MORENCI, MICH. (WWJ) The mother of the young Skelton brothers, who went missing 14 years ago near the Ohio border, has filed a petition to declare them “legally deceased” after years of holding onto hope.
In a statement on Facebook ; Tanya Zuvers said she had three petitions filed in Lenawee County Probate Court in December to declare her three boys dead.
“At the end of the day, one person is responsible for disappearance of my sons. That person, at one point, claimed the boys would hibernate until they graduate,” Zuvers said. “As of today, June 14, 2024, all 3 boys are over 18 and all would have graduated high school, yet they have not been returned to me and are all still missing.”
Andrew, Alexander and Tanner were last seen alive in the Morenci backyard of their father, John Skelton, on Thanksgiving of 2010.
Zuvers reported the boys missing the following day on Black Friday.
At the time, Andrew was nine; Alexander, seven; and Tanner, only five years old.
Police issued an Amber Alert.
According to a 2010 NBC News article , John Skelton was hospitalized and undergoing treatment for a suicide attempt on the day she reported the boys missing. He initially told investigators that he left them with a woman whom he had an online relationship with; but then claimed he gave the boys away to unknown individuals to protect them from their mother. Zuvers denied any abuse, and no evidence was ever found to back up Skelton’s claims that she abused her children.
The FBI, local and state agencies; aided by helicopters and K9s; searched for the boys across farmlands, woodlands and state lines.
In 2010, a family friend told NBC News Zuvers and Skelton were “estranged” and the boys were with their father as a part of “court-ordered visitation.”
About a year after their disappearance, Skelton pled no contest to three counts of unlawful imprisonment. The judge sentenced him to 10-15 years in the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia. He’s due to be released next year.
Police said Skelton has changed his story multiple times, but he has maintained he did not harm his children.
In 2017, bone fragments and teeth of three children who matched the ages of the Skelton brothers were found in Missoula, Montana. Later testing revealed the remains did not belong to the Skelton boys.
For 14 years, Zuvers has clung to hope.
In the June statement, Zuvers said her decision to petition the court to declare her sons legally deceased came after “much thought and discussion with my family and friends.”
“It did not come lightly and was definitely a difficult decision to make,” Zuvers said. “No parent wants to lose a child, but to have the court step in and declare them deceased is just unfathomable.”
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