Michigan mother asks judge to declare 3 missing sons dead nearly 15
years later
[March 03, 2025]
By ED WHITE
ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan woman is asking a judge to declare her
three missing sons dead, nearly 15 years after their father didn't
return them after Thanksgiving. The disappearance has tormented a small
town near Ohio and remains unsolved.
Authorities believe the brothers are deceased and they clearly suspect
John Skelton is responsible, though he has not been charged with killing
his sons. By November, he is expected to complete a 15-year prison
sentence for his failure to give the boys back to Tanya Zuvers, the sole
conviction in the saga.
A Lenawee County judge will begin hearing testimony Monday at an unusual
hearing. The witness list includes Zuvers, as well as police
investigators who will publicly discuss the yearslong effort to find any
trace of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton.
Since November 2010, Zuvers has prayed someone "would cure her broken
heart" with news about their whereabouts or that John Skelton would
explain what really happened, attorney R. Burke Castleberry said in a
court filing.
“Heartbreakingly, none of that has occurred,” he wrote.
Nathan Piwowarski, a lawyer in Cadillac, Michigan, who specializes in
probate and estate law, said there can be many reasons to have someone
declared dead, including "personal closure for the family."
A court declaration also could “give someone authority to pursue a
wrongful death claim or other civil claim,” said Piwowarski, who is not
involved in the case.
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Castleberry declined to comment ahead of the hearing. Skelton, 53,
did not respond to an email sent to him in prison about the petition
filed by Zuvers.
The brothers, ages 9, 7 and 5, lived in Morenci, a small community
next to the Ohio border, 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of
Detroit. Zuvers was seeking a divorce from Skelton in fall 2010 and
the boys were with him, a few doors away, on Thanksgiving.
They were supposed to return to Zuvers the next morning. Instead,
they were gone. Police later determined Skelton's phone was in Ohio
at 4:30 a.m. before it was turned off and then turned back on at 6
a.m. in Morenci.
Skelton denied harming his sons and said they were with an
underground group for their safety, among other murky explanations,
according to investigators.
People spent weeks searching woods and waters in Michigan and Ohio.
While in prison, Skelton told authorities that a man who helps
people leave Amish communities might know about the boys, but
Castleberry said it was “another lie.”
Investigators at the court hearing “will detail the farfetched,
unfathomable yarns John Skelton spun, leading authorities on one
wild goose chase after another,” Castleberry said.
Years have passed, but people in Morenci have not forgotten the
Skelton brothers. A plaque with their names and images is attached
to a rock at a park near Bean Creek. It says, “Faith, Hope, Love.”
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