Mother of 3 Michigan boys missing since 2010 asks court to declare them dead

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 1 minute read

A hearing on a request to declare legally dead three Lenawee County boys missing since 2010 is scheduled to take place later this month.

Tanya Zuvers, the mother of Tanner, Alexander and Andrew Skelton, said last month that she had asked the Lewawee County Probate Court to make the declaration.

“In December 2023, three petitions were filed in the Lenawee County Probate Court regarding my sons Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton,” Zuvers said in a statement posted June 20 on his Facebook page Missing ~ Skelton Brothers, Morenci, Michigan.

“I am asking the courts to declare Andrew, Alexander and Tanner legally deceased,” she said in the statement. “This decision was made after much thought and discussion with my family and friends. It was not taken lightly and was a difficult decision to make. No parent wants to lose a child, but having to ask the courts to step in and declare them deceased is simply unconscionable.”

“Ultimately, there is only one person responsible for my sons’ disappearance,” she said. “That person claimed at one point that the boys would hibernate until they graduated. As of today, June 14, 2024, all three boys are over 18 and would have all graduated high school, but they have not been returned to me and remain missing.”

“At this time, we as a family ask for privacy as we continue to work through this matter.”

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 29, according to court documents.

Tanner, Alexander and Andrew were last seen in the backyard of their father's home in Morenci, near the Michigan-Ohio border, in November 2010. The boys were 5, 7 and 9 at the time and were supposed to be returned to their mother.

The boys' disappearance sparked a massive search across Ohio and Michigan.

John Skelton, the boys' father, gave police conflicting accounts of what happened to his children, including handing them over to a stranger to keep them away from his wife.

Now 52, Skelton is serving a 10- to 15-year prison sentence for unlawful imprisonment. He is scheduled to be released in November 2025.

Police believe he killed the children following a violent custody dispute and hid their bodies.

In 2015, Zuvers said she believed her sons were dead.

Lina Portman

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