322-1907 or (517) 636-0689.
Image Credit: NamUs
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