Three Michigan brothers missing since 2010 are declared dead by a judge at mom's request

DETROIT — A judge declared three Michigan brothers dead Wednesday, more than 14 years after they disappeared at Thanksgiving in a small-town tragedy that remains unsolved despite an explicit belief by investigators that their father is responsible.

Lenawee County Judge Catherine Sala granted a request by Tanya Zuvers, the mother of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton.

“This is a case of terrible and longstanding impact on the community of Lenawee,” Sala said. “No condolences will ever be enough for such losses suffered.”

But at the same time, the judge rejected a request to also acknowledge that the boys' father, John Skelton, murdered the children, finding a lack of “clear and convincing evidence” after listening to testimony from law enforcement officers Monday.

“The information provided in this trial provides ample opportunity for speculation and theories,” Sala said. “But to make such a finding, the court would only be joining those voices offering such speculation and theory, given the lack of information."

The boys are presumed dead as of Nov. 26, 2015, five years after their disappearance, a key threshold in Michigan law, the judge said.

John Skelton, 53, has not been charged with killing his sons. By November, he is expected to complete a 15-year prison sentence for his failure to return the boys to Zuvers, the only conviction so far.

Zuvers testified Monday that a formal declaration of death would give her closure and provide “respect” to the boys, who were 9, 7 and 5 in 2010. They disappeared while with their father at Thanksgiving in Morenci, a town along the Ohio border.

Skelton and Zuvers were having problems and living apart in Morenci. The boys were supposed to go back to their mom the next day. Instead, they were gone.

They have not been found, despite countless searches of woods and water in Michigan and Ohio and tips from across the country.

Police said Skelton fed them a long string of lies about the boys' whereabouts, sending investigators to an old schoolhouse in Kunkle, Ohio, and a dumpster in Holiday City, Ohio. Police said claims that the boys were handed to other people for their safety also turned out to be false.

Det. Lt. Jeremy Brewer of the Michigan State Police, who was assigned the case three years later in 2013, testified he has “no doubt whatsoever” that Skelton killed the brothers.

Skelton declined to participate in the hearing to have his sons declared dead.

“Anything I say isn’t going to make a difference,” he said Monday by video conference from prison.

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This story has been corrected to say the boys are presumed dead as of Nov. 26, 2015, five years after their disappearance, not 2010.