Three Michigan Boys Vanished In 2010 After Spending Thanksgiving With Their Father

Three young Michigan boys joined their father for Thanksgiving over a decade ago. They then disappeared — and the children’s dad, who is serving time behind bars for unlawful imprisonment in connection with the case, refused to provide investigators with any details about their possible whereabouts.

On Nov. 25, 2010, the Skelton brothers, Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, spent the holiday in Morenci with their father, John Russell Skelton. The following day, the boys’ mother, Tanya Zuvers, was scheduled to pick them up after the court-ordered visit, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Zuvers, who had filed for divorce that September and had custody of their sons, attempted to contact her ex and went to his home after he failed to respond. He never answered the door either, and when officers later entered the residence, they found it in disarray — and they were unable to locate Skelton or his sons.

Police learned Skelton had turned up at an area hospital with a broken ankle, which he reportedly told medical staff he got while trying to kill himself, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

When investigators asked the father about his three boys’ whereabouts, he changed his story multiple times. At one point, The Charley Project reported, Skelton said he entrusted the children to the care of an underground group that would protect them. Another time, he claimed he gave them to a pastor’s wife he met online. Detectives were unable to verify she even existed.

Michigan State Police obtained Skelton’s phone records and determined he had traveled and spent around two hours in Ohio — a trip of about 20 miles from his home in Michigan — during the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2010.

Searches for the children never yielded any results.

In July 2011, Skelton took a plea deal and was convicted of three counts of unlawful imprisonment in connection with the disappearance of his sons. He is currently serving up to a 15-year sentence at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan.

If Skelton is not paroled, he is scheduled to be released from custody in 2025.

According to The Charley Project, both Zuvers and Skelton’s family do not believe he harmed his children. Skelton reportedly has said his boys with his ex-wife are alive, but he’s refused to reveal further details if she still has custody.

This year, Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner would be ages 22, 20, and 18.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call Michigan State Police at (517) 636-0689, or contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.