The Skelton Brothers
They were smart, happy boys.
On Thanksgiving day, 2010 in Morenci Michigan,brothers, Alexander, Tanner and Andrew were at their father, John's, house for a visit.
John and the boys mother Tanya were going through a pretty bad divorce.
Tanya has full custody of the boys, but she let them visit their dad for the holiday.
They were never seen again.
John was suppose to return the kids the next day at 3:00 in the afternoon, but Tanya wanted to go get them early.
Tanya called John and he started telling her a story.
He said that they went on a trip to Jackson and he would see if they could make it home early.
Tanya said his van was in his driveway when he made this claim.
She asked him how he could be gone with his vehicle still at his house.
John said that they traveled with someone.
At first the mom believed him, but she soon grew suspicious.
She continued to call and text John and he finally told her what he says is the truth.
He said that he is at home, but the boys are with his friend, Joann Taylor.
He says he met Joann on the internet.
Tanya asked John whose house the friend is being them to when they return.
He says he is not sure.
Tanya asks exactly where is Joann coming from and maybe she could meet her.
John then says that he is really at the hospital and that he had tried to hang himself.
Tanya started to panic and drove to John's house.
Joann never showed up so Tanya called the police.
An Amber Alert was issued and police searched John's house.
There was broken dishes, furniture was broken and things were thrown around.
There was no sign of the boys.
A massive search for the boys began that fruited no results.
Johns cell phone records indicated he left his home the day after Thanksgiving and drove at least 20 miles southwest, towards Ohio, before returning home.
John was arrested and charged with three counts of parental kidnapping and three counts of unlawful imprisonment.
Tanya's and John's divorce proceedings continued.
John represented himself in court.
He called Tanya to the stand and asked her,
"How do you know that your husband knows where the kids are at?"
Tanay answers,
"Yes i do."
During the criminal trial authorities discover Joann Taylor doesn't exist.
Now John claims that he gave the boys to a group called United Foster Outreach and Underground Sanctuaries in order to protect them from their abusive mother.
Authorities can find no proof that such an organization exists.
John took a plea deal and ended up pleading no contest to the unlawful imprisonment charges and was sentence to a ten to fifteen year sentence.
He says he made this deal in order to be freed early enough to see his children once he gets out.
This is what the boys might look like now.
Andrew would be 16-years-old, Alexander 14-years-old, and Tanner 12-years-old now.
John had an interview this year, to a news station, where he said he gave the boys to a man and two women driving a light colored van to live on a farm in Ohio, near the Indiana border.
He claims he told the boys they would have a better and safer life there with a new family.
John said on his last night with the boys, he made them their favorite dinner of fried chicken and a cake to celebrate Andrew's birthday.
They watched a karate movie and then went to bed.
In the interview John says how much he misses his children and never would have harmed them.
Did John kill his boys or did he really leave them with someone?
The Skelton Boy's case remains unsolved.
