The father of three missing Michigan boys declared dead earlier this year appears in court on Wednesday to face murder charges.
John Skelton was charge with murder last month, just days before he was to be released from prison after serving a 15 year sentence for unlawfully imprisoning 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander, and 5-year-old Tanner, as CrimeOnline reported. He was promptly ordered held on a $60 million bond.
The boys were last seen playing in their father’s backyard on November 26, 2010. Skelton and the boys’ mother, Tanya Zuvers, were going through a divorce. Zuvers had sole custody of the kids but allowed them to spend Thanksgiving with their father.
She called the police when Skelton did not return their sons, and police later found him at a hospital, where he claimed he broke his ankle during a suicide attempt. He provided authorities with varying accounts of what happened to his three sons — from giving them to a stranger, to handing them off to an underground organization for protection. None of his claims were corroborated.
Phone records showed Skelton traveling into Ohio the day after the boys were last seen. The phone pinged there then was shut off and pinged again at his home more than two hours after he left.
Investigators never stopped looking for the boys, and earlier this year, a judge declared them dead after their mother filed a petition to do so.
“At the end of the day, one person is responsible for the disappearance of my sons,” Zuvers said at the time. “That person, at one point, claimed the boys would hibernate until they graduate. 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 still missing.”
In addition to three counts of murder murder, Skelton is charged with evidence tampering. He appears Wednesday for a probable cause hearing, WJBK said.
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[Featured image: Skelton Brothers/Facebook]
