Skelton Boys: ages 9, 7, and 5, missing 11/26/2010, Morenci, Michigan

[Leroy]

Local news = searchers have come as far as Texas;  family okay with taking the weekend off to regroup; John had a contact visit from family member yesterday and at the end of the visit John yelled out "help find my kids". Today he requested a visit from a clergy member and to call his estranged wife.

LE will search this weekend if any tips come in.

[Leroy]

The above was from the live broadcast... here is the link to the station I was watching

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/index

They will have a printed story soon.

[Leroy]

Here is a really dumb question -- for the $10,000 reward, if John were to say were the boys are, is he entitled to this money? 

[MuffyBee]

Here is a really dumb question -- for the $10,000 reward, if John were to say were the boys are, is he entitled to this money? 

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=179612
Donor Offers $10K Reward in Missing Kids Case
MORENCI, Mich. -- An anonymous donor has offered a $10,000 reward for the return and/or recovery of the three missing Skelton boys, according to Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks.

"The reward is nullified if the claimant is in any way involved in the disappearance of the children. The donor has acknowledged the dedication and hard work of the volunteers and public safety personnel and offers thoughts and prayers to the Skelton family," according to an e-mail announcing the reward.

No further information was provided about the donor or the reward itself.

(snip)

[Leroy]

Muffy   

[MuffyBee]

Muffy   

YW Leroy.  I think many are fed up with murderer's making money from book deals/movie deals and etc. off the back of their victims.  I believe some states now have laws about that, and I'm glad someone had the good sense to put in the conditions that were written in to the reward offer. 

[Leroy]

Muffy   

YW Leroy.  I think many are fed up with murderer's making money from book deals/movie deals and etc. off the back of their victims.  I believe some states now have laws about that, and I'm glad someone had the good sense to put in the conditions that were written in to the reward offer. 

I agree with that 100%.  Except, I would give this POS $100,000 if he would just say where these boys are...he knows and there has to be something that will make him talk...something!

[akmom]

Hi Monkeys, watching NG with a very heavy heart.  This area is so close to where my husband grew up.  I do not know how much worse these stories can get.....I never in my life thought I would read story, after story, of people doing heinous things to precious children.  Our world is in deep trouble....

[akmom]

Muffy   

YW Leroy.  I think many are fed up with murderer's making money from book deals/movie deals and etc. off the back of their victims.  I believe some states now have laws about that, and I'm glad someone had the good sense to put in the conditions that were written in to the reward offer. 

I agree with that 100%.  Except, I would give this POS $100,000 if he would just say where these boys are...he knows and there has to be something that will make him talk...something!

Water board him NOW

[Leroy]

Hi Monkeys, watching NG with a very heavy heart.  This area is so close to where my husband grew up.  I do not know how much worse these stories can get.....I never in my life thought I would read story, after story, of people doing heinous things to precious children.  Our world is in deep trouble....

My dad lives on a lake right near where the boys lived...I get a sinking feeling in my stomach when they announce the search area. 

You are so right, our world is in deep trouble...how does this happen time after time   

[CarolynV]

Hi everyone, I don't post much, but I am here everyday for Caylee, Haleigh, Zahra, Kyron and Natalee, and now these 3 adorable little boys.  I think the reward should also be nullified if the tip comes from a friend or relative because they obviously could have helped before now.

Hoping against hope that they aren't dead

[Leroy]

My brother-in-law is on his way to Morenci to help search today. 

I am with CarolynV...hoping against hope they are found safe today   

[Nut44x4]

Better call him and tell him to come home....

Missing Michigan Boys Update: Police Call Off Volunteer Effort to Find Three Skelton Sons
9 hrs ago

TOLEDO, Ohio (CBS/AP) Countless volunteers have joined the search for Alexander, Andrew and Tanner Skelton, the three missing boys from Michigan who were last seen on Thanksgiving, but now the police are asking citizens to stop searching after Friday to let investigators process what has been gathered, and to reevaluate their strategy.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks announced at a daily news conference Wednesday that volunteers should report to the Morenci Fire Station on Thursday and Friday, but that police and investigators will continue alone beginning on Saturday, according to CBS affiliate WTOL.

The chief said they will take the weekend to evaluate all of the information they have, the station reported.

Local authorities and federal investigators have been trying to find 9-year-old Andrew Skelton, 7-year-old Alexander William Skelton and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton, all last seen on Thanksgiving.

Weeks has cautioned the public that police do not expect "a positive outcome," but he also told reporters he simply refuses to believe at this point that the children were killed.

"It is my desire to maintain hope," Weeks said.
Many residents of the small Michigan community of about 2,000 residents 75 miles southwest of Detroit, echo that sentiment.

"Please don't say RIP," 19-year-old Megan Nagy and another friend wrote in response to one Facebook post that read "RIP missing Morenci Boys."

"We all need to keep hope," Nagy wrote.

The boys were last seen with their father, John Skelton, who faces three kidnapping charges, and Morenci police Chief Larry Weeks has said Skelton hasn't said much about where the boys might be.

Police say he tried to hang himself, and that he lied to investigators when he first said he gave the boys to a female acquaintance to hand over to their mother, Skelton's estranged wife Tanya, who was awarded custody of their sons.

Rev. Donna Galloway, of the United Methodist Church in Morenci, recalled the boys and their parents helping decorate the church and a nearby park for the Christmas season on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

"It was a good day, it was a family day, for all of us at the church. That light - and the season of light - is what we're holding on to," she added.

That was the last time Galloway saw the family together.

John Skelton appeared at a hearing Wednesday in Toledo, Ohio, where he fought extradition to Michigan. The 39-year-old unemployed long-haul truck driver sat throughout the hearing in a wheelchair, covered by a green blanket, answering the judge's yes-or-no questions in a whisper. The judge set bond at $3 million and scheduled another hearing for Dec. 14.

"It is my desire to maintain hope," Weeks said.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=160183

[Leroy]

That article must be incorrect...this one is more recent and I know he called before he left.



Police ask for volunteers on final day of Morenci ground search
Posted: Dec 03, 2010 4:20 AM EST
Updated: Dec 03, 2010 7:03 AM EST
 
MORENCI, MI (WTOL) - Friday, Dec. 3 is the final day for the volunteer ground search of three missing Morenci, MI brothers.

Crews ask anybody who can help them to come out and search.

Nine-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton have not been seen since Thanksgiving, when they were with their father in Morenci.


"I think the community of Morenci needs it, to find these little boys and the family needs to find these little boys, just to make make all our hearts at ease," said Steve Meller with the Morenci Fire Department.

Volunteers meet at 9 a.m. across the street from the Morenci Fire Department located on Main Street in Morenci.

Hundreds of people have been searching across three counties, looking for any signs of the young children. In Wednesday's news conference, Morenci Police Chief Weeks said they are ending the volunteer search Friday until further notice. FBI & Morenci investigators will search over the weekend. Police will evaluate evidence collected and reassess the search plan. If needed, volunteers will be asked to reconvene next week.

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=13609745

[Leroy]

I think they were referring to calling off the search for the weekend....not for today.  Only LE will be searching this weekend.

[AmandaReckonwith]

Here's a case archive album, it is updated several times a day.

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Andrew%20-Alexander%20-Tanner%20Skelton%20%20-MI-/

[cw618]

My brother-in-law is on his way to Morenci to help search today. 

I am with CarolynV...hoping against hope they are found safe today   

JS didnt just pull the name taylor out of the air,JMO
he was a long/short haul trucker,on a long haul he prob went
 to 4-6 states,including MI, and short haul,2-3 states
maybe LE should check his manifests for the last yr he worked

i checked the web cams around Morenci, MI 49256
zoom out in map view
http://tinyurl.com/2ce6m9z

i looked out to a 50mi radius from Morenci, MI 49256
for taylor st/ ave found these 2

south of Morenci, MI 49256
north of this addy are 2 retention ponds
and 7 mile south is Maumee State Forest
605 Taylor Street, Delta, OH

west of Morenci, MI 49256
their are several co.name listed for this addy
i think it is a warehouse complex for several co.
marble lake MI is 4 mi south
87 Taylor Street, Quincy, MI

if any monkeys are close by and helping search maybe this will help you
lot of info about camps, lakes, ect. in that area
http://www.goingoutside.com/lake/108/1083153_Nettle_Lake_Ohio.html

i thought about if JS did harm his sons, there are 3, would they
all be in the same place, or 3 dif locations, JS timeline would
help with that info, i read the boys were seen fri evening and
thur evening, and his suicide attempt was late fri nite early
sat morn,hoping LE can sort the timeline out

[MuffyBee]

Here's a case archive album, it is updated several times a day.

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Andrew%20-Alexander%20-Tanner%20Skelton%20%20-MI-/

Thank you.   

[klaasend]

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/Morenci-Mich-volunteers-likely-to-continue-search



Volunteers likely to continue search for missing Morenci boys
Police suspending organized searches after Friday

Updated: Friday, 03 Dec 2010, 9:42 AM EST
Published : Friday, 03 Dec 2010, 9:42 AM EST

MORENCI, Mich. (AP) - Volunteers who've been searching for three young brothers from Michigan the past week aren't likely to stop even though authorities plan to suspend their efforts over the weekend.

Police say they're suspending organized searches after tonight so they can rethink their efforts and decide what to do next.

Nine-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton haven't been seen since Thanksgiving Day. Their father is jailed in Ohio and faces kidnapping charges in Michigan.

Much of the search in recent days has been centered around three counties in the northwestern corner of Ohio. Dive teams yesterday searched lakes, rivers and a gravel pit. Buses carried hundreds of volunteers to remote roads and fields.

[melisb]

Rev. Donna Galloway, of the United Methodist Church in Morenci, recalled the boys and their parents helping decorate the church and a nearby park for the Christmas season on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

"It was a good day, it was a family day, for all of us at the church. That light - and the season of light - is what we're holding on to," she added.

That was the last time Galloway saw the family together.

John Skelton appeared at a hearing Wednesday in Toledo, Ohio, where he fought extradition to Michigan. The 39-year-old unemployed long-haul truck driver sat throughout the hearing in a wheelchair, covered by a green blanket, answering the judge's yes-or-no questions in a whisper. The judge set bond at $3 million and scheduled another hearing for Dec. 14.

"It is my desire to maintain hope," Weeks said.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=160183


Someone help me with this please...the Rev. in this article says the boys and their PARENTS were decorating for the upcoming season the Sunday before Thanksgiving?  So Mom just up and left the week the boys go missing and Dad tries to hang himself.  Am I wrong?  I thought there was some kind of custody arrangements made.  Did they happen all in one week?  I'm so confused.  If the wording is wrong in this article then just how long have the parents been seperated?  I don't think we have heard.  I gotta go to work and hope you all have a great day and TIA for any answer you can give.  Will be back tonight.