Tanya Zuvers last saw her three sons alive nearly 15 years ago. She and the boys’ father, John Skelton, were divorcing, and the boys were with him for Thanksgiving. In 2010, her sons – Andrew Skelton, 9, Alexander Skelton, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5 – disappeared. For years, police searched in Michigan and Ohio, following up on countless tips. Sadly, nothing panned out, and Zuvers believes her ex-husband killed their sons. Now, she wants a judge to declare them deceased officially.
Zuvers shared her intentions in a Facebook post in June 2024. She wrote on the Missing ~ Skelton Brothers, Morenci, Michigan page, “I am asking the courts to declare Andrew, Alexander, & Tanner legally deceased. This decision came after much thought & discussion with my family & friends. It did not come lightly and was definitely a difficult decision to make. No parent wants to lose a child, but to have to have the courts step in and declare them deceased is just unfathomable.
“At the end of the day, one person is responsible for the disappearance of my sons,” she continued. “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.”
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According to the Associated Press, Skelton did not return the boys to their mother after Thanksgiving in 2010. Skelton never faced charges in his sons’ deaths but later this year will complete a 15-year prison sentence for not returning the boys to Zuvers. Police believe he killed the boys but do not have enough evidence to pin a crime on him.
Zuvers, along with her attorney, petitioned a court on March 3, 2025, asking for a death certificate so she could put dates on a headstone and obtain closure. “Any loving father would not have killed them. I owe them the respect,” she said.
Zuvers added that she believes her sons would have contacted her by now if they were still alive. “If my sons are out there in the world with someone they don’t know,” she said, per the AP, “one of them would just tell the person next to them, ‘This isn’t mom or dad. I know that if you call this number, my mom will answer it.'”
According to the AP, Skelton appeared in court from prison via video but did not participate in the conversation. He told the judge, “Anything I say isn’t going to make a difference.”
Det. Sgt. Jeremy Brewer of the Michigan State Police said he visited the father often in prison but could not get him to speak about his sons.
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“He would talk about everything under the sun, his family, the weather, sports, prison life,” Brewer testified, per the AP. “But if I ever directed the conversation about why I was truly there or about the boys he would shut down. He didn’t trust anyone.”
Skelton, who apparently traveled from Michigan to Ohio and back in the early hours of the morning the boys disappeared, allegedly told police he gave the boys to other people for their safety, but that proved false, the AP reported. The same day, while he was in the hospital for an ankle injury, police reportedly found a note from him to Zuvers that read, “You will hate me forever, and I know this,” along with a noose hanging from the second floor inside his home, and an open Bible with a verse circled, per FBI agent Corey Burras.
