The Skelton Brothers /// Part 1 /// 280 | Forensic Files

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[Music] [Music] all investigators from multiple agencies spent all evening here at the home and
Morenci where the boys were last seen on Thanksgiving evening they took evidence
from the home there's also concerned tonight because of a posting on Facebook from the boy's
father John skeletons last Facebook post reads I love my wife very much may God and Tanya forgive me a cryptic message
that police are now trying to decipher meanwhile FBI Michigan State Police and Morenci police brought out the chopper
and searched John Skelton's home late into Saturday night skeletons house was the last place his
three sons were seen alive five year old Tanner seven year old Alexander and 9 year old Andrew have not been seen or
heard from since Thursday night anytime you have children this old that are not with a caring loved one I think you you
have to assume they're in some kind of Jeopardy everybody is it's still like I said
hoping and praying and trying to remain positive so we're hoping that the community can still stay
with us and be positive and be there and be our support police say the three little boys disappeared after a bizarre
chain of events reported by their father Morenci police say john skelton tried to
kill himself in his home on friday but before doing so Skelton says he handed off the kids to a woman he met years ago
on the side of the road Skelton is telling investigators the woman Jo Ann Taylor had car trouble so
he pulled over to help her and has maintained contact with her over email Skelton says jo-ann picked up the kids
Friday morning at the house before he attempted suicide police are not sure this story adds up up to this point we
have not been able to locate a jo-ann Taylor or confirm that she even exists skeletons neighbor said he recently lost
his job and separated from his wife but they didn't know his troubles had reached a boiling point if my husband
was in the yard they'd be over seeing what he was doing and helping and just seemed like a very normal family police
say they do appreciate the many tips they have received from the community so far though the whereabouts of little
boys are not known [Music] the key persons in this case are john skelton his wife Tanya and their three
sons Andrew Alexander and Tanner the boys are young ages nine seven and five and in late 2010 it's important to know
that the parents John and Tanya are living in separate residences and in the process of ending the marriage let's
jump right into the timeline of some of the key events in the second half of 2010 on Monday September 13th 2010 John
says he's leaving for work but instead of going to work john skelton takes the three boys out of school he signs the
mountain drives them to Florida John's parents live in Jacksonville Florida Tanya finds out about this this is
because the school called her to say that they are confused about what's going on because Tanya brought the kids
to school that morning and she even dropped off medicine when dropping off the kids they called because later John
shows up and checks the boys out telling the school that the family was going on
vacation to Florida John is weird about the whole thing when Tanya reaches out to him this is just after noon that day
and John and the kids are still in the area with the attempt of going to Florida so they're not in Florida
they're still in Michigan at this time he first says that they are going to Florida for a three-week vacation but he
also adds that he will put the kids in school once he's down in Florida so this doesn't sound much like a vacation to
their mother Tonya Tonya calls an attorney and she finds out the only way she can prevent John from taking the
kids to Florida is for her to file for a divorce and request emergency custody of
the children a judge signs papers granting custody to Tonya but before John could be served the papers he
catches wind of what is going on and he orders the boys into vehicle.now he only gets the two oldest
boys into his vehicle and John then drives those two kids down to Florida leaving the youngest boy Tanner back in
Michigan with his mother the next day John has the boys call home to speak with their mother now after this phone
call Tonya jumps into action and she goes down to Florida and she gets the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department
involved in this whole situation they serve John a custody order then they have to meet with a judge this is down
in Jacksonville this judge orders John the boy's aunt Anna to return to Michigan and states that the two parents
will have joint custody for the drive home until they reach the Michigan State Line there the boys are to be in the
custody of their mother per the Michigan judge's previous order this whole process from the time the boys were
taken on Monday September 13th until they get back to Michigan this takes a little over a week this was not a quick
process this was not a quick turnaround and the mother had to go to great lengths to make sure that her two oldest
sons were returned back to Michigan well it's not the best foot to start a divorce on I mean these kind of battles
yeah and this whole battle is super-weird because from both stand points because you have Tanya who's kind
of left there going what's going on why is my soon-to-be-ex-husband just taking the kids and going down to Florida right
and John has parents there so I mean he has family there so it's not super weird
on that level but what is weird is that this was not like talked about between the two of them I mean two two at Great
Lengths we do have John at some point who suggests that maybe the whole family should go move down to Florida and Tonya
says you know I can't really do that right now I can't do that mind you she's thinking that the marriage is ending why
would the whole family you know pick up roots and go down to Florida and the whole statement to of well we're
going on a three-week vacation but while I'm down there because now mind you this
is September right school starts around that time for these boys so tanya is wondering what are you doing taking the
kids out of school school just started you're taking them on a three-week vacation that's like the guy that just
signs up for a new job and then goes on vacation the second week after he started working there it just doesn't
make any sense mm-hmm you know asking why would you go on this three-week vacation yeah I'm sure the kids would
have fun down there but he's like oh well while I'm down there I'll just sign him up for school well that doesn't seem
like a vacation who signs up people for school once they get to a new location sounds like you're moving yeah against
her best wishes well then on Tuesday November 23rd 2010 all three boys were living with their mother Tanya according
to Tanya John is still trying to determine if they could get back together they're not living together but
Tanya believed it was in everyone's best interest that even though she had full custody at this time of the boys that
they should be allowed to visit with their father tanya was not really interested in getting the marriage back
together but the boys loved their father and she was not going to deny them seeing him or staying the night at his
new place well it's kind of his new place it's now him living at their old place without her right it's his new old
place right so the way that this works is Tanya goes and she has to live elsewhere because they're separating
John's at the family's home with the three boys right now Tanya is staying with the help of some friends it sounds
like somebody was selling a house or in the process of moving out regardless she's living at this house in the same
neighborhood as John and it's two blocks away they're close enough that you can see portions of each of the properties
from the other property if that makes sense well then this is good for them too because then they're close to their
house yeah and it's I believe it's a rented house but that's the house they know and yeah like you said they know
other kids in the neighborhood this is a familiar place for them I mean divorce is tough on children and
Tanya seems to be going above and beyond and out of her way to make it easier on
the children allowing them to see their father even though she has the custody rights one you could walk to your other
house yeah walk to see your mom you should walk to see your dad and also like I said with it getting off to such
a rocky start maybe they said hey we got to do something better you know for the
kids well Tanya also does not fear at this time that John would attempt to leave to Florida again with the kids as
she believed it appeared that he had learned his lesson the first time and that he was obeying the Michigan judges
instructions Plus Daniel was recommending to John counselling and he seemed to be open to the idea remember
it appears John had an interest in getting back together with Tanya Daniel wanted counseling both couples
counseling and family counseling and they were going to counseling sessions together previous to this day tanya has
agreed to let John have the boys for the Thanksgiving Day holiday the next day November 24 2010 the boys are at Tanya's
parents home that morning until John can pick them up later that day around 5:00
p.m. John picks up the three boys around the scheduled time from there they go to
his home John would later say and mind you it's a little confusing if he is referring to Wednesday or Thursday right
but he says while the kids are with him he cooked them one of their favorite meals fried chicken and baked them a
cake then we have Thursday November 25th Thanksgiving my favorite day of the year
food football a good amount of libations some bubbly yeah Tonya later states that on this day she
is on the phone with John and according to her John is asking if there is any chance that they could get back together
tanya is giving him the old I don't know probably not you know giving him that routine Tanya can hear her three sons in
the background while talking with John and says it sounds to her like the boys are having a great time
they're playing and such later Tanya would say she is not 100% certain that she spoke with John on this day on this
Thursday she says there is a chance it was on Wednesday night but you know with the with the holidays going on there's a
lot going on here so it does sound to me that she feels stronger that the conversation took place on this Thursday
regardless of which day it actually was we do have a neighbor of John's this is the lady I believe she lived across the
street she tells police later that she saw all three boys playing outside that afternoon most reports state this is
around 5:00 p.m. on that Thursday November 25th Thanksgiving Day mm-hmm Friday November 26th Black Friday one of
my least favorite days Tanya per the arrangements made before Thanksgiving is scheduled to pick the
three boys up at John's place at 3:00 p.m. that morning however Tanya and John trade phone calls and texts the topic
Tanya would like to pick the boys up earlier if possible she's asking if she could get them around noon John says he
would however they are not at his home Tanya says to John what are you talking about from my place I can see your
driveway and your van is parked in the driveway John says friends of his came and picked him up and the boys up and
they were out having fun now please keep in mind as we go through this this is Tanya and John having multiple
conversations that day because later that day he says the boys are still with his friends mm-hmm that he John is home
and his friend is scheduled to drop the kids off at his place at 3:00 p.m. so they can be picked up by
Tanya at 3:00 p.m. so Sonia is asking well can they just drop them off to me at my place you know that
I obviously live in the same neighborhood right unfortunately regardless of all of these conversations
they never agree to a time for tani to pick up the boys in fact this is where it all falls apart
the next time Tanya talks to John he says I'm on my way to the hospital I think I broke my leg Daniel wants to
know where her son's are and how is she going to get them back John says they are not with me they are still with my
friend and she is going to bring them back to my house he thinks Daniel wants to get in touch
with this friend of John's or at least for him to do so but he is saying he does not have his friend's phone number
on him and he doesn't know what will happen with the boys getting to Tanya's this very obviously upsets the boy's
mother and she calls her attorney the attorney advises Tanya to wait until after the scheduled time wait until
after 3:00 p.m. before you do anything at 3:01 p.m. Tanya calls the police and reports her boys as missing so remember
we said John was on his way to the hospital this is because he called a friend to drive him there once at the
hospital John checks himself in seeking treatment for an ankle injury I've seen this reported as everything from a
sprained ankle a broken ankle it is first reported that John tried unsuccessfully to hang himself this
either in a hotel or in his home in the course of this he suffered the leg injury in the process where are the
three boys Andrew age 9 Alexander age 7 and tanner age 5 John says a friend of his Joanne Taylor was put in charge of
returning the boys to Tanya's home Joanne of course never arrives in fact apparently John knows little to nothing
about this Joanne person John was a truck driver by occupation according to John this is someone who he
met when he came across her and Joanne's husband when they were having vehicle trouble their vehicle broke down and he
stopped and helped them well John and Joanne then became friends afterward and maintain their relationship via the
Internet Tanya does not believe John's story in fact she fears that her sons may be lying dead in John's home the
Morenci police searched the home and they do not find the boys what they do find is a home of broken and destroyed
furniture and household items we're talking broken glass smashed furniture a mattress cut and slash with a knife and
right and it's not clear if the stuff was like smashed on that Wednesday and Thursday or if it's been smashed for a
while Friday night at 11:00 p.m. an Amber Alert goes out for the three missing skelton boys
the following is an Amber Alert issued for the three sons of John and Tonya Skelton of Morenci police are searching
the neighborhood now the FBI is on the way an Amber Alert has been issued for three young boys in Lenawee County who
are believed to be in extreme danger Andrew Ryan Skelton aged nine Alexander William Skelton aged seven and
Tanner Lucas Skelton aged five were reportedly last seen Friday at 2:30 p.m. with Joann Taylor
a woman who their father john skelton met on the internet the suspect was to return the children
to their mother but the children have been missing since Taylor is believed to be a resident of either Jackson County
or Hillsdale County and drives a silver van police say the father of the three boys has been hospitalized following a
suicide attempt the missing children are all described as white males andrew is four foot one inch tall weighs 57 pounds
and has brown eyes and hair Alexander is three foot nine inches tall weighs 45 pounds has brown eyes and hair and has a
scar on his hairline and on his chin Tanner is three foot six inches tall with blue eyes and blond hair the
Morenci Police Department is investigating and was to hold a news conference today if you have any
information regarding the three missing children the alleged abductor or the suspects vehicle please call 911 police
department at 574 five eight two three two three or Lenawee County dispatch at five one seven two six three zero five
two four at 1:30 a.m. early Saturday morning the Morenci police chief contacted tonya she was asked to get to
the police department as soon as possible to discuss the situation this is because the local authorities want to
try to get a handle on what was going on before the feds came in as you heard in
the Amber Alert they also say that they contemplated even doing a hamburger because that would set off everything
you're gonna have all these searchers come in you're gonna have FBI come in with this help or hinder what they're
trying to do well and we've seen this in plenty of other cases before where you have to get certain information out to
the public because you do need the public's help especially when you're looking for three missing persons
possible abductor and you have a description of the abductors vehicle mm-hmm but then the problem with that is
when you are racing for time when you feel like you are in a race against time to find these three missing children you
run into the problem of could you be getting just frantic tips from the public right tips that aren't valuable
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Amazon Prime video that's the new four part document on a Masonic chair States cheers to you captain John's story john
skelton story or stories regarding the location of the three boys mm-hmm is a very difficult portion of this case yeah
what is not difficult but as scary is a law enforcement work to track John's cell phone and if his phone was moving
at any point during the times when the boys were in his care so here's the scary part on Friday so the same day
that the boys would later be reported missing early Friday morning we know John's phone was on the move at 4:29
a.m. John's cell phone was approximately three miles from his home on Congress Street and moving at about 5:00 a.m. his
phone is near holiday city Ohio and Pioneer Ohio so holiday city is a tiny little town in Northwest Ohio near the
Michigan Ohio state lines Jim holiday City is about seven or eight miles south of Michigan and by
everything that's out there John travelled straight from his house to this area this is a place that he would
have drove through multiple times when he was a trucker yeah and if you check the approximate travel time on any
directions or Maps application you get depending on the route it's about a 24 to 25 mile one-way trip that would take
about 30 to 32 minutes of travel time which matching up perfectly with what the cellphone evidence shows for 29 a.m.
he is just about three miles from his house and then 31 minutes later his phone is in holiday city Ohio then at
6:46 a.m. according to the evidence his cell phone is back at his house so what we have here is John assuming he is with
his phone he is in this holiday city location for 70 some minutes and with no reason to be
there and then he returns home where later we are told after several communications with Tanya
he attempts to commit suicide fails injures himself and calls a friend to take him to the hospital yeah your
marriage has fallen apart you don't have custody of your children mm-hmm well you
have part-time custody of your children you lose your job and then something happens over this Thanksgiving and you
go to a town in Ohio that you're familiar with right but your story to the police is this person that you know
that you gave your kids to they met you they met you at your house they picked them up from your house right this
doesn't make a lot of sense at all well that's a big part of the difficulty with
his story and with this case so then the difficult thing becomes when did he hand
his children over to this woman and just how complicated is his story and could it possibly be true well there was this
report at this donut shop and sent duskie Ohio the three skeleton boys may offer the first glimmer of hope that the
brothers are still alive shop worker sandy Jones says she thinks she saw Tanner Alexander and Andrew in the store
three days after Thanksgiving the two older ones were really they didn't act like they even want to come through that
door when they first came in sandy says the three were with a woman that they looked tired and hungry the woman who
was with the boys even called Tanner by name I kind of huddled together the angry one kind of looked up and was
looking around he just didn't nobody wanted at first like he would wanted everything and she kept saying just pick
out your doughnut dinner just pick out your doughnut that's how I raised I know his name
and then it was funny when I saw the newspaper I'm like that's too much of a coincidence Jones says she didn't know
about the story until she saw it in the paper after the holiday weekend she then
told her co-worker these little boys I swear were in the donut shop the owner of the donut shop is a former police
officer after Jones and the owner talked it over they filed this report but not until several days after the sighting I
thought I was going crazy so I waited and talked to him and he the owner Terry and he was like you know what they do
look like that and we went around about the name again and then we didn't know what to do because we didn't have we
didn't know the car or license plates and we didn't know if it could be any kind of help or not
and the more we thought about the more we like know we need to call because it's a chance that could have been them
as for the woman Jones says she was disheveled she was about five foot five five foot six like I said she's still
why she was in her 40s very tired Haggard she had dark scraggly hair that the buddy has just been dyed so of
course police are working to confirm this tip that boy's father John Skelton was caring for the boys when they went
missing back on Thanksgiving his extradition hearing is scheduled for December 14th Governor Granholm is
already expediting all right so I know you're all chuckling but grow up yes a former police officer owns a doughnut
shop quit row up if you're laughing about it and you can't you can't hear it on the clip that portion of the clip
that we played but at the very tail end of that when he's done giving the report
and he's going to turn it back over to the you know the people in the studio the the news studio
he says Joanne that's the the news anchors name so kind of some ironic things inside that story itself so well
let's just go over this eyewitness account do is do we believe this at all well so it's interesting for a few
different reasons right and one it's a sighting of three boys hmm at a donut shop this is the house of donuts in
Sandusky Ohio it's not terribly far from Morenci Ohio it's about 100 miles east it's more East than southeast
but it's technically southeast and Sandusky's right on Lake Erie so about a hundred miles away three days after
Thanksgiving or three days after they went missing I'm a little uncertain of that point but of that portion but there
with a woman so there's some things that are lining up here to John's story three
boys not two not one you know no other people reported with them not a little girl not a grown man not anybody else
three boys that this woman at the doughnut shop believes to be of the appropriate age of the missing children
with a disheveled looking woman who looks tired and the kids look tired as well tired and hungry yeah it seems more
believable to me because yes the one there with a woman but that she's saying one of the kids names and that the
person behind the counter picked up on that yeah yeah and it must have I mean the three kids as well as the woman must
have stuck out like a sore thumb to this eyewitness because she's kind of recalling this after the fact she was
unaware at the time that there were missing people that could have been you know that or in the general area of
where this doughnut but this is lot of miles away not terribly far right but this is also one of the problems with
the AMBER Alert is that you will get so many sightings and that could be a bad thing because when they should maybe be
looking closer you like this search to me doesn't make a lot of sense they're searching so much of the hometown
they're searching the house but we have cell phone ping technology that puts him
in a whole nother state and a whole nother area that's very rural and we lose track of his cell phone pings for
about an hour and 45 minutes mm-hmm so the the phone either dies or gets turned off and we're in an area that there's
acres upon acres upon acres this would be a perfect dumping ground if you're trying to hide
hmm well I thought that we the downtime let's call it of the cellphone information or evidence right is closer
to like 70 75 minutes because we we have to factor in the travel time that's involved on the way to this location and
then on the return trip to his home right so we have that cellphone moving as you say and and as we know the
interesting thing here and you and I I agree with you because on the surface it's like well why are they I mean they
got hundreds of searchers looking at his neighborhood looking in the general vicinity of his home I mean we even have
helicopters flying over and they did thermal searches as well you know that's where they're going to be looking for
any indication thermally of where they could find these boys if they were being hid somewhere but I think what we can
deduce from this information that we have not knowing exactly what tactics police and searchers are going to
actually implement is the AMBER Alert and the phone call from the police chief to Tonya to the boy's mother where we
know the feds are coming in we know the FBI is coming in so what I believe we have here is a couple of things let's
not just limit ourselves to one search area I believe the feds the FBI was brought in because we do have
information that there's a possibility that these kids were taken against their will be it with their father or anyone
else and they were taken possibly across state lines from Michigan to Ohio right
therefore now we have an FBI situation kidnapping across state lines that's a double whammy for the FBI so you bring
them in and maybe they are the ones that are in charge of searching the area that
is across the state line we're on the local level where you have local jurisdiction
you can then police search grid search the neighborhood of john skelton well the area and Ohio it'd probably be
better if you just search by helicopter and maybe some kind of infrared yeah the
thermal yeah infrared so the other thing to to keep in mind here is as suspicious
as the movements of his cell phone are because of how early and the day that is that doesn't seem to be typical routine
he has no reason for being in that area as suspicious it's that seems you also have a bunch of information saying well
his cell phone was in the loke general area of his home for a much longer period of time when he had the children
so you can't overlook searching that immediate area right well then also it's not clear if he left with his vehicle or
did he get into somebody else's vehicle hmm right a situation where he says this
lady came and picked him up from me oh by the way I went with them for a while yeah and then she brought me back home
but also around this point isn't this where he starts stating hey I wanted to give them to this woman because my wife
was abusing them well that's where I think we need to go through his story a little bit as well as some background
information on the skeleton family right because let's say that sighting that we'd the clip that we just played and I
got it I gotta tell you captain hearing that I'm hopeful that there there's information in that sighting
that that eyewitness told us sounds more legitimate than most gives me cause for
hope gives me cause to believe that her story is his spot-on yeah makes me want donuts so if we are
to believe that this sighting is real in in and she was correct that she did see
the three boys then we have to believe John's story right his explanation regarding the whereabouts of the three
boys and here's what I here's what I will say to try to sum this up as best as I can
having looked at this for for a while now I don't feel like I can say that it's a changing story regarding John's
story in a sense that it contradicts his original story right but John's story to
me seems more to evolve rather than to change completely so he first tells Tanya he gave the kids
to a friend of his named Joanne and she was in charge of driving the boys to tan
his home he gave them to Joanne because he was going to commit suicide that's the first story then we hear John tells
investigators he gave the boys to a foster care home an underground foster care home because their mother tanya was
abusing the boys this is where we need the background information on the skeleton family so this is both John's
and Tanya's second marriages right they've both been married before John and Tanya they had their first child
together after one year of marriage so andrew is the oldest nine years old at the time of the disappearance he's
described as very smart and great in school he loves video and computer games in his
very competitive when playing he is very inquisitive and out of all the boys he is the most timid and quiet then you
have Alexander who was born just about two years after Andrew he was seven at the time of the disappearance Alexander
is the daredevil of the boys and he has a few stitches to prove it he enjoys riding and jumping on his bike playing
in the dirt starting water fights he's the one described as quote always getting into trouble but they say when
it comes down to it he is a lover and Alex loves cellphones working or not real or fake he loves cell phones or the
idea of a cell phone he often would play with a cell phone that were no longer in
service he enjoys charging them and using the camera feature Tanner is the little one the littlest one and he was
born just two years after Alexander and Tanner is by far the storyteller of the three boys he has a great imagination
good step from his father he can tell the most far-out stories or tell something that really happened he will
get you to believe it and then we'll tell you no it really didn't happen and it'll laugh at you he's pranking me yeah
Tanner doesn't like tomatoes he will not eat anything if there are tomatoes in it
or around it including ketchup Tanner really looks up to all of his siblings he doesn't want to be left
behind so he is always trying to keep up and do what everyone else is doing now John and Tania were married for 10 years
before this all went down John was married before and had a child daniel speculates that John may have freaked
out when it was likely that she and John were going to get a divorce and she was
going to get custody of the kids she cites that's what happened in his first marriage Tania's story is more
complicated Daniel was married before and had two daughters in that previous relationship
these two daughters are very very close to Tania to this day but are much older than her three boys Tania's first
marriage ended because of criminal charges Tania had some kind of inappropriate actions and behavior with
a 14 year old boy when charged she pled guilty and she did serve time in prison for this offense and she is a registered
sex offender in the state of Michigan yeah according to everything I could find this is not something that Tania
hid from John he knew about her background before they got married he knew about it before they had children
yeah so this is why that doesn't you know I mean it's good that she didn't hide that from him but at the same time
it's like that's that's a very odd situation and very gross situation yeah well yeah yeah and you know what's
difficult for for me as I sit here in this garage chair after we've covered so many cases and and I've been so hardcore
of saying you know once a child molester always a child molester and you know that that I may have put myself in a
difficult position when discussing this case because I feel like you know like we should I feel like we should give her
credit for not beat for not hiding this from him you know what I mean it deserves some credit because we have
seen situations where well she has to register where she lives yeah and stuff like that so he's gonna
find out official right she might not be able to find out and it's one of those things where look I mean it's a it's a
crime against a child the boy was 14 years old so that's that's awful yeah and but at the same time she in this
case she is a victim or possibly is a victim and so you don't want to have it come across as victim blaming right well
but ultimately this is why John tells law enforcement he gave the boys to someone else to raise either because he
feared losing them in the divorce or because he was planning to commit suicide and Tonya was abusing the boys
he didn't want them to live out the rest of their days with her right so now John
following his treatment for his injured leg he was sent to a facility for evaluation once released there he is
immediately taken into custody and held in jail because of the situation with the missing boys John's parents talked
to him and they believe his side of the story in fact at some point they say that John
told them previously about possible abuse in the household hence that's his reasoning for wanting to take
the boys to Florida to set up a new life there the police don't believe him they
they publicly announced that they are unable to confirm that a Joe and Taylor even exist at all well what we do know
is his mother believes him the father believes them yes and his sister believes him they believe that that John
is telling the truth correct right and not only does the not only does law enforcement come out and announce that
we don't believe that he gave his sons to this Joe Ann Taylor person right we can't confirm that she even exists the
difficult thing about that for law enforcement is you're kind of sitting on a fence
there right not so much in that statement but in the course of your investigation because you
have to be sitting there wondering well crap just because we can't confirm that this person exists doesn't mean that his
story's not true what if he gave them to someone claiming to be Joann Taylor right so the other thing though too that
they announced is that they fear that John has done something terrible terrible with the children they don't
believe that the outcome they publicly state this they don't believe that the outcome is going to be a good one
meaning we should be looking for bodies and of course they had good reason to yeah and I think the first part of that
good reasoning behind that comes from the cryptic Facebook post by John on that Wednesday on Wednesday November
24th that said may God and Tanya forgive me well that doesn't sound promising does
it right but you wonder if that is implying towards the suicide that he eventually is gonna do it try to commit
this yeah that's a good point that's a very good point because some religions claim that you know taking your own life
as a sin so maybe he's confessing his sin to his god and his wife well and the other thing too is keep in mind if it
was and asking for forgiveness because of the suicide or the attempted suicide on earth from every indication I could
find it seems like John was still very much in love with Tanya during this time that he was yeah focused on trying to
get the family back together or get his marriage back together so you could be very right that it could be for asking
for forgiveness for that act or I guess in a sense it could be asking for forgiveness for giving the children away
and then committing suicide right both right so or yeah and the thing too is you can love your wife but know that
she is sick on some level and that she's molesting the boys then you don't want her to be around but that doesn't mean
that doesn't mean he can just shut off all the feelings that he had for mm-hmm I mean I would I mean it would be
seconds oh you're molesting kids oh no feelings for you anymore you can die in rot in
hell yeah so so may God in Tana forgive me that was the John Skelton's Facebook message to the world two days before he
unsuccessfully tried to hang himself it was also two days before the disappearance of his three children
right again as he say it's he also apologizing for him murdering the children right when we didn't bring up
that aspect well and that's what I think most people take it as that that he's apologizing for murdering the children
and then also trying to take his own life well and I think that's the the common initial reaction that most would
have I know that that's the the initial reaction I had right now the other reason to believe that this outcomes not
going to be a good one as law enforcement stated is what they found on John's computer so the night before the
boys disappeared now keep in mind at this time John is considered by law enforcement and by his own admission to
be the only adult in the home in his home with the computer that we are going to talk about at the time of these two
searches okay and this is not verbatim but one search was something to the effect of how to
break a neck or can you break someone's neck using your hands another I mean that's dark as hell and again not very
promising well right but let me hold on play a little devil's advocate here yes sir the the night which we think was the
Wednesday or maybe it was the Thursday he claims that he made the boys his favorite dinner and that they got Fried
Chicken and he made a cake because it's could be one of the boys birthday soon and then they watched a karate movie
mm-hmm now kung fu well well they said karate movie so I was yeah actually guessing that they probably watched
Crotty kid or something but think about this way you're watching Karate Kid you're watching some kung fu movie you
see a guy maybe break somebody's neck with some move and then you google search it well that's his explanation
that's what Jon's explanation is when he's confronted with this information right why would you look that up if you
didn't do something terrible to these boys well we were watching a karate movie or a kung fu movie what he fails
to provide and I get I shouldn't fault him too much for this but again I've never been in a room being questioned
about a triple homicide that you're gonna admit on air what he what he is what he fails to provide in his defense
is the title of the movie that he claims they were watching yeah but anybody that
has kids knows that sometimes you throw on a movie or a movies on TV and kids are watching it they seem entertain and
you're in the kitchen cleaning dishes and you're not really part of the movie watching process process right so I'm
saying so it's like then if you went oh well what were they watching well I'm not really for sure I wasn't really
watching I was doing the dishes or I was cleaning the house or whatever was going
on well this seems like an awfully violent movie to be allowing your three children under the age of 10 to watch no
come on we mean yeah everybody watch you don't think that's a fair assessment of this
situation no I think I mean I'd be like telling children they showed watch WWE or something well but I'm I'm stating we
also don't know the title of the movie so if they're watching Karate Kid at the age of under 10 I'd say go go for it but
it can't be Karate Kid and I'll tell you why because of what John says in his defense he says the reason why that
there was a search on his computer for the phrase how to break a Necker can you break
someone's neck using your hands the they're watching a karate type kung-fu type movie right and in the
movie somebody breaks someone's neck just with their hands you know like what is that Steven Seagal Van Damme kind of
move there and he says that it was at the kids asking him or not believing that that was realistic what they were
seeing on TV you know oh you can't break somebody's neck with your bare hands or
her dad can you actually do that and so he says i google-searched it with the boys right to see if that was even a
real thing which sounds like I I know mr. Miyagi was pretty tough on those teenagers for a beaten-up Daniel son but
I don't remember any necks being snapped like any twisted one of their necks and
I I believe you did and then again we were talking about kids under the age of 10 they're coming up they don't have to
see something verbatim to come up with a question oh we saw this guy twist this guy's neck hey did he break his neck I
don't know can you break somebody's neck by twisting it right I don't know let's
ask dad that's all I'm saying so we have no clue what the title is we don't have
a clue how violent it was but again I wouldn't say that Karate Kid for example would be like a movie I wouldn't want a
ten-year-old to watch maybe blood sports something different but you know there are also little boys that's what kind of
movie said they liked yeah no I'm not saying that you've got to let young children watch Karate Kid I loved the
original Karate Kid the first one I did one of my favorite movies and my father who's pretty strict with what I could
watch when I was little sometimes his judgment was a little cloudy or my understanding understanding of his
judgment was a little cloudy because I recall watching Conan the Barbarian when I was in the destroyer when I was very
little and that's a pretty violent movie very violent but how you turned out so the other thing here is there's another
search on the computer and that is for something to the effect of rat poison or kin rat poison kill a
human okay also very dark dark is hell not very promising again John's explanation for this is this
search on the computer was again at the request of his three children that during the course of that same movie
somebody is killed by poisoning or rat poison according to the movie that he's watching with the kids and so they
searched this to figure out if that can actually happen yeah well my big problem
with this search there buddy is you made chicken you made your boys's a favorite
meal seems like if you're gonna make your boys's favorite me or you're gonna make a cake right for their birthday
these are things that are pretty simple to get them to eat did you make these favorite things form on purpose so you
can put poison in there and then you took their bodies once then once they were poisoned
you took their bodies in the morning when nobody else was up and he drove out to some field somewhere and he dumped
him off that that makes a lot of logical sense to me well and then on top of that
think about the state of the home when it was found when they entered the home it was it looked like it was destroyed
like somebody just you know tornado of rage just went through their uh pending furniture and in tossing things and
cutting things and breaking and smashing things is that a very you know true vinay lame attempt at hiding some
evidence or at least confusing the scene you know right or were you losing your [ __ ] for so long that you're busting
plates you don't want to get mad at them cuz because you couldn't control them mm-hmm cuz you weren't being such a good
parent and everything in your life is crumbling and your this guy seemed so worried about getting back together with
somebody that didn't seem to give a [ __ ] about him it's like you could you could
take that time and refocus on being on a better father a refocus that on your career or whatever yeah but
there's also guys that get into the state guys in and girls will get to the state where they're so desperate to be
with somebody that everything is collapsing around them and and and that's all that matters
so did is every time that you called her that she said that she don't want to get
back together are you going into some other room and smashing up you know or punching your hole through the wall or
or smashing some dishes or whatever right and and are you on who knows so yeah and did that that tornado of rage
did that take place after the phone call remember Tonya says that he at some point John speaks with her on the phone
and says are you sure there's no chance that we can get back together right you know did that occur immediately after
that or a result of something else and from the outside looking in it appears like you know like you said Tonya may
care for him and on some level but it appears that she only cares for him as being the father of her three bull right
but this [ __ ] can't see that and let me just give you some advice everybody out
there if you're with somebody and they don't know if they want to be with you here's what you do and here's what you
do every time 100% of the time you go okay well I'm gonna go over here and work on myself I'm gonna focus on myself
cuz if they come back you're going to be a better person anyways and you're gonna be better for
them and if they don't come back you're already going to be working on yourself and it just seemed like this guy's
world's collapsing and we've seen I was actually just listening to a show the other day where they're talking about
you know the the suicide rate for men jumps up dramatically after losing a job and so well I would argue that if this
guy is suicidal that he's possibly also homicidal yeah yeah I mean here's some advice for the flip
side of that coin if you are with somebody and they love you completely just let yourself go 100% well just let
yourself completely go so regarding the things as forgettable it's like Homer Simpson you don't just
let yourself account don't ever listen to him regarding the things to a kind of backup law-enforcement statement of not
feeling like we're going to have a good outcome in this situation there's another item and this is another cryptic
message if you want to call it that but this is in the form of what john skelton
tells his pastor donna galloway remember he's locked up shortly after the boys go
missing shortly after his failed suicide attempt and when he spoke when Donna Galloway spoke to him his statement
John's statement refers to when it comes to the time frame in question that we're
all wondering about John says there is a blank spot in his brain it was like a big dark hole now without going too far
into that as to what that could mean because with a lot of John statements all we're left with saying is well what
could this mean it doesn't straight up it's not it's not straightened to the point right
this is there's a big blank spot in my brain there's a big dark hole what does that mean well it sounds like OJ
actually yeah you know in oh geez book Werner he is confessing to the murders he states oh well then I blacked out
when I come to there there were dead blood everywhere it's like did he have a blackout for hours right I mean do we
have any evidence of him using drugs or possibly alcohol it's from the information I could find he was a
drinker I don't think he was a big big drinker mm-hmm no indication of drug use that I could
find but again this is not a promising statement and like you said you reference OJ we've we've read several
stories where somebody later states for some reason you know I feel like it did something bad I just don't know what it
is can't recall what it is there's a period of time I don't know what I was doing I
don't know if I was awake I don't know if I was asleep you know so this is another dark very dark statement well
you'd think they'd be able to test for fluids found at the scene and you would assume that if he let's say he did try
to poison these kids that a lot of the reaction would be through throwing up and that we'd at least have some
evidence of that happening at the house I mean yes you could clean that up but it didn't look like he cleaned up much
in that house right so there must not be any evidence of that and they did I mean they've searched
that place from top to bottom well what's also it's a small town so they probably know all his whereabouts
because of the cellphone things and they probably know everything he probably purchased so I'd be interested to know
if he even purchased poison or it's a kid again it's a logical answer you're you're
watching a movie with your kids they ask you a question hey kid can you twist somebody's neck and and kill them right
uh no you can't or yes we can then you go oh we saw the stay on the movie can you kill somebody with rat poison it
might not need not even be in the movie mm-hmm it could I mean this is the kind of questions that kids come up with I
mean any time I pick up my nephew and it's like it's a 10-minute Drive I think he asked me 20 questions that are
impossible to answer you know so it's a it's so weird because it's a logical answer but on the flip side it's a
logical explanation what what could have happened to these poor boy exactly exactly
yeah well you reference that this is a small town just to give those of you out there that are not familiar with this it
because I wasn't super familiar with this area either well with this town of Morenci I've been in Michigan I go to
Michigan twice a year great state bet place to go in summertime as Michigan in my opinion but Morenci is like a town of
like 2,000 people it's a town that's like two square mile you know two miles by two miles by two
you know as a two square mile town right tiny little town everybody's got to know
everybody's business and like you said had he purchased anything that would go along with those searches on his
computer with what their suspicions were if they would have found any signs of vomiting or certain fluids inside that
home be it blood or anything like that he probably would be facing murder charges or something to that effect
right because they already got this guy locked up and then the other thing regarding the cell phone movements on
that day in question that early morning Friday that that you have pointed out that I have pointed out is so suspicious
John has an answer for everything John says regarding his cell phone going to holiday city early Friday November 26th
well that's easily explained because someone I know a friend of mine borrowed my vehicle I forgot that my cell phone
was in the vehicle who was your friend who borrowed your vehicle can we talk to them and then John says I can't tell you
who that is [Music] [Music] every hour in the u.s. 75 people are reported missing what if there was a
task force dedicated to bringing them home that's the story behind the new original drama gone premiering February
27th on WGN America it stars Chris Knauth and Danny Pinot as well as newcomer leven rambin she portrays the
newest member of this elite task force who is a survivor of childhood abduction herself don't miss the series premiere
of Gone Wednesday February 27th at 9:00 8:00 central on WGN America we're just getting start with this case so tune in
tomorrow we'll see you back in the garage until then be good be kind and don't litter
[Music] [Applause] [Music]

Source: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-nhie3-a86ba4

The Skelton Brothers /// Part 1 /// 280 Part 1 of 2 www.TrueCrimeGarage.com Andrew age 9, Alexander age 7, and Tanner age 5 were taken by the father from his Morenci, Michigan home during the Thanksgiving holiday visitation back in 2010. Their father John, claims the boys were abused by their mother and he was getting them out of a bad situation. However John’s story does not add up. Law Enforcement does not believe him and today John sits behind bars. This week we crack a beer and discuss this stranger than fiction true crime story. Beer of the Week - Hopsoulution Ale - Bell’s Brewery INC. Garage Grade - 4 out of 5 bottle caps Check out this good stuff and save CASH with our promo codes: www.JoyBird.com/GARAGE - get 25% off your first order with code GARAGE Robinhood is giving listeners a free stock - Sign up at GARAGE.Robinhood.com - start investing today Watch the 4 part doc-series Lorena, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video Don’t miss the series premier of Gone, Wednesday February 27 at 9/8 central on WGN America

The full archive of True Crime Garage is available on the Stitcher listening app - for FREE. Our show “Off the Record” is only on Stitcher Premium. For a FREE month of listening go to http://stitcherpremium.com/truecrimegarage and use promo code GARAGE

Brief Summary

Three young boys went missing in Michigan during Thanksgiving 2010, leading to a complex investigation involving their father John Skelton.

Key points

Introducing 'Gone'. A new drama series about a task force dedicated to finding missing persons.
The Skelton Boys' Disappearance. Three young boys go missing under mysterious circumstances, raising alarm and concern.
Amber Alert Issued. An Amber Alert is issued for the three missing Skelton boys, believed to be in extreme danger.
The Missing Children Case. The investigation into three missing boys reveals troubling details about their father.
Eyewitness Sighting. A donut shop worker claims to have seen the missing boys days after they disappeared.
John's Complicated Story. John Skelton's conflicting accounts raise questions about his involvement in the boys' disappearance.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Anytime you have children this old that are not with a caring loved one...

Concern for the missing boys

4:22WatchFeb 20, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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