96 replies to this topic

[Jenn]

http://www.freep.com...issing-brothers

Time is the enemy in search for three missing brothers

Posted: Dec. 3, 2010 By GINA DAMRON  Free Press Staff Writer

A police helicopter churned overhead and searchers walked along the banks of the St. Joseph River on Thursday as the focus of the search for three missing Morenci brothers centered on Williams County in northwest Ohio.

Volunteer searchers, the FBI and other law enforcement officers and firefighters scoured woods, searched a gravel business, used sonar equipment on waterways and went back to a Pioneer-area campground.

Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton, ages 9, 7 and 5, have been missing since last week. Their father, John Skelton, 39, of Morenci is jailed on parental kidnapping charges and facing extradition.

At a news conference Thursday, Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said he has met each of the brothers. One time, he said, Andrew asked how the chief was doing, then ran back into his house and came out with officer garb.

"I'm going to be a police officer like you one day," Weeks said Andrew told him. "That's been with me ever since."
Chief: 'I'm not giving up'

On behalf of the family, she thanked law enforcement, the volunteer searchers and people who brought food, sent cards, donated money or offered prayer.

Kathye Herrera, a friend speaking for the family of three missing Morenci brothers, said in a prepared statement Thursday that those who have helped search have been tireless.

Search efforts were expected to resume this morning, but Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks has asked that volunteers suspend their searches after today as law enforcement officials regroup. Weeks said authorities will continue following up on tips.

It's a decision the boys' family supports, Herrera said. "We would not want a tragedy because volunteers are too tired," she said.

The Skelton brothers -- Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5 -- disappeared Nov. 25. Weeks has said police "do not anticipate a positive outcome here" based on information provided by their father, John Skelton.

Skelton, 39, told authorities he gave the boys to a woman named Joann Taylor before he attempted to hang himself Nov. 26, but police have said that is a lie and that there was no established relationship between Skelton and a woman by that name.

He was arrested Tuesday upon discharge from a mental health facility and is facing three counts of parental kidnapping. Through a court-appointed attorney, he is fighting extradition to Michigan from Ohio, where he is being held in the medical unit of the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo under suicide watch. A hearing is set for Dec. 14.

Skelton was a long-haul trucker until losing his job last month. He was married once before, had a daughter and divorced. U.S. Army personnel staff told the Free Press on Thursday that Skelton served in the Army from 1990-96 before going into the Army Reserve. He was discharged in 2004.

Before his discharge, Skelton married his now-estranged wife, Tanya -- also previously married with children -- and the couple had the three boys together. But the pair has been going through a bitter divorce and custody battle.

Herrera said neither family members nor she would speak with the news media for the time being.

"The focus should be on the safe return of our boys, not on us," she said. "Everyone that has a child should understand what we are experiencing."

On Thursday, Weeks said search teams were focused on areas in Williams County, Ohio, including the Lazy River Resort Campground along U.S.-20 that was searched previously and the St. Joseph River near the St. Joe Sand & Gravel operations near the Ohio Turnpike. This included dive teams using boats on waterways and sonar equipment.

Volunteer searchers have come from out of state and metro Detroit. Four men, who said they are laid-off Royal Oak police officers, joined the search Thursday.

"They have family, they have friends," said Keith Bierenga, 27, one of the four. "You don't want to see that happen to anybody."

Jason Manning, 31, another searcher, added: "They're innocent children."

Weeks said police have not had further contact with Skelton, but said he continues to be hopeful that Skelton will tell them where the boys are.

"I'm not giving up," he said. "I don't think it's a stalemate."

Although Morenci has canceled its annual Christmas parade that was set for Saturday because of the circumstances, Mayor Keith Pennington said he isn't giving up on finding the boys either.

Pennington said that with the outpouring of volunteer support from across both sides of the state line, everyone has become like neighbors, "whether they are tramping through mud or serving sloppy joes."

[Jenn]

http://wtvbam.com/ne...r-missing-boys/

Divers Searching St Joe River For Missing Boys

Posted Friday December 3, 2010 6 hours, 21 minutes ago

(WKZO) - Divers from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan searched the frigid St. Joseph River, as they continued to look for three boys missing after their father tried to kill himself. They were acting on tips that a van matching one that belonged to John Shelton was seen in the area, and a track on his Cell-phone also suggested he was around there.

A small army of volunteers is searching for a sixth day around Morenci and across the border in Ohio for three missing Michigan brothers. The search for 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner continues today.

Kathy Herrera, a spokesperson for the missing boys mother Tanya Skelton, thanked the volunteers who have been searching for the children. An account has been set up at a local bank to take donations for the family and an anonymous donor has offered a 10-thousand dollar reward for the return or recovery of the brothers.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.freep.com...oys-dad-in-jail

No answers after visit to missing Morenci boys' dad in jail
Hearts heavy as volunteers end search
By ERIC D. LAWRENCE, GINA DAMRON and CHRISTINA HALL
Free Press Staff Writers
Posted: Dec. 4, 2010

Two members of the clergy and a family member of John Skelton were given special visitation this week with the father of the three missing boys from Morenci in hopes that he would reveal his sons' whereabouts, an Ohio jail administrator said.

The visitation at the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo was face-to-face -- instead of the normal half-hour, weekly video visitation -- and is used only on rare occasions, Corrections Administrator Jim O'Neal said.

The special visitors were requested by authorities in an effort to talk to Skelton about the whereabouts of his sons, Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, who have been missing since last week.

Skelton, 39, of Morenci is jailed on parental kidnapping charges and faces a Dec. 14 hearing that seeks to extradite him to Michigan. He has declined all requests for interviews, O'Neal said.

A slimmed-down Skelton is on suicide watch in a medical floor cell. He is by himself and checked every 10 minutes, per state guidelines, O'Neal said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers working in near-freezing temperatures wrapped up searches Friday in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

400 make last push to find boys

Larry McCrea, a retired special education teacher, had just walked off a bus loaded with volunteers who had been searching Friday for the three missing Skelton boys from Morenci.

McCrea, 69, is a burly diabetic from Milan who carries a walking stick with a bearded face carved near the tip. Chief Kid Finder, he called it.

Organizers say McCrea is among some 400 volunteers who have helped scour wooded lots, campgrounds, riverbanks and roadside drainage ditches in northwest Ohio and southern Michigan on Friday looking for Tanner, Alexander and Andrew Skelton, ages 5, 7 and 9.

Read more: No answers after visit to missing Morenci boys' dad in jail | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com...l#ixzz17AMiBgw0

[Lori Davis]

http://www.lenconnec...ee-missing-boys

Hundreds come together as Morenci looks for three missing boys

By Erik Gable
Daily Telegram
Posted Dec 05, 2010 @ 12:00 PM
Last update Dec 05, 2010 @ 04:57 PM

MORENCI, Mich. — Amid the pain and worry of a community concerned about three young boys who have been missing since Thanksgiving, many people working on the search efforts say they’ve been stunned by the outpouring of support — not just from the Morenci community but from the region as a whole and beyond.

That support comes not just from the hundreds of people who have been tromping through fields and scouring roadsides for signs of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton, but also from volunteers at the fire station, businesses that have donated food and supplies to help with the search, and countless citizens who have stopped by to offer whatever help they can give.

In the Morenci fire station’s small kitchen on Friday afternoon, several women worked to assemble huge piles of sandwiches for the searchers.

A notepad hanging on the door was filled with the names and numbers of people willing to volunteer. Taped next to it was a paper napkin with a name, a phone number and the words “wants to help.”

“People just come in and ask what they can bring,” said Peggy Eisel of Morenci, one of the women who was assembling meals for search teams on Friday.

Eisel said one man walked into a pizza restaurant with $300 and told the clerk to make up $300 worth of pizzas for the volunteers. Such stories of spontaneous generosity have become almost commonplace.

“It just goes on and on and on,” Eisel said.

Judy Randall of Morenci said people who aren’t able to help with the physically demanding task of searching the Michigan and Ohio countryside have been coming to the fire station to offer whatever they can.

“We’ve had people come in and say ‘We’re unable to go out and search. Is there anything here we can help with?’ ” reported Sandy Pennington of Wauseon, Ohio.

Alice Lonis is a member of the Fire Sirens, the Morenci Fire Depart­ment’s auxiliary. Her husband, Dave, is on the department, as well as two sons — chief Chad Schisler and assistant chief Brad Lonis.

“This is the kind of thing that goes on here,” she said as a woman came into the kitchen to drop off a whole ham.

“The extent of the help has been unbelievable right from Day 1.”

So much food for volunteers was collected that organizers couldn’t store it all at the fire station. Food storage spilled over into the Eagles Club and into the Morenci Bible Fellowship across the street, which has also been used as a sign-in area for volunteers.

Volunteers said it’s impossible to say how many people  have offered their assistance in one way ot another.

“We’re talking hundreds,” Eisel said. “Hundreds of people.”

Steve Meller, the Morenci firefighter who is coordinating the searches, said the number of volunteers in the field surged to more than 400 on Wednesday.  Numbers dropped to about 250 on Thursday, but rose again to about 400 on Friday.

That’s not counting the dozens of police and fire departments from across the region that have lent manpower and resources. Meller said he has a 31⁄2-foot-tall whiteboard with two columns, top to bottom, filled with a list of the agencies that are providing support.

Bill Foster, who is organizing the civilian side of the searches, estimated that between police, firefighters and civilians, about 700 people were searching on Friday.

In the midst of all this, Meller said, the agencies helping with the search — including Morenci — still need to make sure their communities are protected. Firefighters from the Wauseon department brought one of their engines up to Morenci, Meller said, and have been manning the station. If a fire had broken out anywhere in Morenci’s jurisdiction over the past week, the Wauseon firefighters would have responded.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said the community’s support of the police and firefighters has been “phenomenal.”

People have brought in all sorts of homemade meals and sandwiches, soups and cookies. When FBI agents have called the command post at Morenci City Hall before coming to town for the first time to find out what they need to bring, the agents already in Morenci have told them not to worry about food.

“No agent or trooper that has come down here has gone hungry,” Weeks said.

Area residents have also been supportive of the police when they’ve stopped to talked to people about the case, Weeks said. Sometimes when investigators are working a case, people they talk to aren’t always accommodating, but that has not been the situation in the search for the boys.

Offers of aid have also been pouring in from school districts. The most visible form of aid came in the form of school buses from both Michigan and Ohio that came to transport volunteers to search areas, but local school districts have also been contacting Morenci Superintendent Mike Osborne to offer their help as the school district’s staff and students cope with the anxiety of not knowing what has happened to the three elementary school boys.

All three boys are students at Morenci Elementary School. Andrew, 9, is in third grade; Alexander, 7, is in first grade; and Tanner, 5, is in kindergarten.

“We’ve had just about every school in the county contact us, trying to find a way they can help and willing to do whatever is needed,” Osborne said.

Osborne said staff members have been riding buses with the students every afternoon. Students in grades K-12 ride the bus together, and many of the older students are talking and texting on their cell phones. If news comes out that way during a bus ride home, Osborne said, the school wants to make sure a trained adult is nearby.

Many school districts have offered to loan counselors to Morenci, and some have offered to help with fundraising if needed.

Counselors from the Adrian, Addison, Hudson and Clinton school districts have been at the school, Osborne said, and several other districts have counselors on standby ready to come if they are needed.

“I know if there’s a need, I could make a call and within a few minutes have a number of people willing to provide whatever we needed,” Osborne said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.lenconnec...search-timeline

Skelton search timeline

Daily Telegram
Posted Dec 05, 2010 @ 12:00 PM

MORENCI, Mich. — A day-by-day chronicle of the events related to the missing Skelton boys.

Thursday, Nov. 25: Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton are seen in their father’s backyard on East Congress Street in Morenci for the last time before their disappearance.

Friday, Nov. 26: The boys’ father, John Skelton, tries to commit suicide. Their mother, Tanya Skelton, reports them missing after he fails to return them to her at 3 p.m. He tells police he gave the boys to a woman named Joann Taylor so she could take them to their mother. An Amber Alert is issued and the FBI becomes involved in the case.

Saturday, Nov. 27: Several agencies, including Morenci police, Michigan State Police, the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI, search for the boys. Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks says police are not sure Joann Taylor exists.

Sunday, Nov. 28: Police and volunteers search for the boys until dark at several locations in Ohio and Michigan.

Monday, Nov. 29: The search becomes more concentrated in the Williams County area of Ohio. Police say they have determined the boys’ father lied about giving them to a woman named Joann Taylor. Volunteers look for evidence along highways in Ohio; campgrounds are also searched. The search is called off at dusk with plans to resume in the morning.

Tuesday, Nov. 30: As the search for the boys continues, Weeks says investigators are not expecting a positive resolution to the case. John Skelton, who had previously been in the custody of a mental health facility, is arrested on three counts of parental kidnapping and lodged at the Lucas County Jail in Toledo.

Wednesday, Dec. 1: Bond for John Skelton is set at $3 million. He decides to fight extradition from Ohio to Michigan. Volunteers continue looking for the boys as snow falls intermittently.
Thursday, Dec. 2: Searchers turn their attention to waterways in Williams County and a 300-acre woods near Kunkle, Ohio.

Friday, Dec. 3: More waterways and roadsides are searched on the last day of mass searches, including Lake Hudson and near Territorial Road in Hillsdale County.

Saturday, Dec. 4: Investigators begin a review of evidence collected in the past week.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.lenconnec...d-happy-helpful

Skelton boys called happy, helpful.

By Kristen Rapin-Criswell and Caitlin McGlade
Toledo Free Press
Posted Dec 05, 2010 @ 12:00 PM
Last update Dec 05, 2010 @ 04:37 PM

MORENCI, Mich. — For a town of fewer than 2,400 people, three missing boys are a personal affair.

“This isn’t a big city tragedy, this is a small town, and those boys aren’t just pictures on a paper; the people here know these boys,” said Kevin Lehr, a youth pastor from the West Rome Baptist Church in Manitou Beach.

The boys everyone in Morenci is focused on are Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton, the elementary school students who have been missing since the day after Thanksgiving.

Lehr was among hundreds of volunteers who traveled to Morenci to help search — with some coming from as far as Tennessee and West Virginia. Many other volunteers were locals who know the boys or their family.

K.C. Carter, a retired music teacher, taught 9-year-old Andrew in class as a kindergartner. Last week, she was stomping across the frozen ground searching for a sign of him.

While walking the frozen ground, firefighters leading the search crews told Carter to look for toys, clothes and loose dirt patterns — anything suspicious in the woods. She found a child’s swimming pool, but to her relief, nothing was beneath it. By Thursday, Carter decided to sign up volunteers rather than search.

“I do not want to be the one to find them,” Carter said. “I do not want to see little Andrew like that. I do not want to see a little hand. I hope they’re not going to be found like that. I hope that they’re alive and they’re going to be found.”

ANDREW

Carter described Andrew as always eager to learn, sing and play games. His mother, Tanya, who Carter worked with, was equally helpful. Whenever anything needed done at school, she would reach out, Carter said.

Earlier in the day at a news conference, Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks shared a personal story about Andrew.

“I was at their house on one occasion, and Andrew came out and he saw me and he said, ‘Hey, Chief! How you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m good. How are you?’ He said, ‘Just a minute.’ And he ran back in the house, and he came back out and he had one of these toy police vests and cap, and he looks at me and says, ‘I’m going to be a police officer like you someday,’ ” Weeks said.

Perhaps in another galaxy, he would aspire to be a Jedi. Andrew is into all things “Star Wars,” said Mary Fisher, the dean of students at Morenci Elementary School.  His other love is country music singer Darius Rucker, she added.

“He’s a great kid. Happy. Always gets along with his friends,” Fisher said.

The brothers, who are two years apart in age — Andrew, 9, Alex, 7, and Tanner, 5 — are very close, said Janet Rollins, Tanner’s developmental kindergarten teacher.

ALEX 

Every day, Alex walked Tanner to his classroom, helped him take off his jacket and unload his backpack. The boys would then hug and say, ‘See you after school,’ Rollins said. Alex would also make sure his younger brother made it to the office to take his inhaler after lunch.

Alex, who is in a literacy class with Rollins four days a week, is always eager to be the first to read. He also loves camping and fishing, a subject he writes about in his school journal, Fisher said.

“(Alex) ends everything in the journal with ‘It was fun,’ ” she said.

Tanner also loves camping, but spoke often about four-wheeling as well, Rollins said.

TANNER

Rollins said Tanner played and shared with everyone, both boys and girls. The bond with his classmates is evident in a little green book held together by plastic binding. Rollins had the kids doodle pictures of Tanner and themselves playing, along with a sentence about what they want to do when Tanner comes back.

“Tanner is my friend. We play outside,” one states. “I love Tanner and he loves me,” reads another, below two big green stick-people with smiley faces.

Tanner does a lot of drawing himself — his specialty is a dinosaur, Rollins said.

He often asked for his pictures to be displayed on the bulletin board.

For Halloween this year, unlike her other male students wanting to be Superman or Spider-Man, Tanner was Bob the Builder, Rollins said.

The 14 children in Tanner’s developmental kindergarten class haven’t been asking a lot of questions about the search, but will be in the middle of an activity and say, “I really miss Tanner,” Rollins said.

“They don’t talk about it a lot, other than saying they really miss Tanner,” Rollins said. “But they’re quieter and need a lot more hugs right now.”

To help the younger children cope, Rollins led a group discussion with the children sharing what they like about Tanner.

“I started the sharing session by saying I like to watch Tanner run,” Rollins said. “He’ll ask me to watch him run outside at recess, but you have to say ‘flash,’ then he’ll run really fast. Pretty soon all my boys will be running back and forth for me.”

Older students have taken the news differently. Some have drawn pictures with RIP signs scribbled into the paper, Fisher said.

“We have a collection of pictures to take over to Tanya,” she said. “It’s processing for the children. We had some pictures (Tanya) will never get because some kids have already processed this all the way — the child’s missing and the kids have thought maybe they’re already dead ... We just had the loss of 14-year-old (Collin Fletcher) six or seven weeks ago, and that’s still fresh in everyone’s minds.”

The school has extra counselors on hand as well as the Lenawee County Crisis Response Team if the students need to talk, Fisher said.

The boys were last seen with their father, John Skelton. He is being held on a $3 million bond in the Lucas County Jail on three kidnapping charges related to the boys’ disappearance.

Skelton had previously been at a mental health facility after attempting suicide at his home in Morenci about the time the boys were last seen.

Volunteer searches concluded Friday, while police and fire will continue as leads are developed, Weeks has announced.

“The one thing that this has done is brought out the best of humanity in the worst of times,” Carter said.

[Jenn]

http://www.cbsnews.c...705-504083.html

Missing Michigan Boys Update: Hundreds Attend Candlelight Vigil

December 6, 2010 2:28 PM Posted by Edecio Martinez

MORENCI, Mich. (CBS/AP) Hundreds of people gathered at a park in a small southern Michigan community for a candlelight vigil in honor of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton, the three missing boys last seen at their father's home on Thanksgiving.

Rev. Donna Galloway of the Morenci United Methodist Church said the event was held to keep hope alive, The Detroit Free Press reported.

"As we light these lights tonight, be assured that the boys see the light," the pastor said at the vigil.

It is a theme being repeated throughout Morenci, where the fate of 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner has gripped those living in and around the community of about 2,000 residents 75 miles southwest of Detroit.

Their father, John Skelton, faces three kidnapping charges, and Morenci police Chief Larry Weeks has said Skelton hasn't said much about where the boys might be.

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

Hundreds of police, fire officials and volunteers have been searching the past week in southern Michigan and northern Ohio. Officials in Morenci say no organized search was planned over the weekend.

Skelton remains in a Toledo, Ohio, jail on a $3 million bond after he declined Wednesday to waive extradition to Michigan on parental kidnapping charges.

[Jenn]

http://radioamber.net/?p=3125

3 Skelton Boys Remain Missing

Dec 7th, 2010 | By admin | Category: Alert Follow Up News

The three boys missing from Morenci, Michigan since Thanksgiving day, Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9, have not been found despite tips from the public. At least one tipster, Sandy Jones, believes she may have seen the boys after the missing date. According to reports, on Sunday, November 28th a woman and three boys entered the House of Donuts in Sandusky, Ohio where Sandy Jones is employed. She recalls that the woman called the youngest child Tanner. The children matched the description of the missing boys. At the time she was unaware of the Amber Alert or that the 3 Skelton boys were missing. She reported it several days later after seeing the childrens photos in the local newspaper.

Many of the citizens of Morenci are holding on to the hope that these boys will be found safe, despite an announcement by Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks saying that the case may end badly. The mass search by volunteers was ended last Friday. Police continue to follow up on tips and are performing searches based on them.

[Jenn]

http://www.freep.com...on-missing-boys

Tips flow, but no updates on missing boys

Posted: 4:55 a.m. Dec. 7, 2010 COMPILED FROM REPORTS BY ERIC D. LAWRENCE, JOE ROSSITER, DAVID ASHENFELTER, MATT HELMS AND OTHER FREE PRESS STAFF

A Sandusky doughnut shop employee has come forward to an Ohio news station saying she saw a woman with three boys who may have been the missing Skelton brothers.

Morenci police did not return a phone call seeking comment and no one answered the phone late Monday at the House of Donuts in Sandusky, where the boys reportedly were seen Nov. 28.

According to the Monday story from WTVG in Ohio, Sandy Jones said three boys came into the doughnut shop with a woman. She said the youngest one "looked like he wanted everything and she kept saying 'Just pick out your doughnut, Tanner. Just pick out your doughnut.' "

Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9, went missing after staying with their father on Thanksgiving.

Jones told WTVG that she saw the story about the missing brothers in her local newspaper on Nov. 29 and, after mulling what happened, including the name coincidence, for a few days, decided it could have been the brothers and that she needed to alert police, even though she didn't have many details.

Sandusky Police Lt. Mike Campbell confirmed late Monday night that a report was filed and the Morenci police were notified.

The boys' father, John Skelton, is in jail in Toledo, fighting extradition to Michigan to face parental kidnapping charges.

Anyone with tips is asked to call 517-458-7104.

[Jenn]

http://www.wilx.com/..._111515214.html

Missing Boys Spotted in Ohio?
An Ohio woman says the three Skelton brothers came into her doughnut shop.

Posted: 7:22 AM Dec 8, 2010Reporter: News 10

An Ohio woman now claims she saw the three missing Skelton brothers.

Sandy Jones of Sandusky says she saw Andrew, Alexander,, and Tanner Skelton the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The boys were reported missing that Friday by their mother; they were last seen outside their father's home on Thanksgiving.

Jones claims the children were with a woman when they came into her doughnut shop.

She says the woman said, "Just pick out your doughnut, Tanner," and that's how she knows the boy's name.

Police warn against putting too much stock into possible sightings until they have been investigated.

If you would like to help in the search for the brothers, Morenci police say people in that area can search their property for anything suspicious. The number for the tip line is 517-458-7104.

[Jenn]

http://www.detnews.c...-open-up-to-me’

Aunt of missing kids' dad hopes 'he might open up to me'

Last Updated: December 08. 2010 1:00AM Doug Guthrie and Tom Greenwood / The Detroit News

The aunt of a jailed father of three missing Morenci boys said she's hoping to gain access to him because "he might open up to me about things others might not get from him."

"In a roundabout way, he might tell me about the kids," said Sandra Arens.

If he does, it could bring closure to Morenci and the hundreds of volunteers who have searched the Michigan-Ohio border in vain for the three brothers since they were reported missing by their mother Nov. 26.

Arens' comments follow a news report Tuesday of the possible Nov. 28 sighting of the boys in Sandusky, Ohio. Police warned the television report could bring "false hope to the family and our community."

Arens hasn't asked permission to meet with her nephew in a Toledo jail, but a petition is circulating on the Internet that says police should let the registered nurse from Wisconsin talk to John Russell Skelton.

"I've known him since he was a baby. He's confided in me about some of what has been going on, as recently as late October," said the East Troy resident. He talked about his divorce and custody battle, she said.

"I am close enough, yet not immediate family. I think he might open up to me about things others might not get from him."

Arens said she doesn't believe Skelton killed Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5. And she wonders why Morenci's Police Chief Larry Weeks suspects the worst after announcing last week that Skelton "lied" about leaving the children in the safekeeping of a woman he met through the Internet.

"I'm saying maybe he knows where they are and maybe he's protecting them," said Arens.

Skelton is being held in Ohio in lieu of $3 million bond. He faces a hearing Dec. 14 in Toledo's Lucas County Court of Common Pleas to determine if he should be extradited to Michigan to face trial for parental kidnapping. The parents had been engaged in a divorce and custody battle.

"It was a nasty, nasty divorce," Arens said. "He would call crying on the phone. One day things were loving and nice and he wanted to make it work. And the next, she was telling him he wouldn't be allowed to see the kids. It was a roller-coaster."

Arens insists John Skelton loves his sons.

"He had his problems in the past," Arens said.

"He was doing well."

In response to his wife's Sept. 13 divorce filing in Lenawee County Circuit Court, Skelton asked a judge to sever Tanya Skelton's parental rights based on his claims that she had violated requirements of the state's sex offender registration act, on which she was placed for a 1998 conviction for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy.

"If you are a registered sex offender, how can you have a bunch of boys over at your house for a sleep over? How can you be involved in school activities?"

The same judge who rejected Skelton's request to take custody of the children in September also restored his visitation time, even after Tanya Skelton accused him of kidnapping the boys and taking them to Jacksonville, Fla.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks stopped short of dismissing the report of the sighting, but asked the media for restraint.

"We have received many similar leads from throughout our region and continue to collect that information and assess the credibility of each one," he said in a statement Tuesday.

Sandy Jones told Toledo station WTVG-TV (Channel 13) that Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton reluctantly entered the House of Donuts with a woman who addressed one of the boys as "Tanner."

"The two older ones didn't act like they wanted to come through the door when they first came in, and they kind of huddled together," Jones said in her interview. "The younger one kind of looked up and was looking around. He looked like he wanted everything, and she kept saying, 'Just pick out your doughnut, Tanner. Just pick out your doughnut.'

"That's the only reason I know his name, and when I saw it in the newspaper, I said, 'That's too much of a coincidence.'"

Weeks said although a massive volunteer search around Morenci ended Friday, investigators have continued to follow tips

.

A phone call to Jones by The Detroit News went unanswered.

[Jenn]

http://www.freep.com...-3-missing-boys

Morenci chief: Don't get hopes up in case of 3 missing boys

Posted: 4:55 a.m. Dec. 8, 2010 By ERIC D. LAWRENCE, TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA and JOE SWICKARD  FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

The police chief in Morenci is concerned about spreading false hope in the wake of a report that a Sandusky, Ohio, doughnut shop employee said she thinks she saw the three missing Skelton boys just two days after they were reported missing.

Police Chief Larry Weeks asked the news media to show restraint in reporting such claims Tuesday, the same day Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office was awaiting a legal review of a governor's warrant for the extradition of the boys' father, John Skelton, from a jail in Toledo.

"We have received many similar leads from throughout our region and continue to collect that information and assess the credibility of each one," Weeks said in a statement. " To report on each of these leads without them being properly vetted by investigators could potentially give false hope to the family and our community."

Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9, were reported missing Nov. 26 after spending Thanksgiving with their father at his Morenci home. Skelton, 39, told police he turned care of the boys over to a female acquaintance so they wouldn't witness his suicide attempt. Investigators later said they found no evidence the woman existed.

House of Donuts employee Sandy Jones said three boys matching the description of the Skelton brothers and a woman came into the Sandusky shop on Nov. 28. Jones said the youngest of the three -- whom the woman called Tanner -- "was kind of excited to be there," but the other two huddled together away from the counter.

Jones told the Free Press on Tuesday that she didn't learn about the missing boys until the day after the visit. She said she waited almost a week to report the incident to Sandusky police because she had no proof. Morenci police said they are aware of Jones' claim.

No organized volunteer searches have been held since Friday, but Morenci police said searches by authorities have continued "with negative results."

On Tuesday, Attorney General Mike Cox's office was reviewing the governor's warrant for Skelton's extradition on parental kidnapping charges. Once approved, it will be sent to Ohio, where the governor must issue his own warrant. A spokeswoman said Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland expects to forward his warrant to Lucas County authorities by Friday, in time for Skelton's extradition hearing next Tuesday on parental kidnapping charges.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.examiner....n-boys-are-safe

Grandparents say 3 missing Michigan boys are safe
Isabelle Zehnder
December 8th, 2010 6:04 pm ET

TOLEDO, Ohio and MORENCI, Mich. -- The parents of John Skelton, jailed for kidnapping his three sons, say their grandkids are safe.

William and Roxanne Skelton told WDIV-TV in Detroit that they visited their son in a Toledo jail and that he told them that the three missing Michigan boys, Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, are safe.

The three boys were last seen at their father's house in Morenci, Michigan, playing outside on Thanksgiving Day.

Police said the unemployed truck driver fabricated a story about leaving the children with a woman he met online, Joann Taylor, so that they would not witness his suicide attempt.

Authorities later determined the woman did not even exist, and have doubts he even tried to kill himself.

John Skelton was placed in a mental institution for several days and upon his release was arrested and taken to Lewis County Jail. He was charged with three counts of kidnapping and is being held on $3 million bail. $1 million per child.

The 39-year-old father did not want to be extradited to Michigan, but on Tuesday lost his fight for extradition from Ohio to Michigan.

Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm received the paperwork to extradite the boy's father back to Lenawee County. She is expected to send the paperwork to Ohio in order to have Skelton brought back to Southeast Michigan.

Skelton remains in jail at the Lucas County Jail charged with parental kidnapping.

Police continue to ask the public to search their properties for any sign of the boys. If their properties are too large to search, police urge people to contact them for assistance.

Skelton is due back in a Toledo courtroom Dec. 14.

Police and volunteers have searched for the boys since they disappeared. Police called off volunteer searches Friday to review the evidence they had and determine their next course of action.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.detnews.c...it-with-parents

Skelton claims boys are safe in jail visit with parents

Last Updated: December 08. 2010 6:17PM Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

The parents of a Morenci man charged in the disappearance of his three sons said he told them today that the boys are safe.

Roxann and John Skelton spent a half-hour communicating with their son, John Russell Skelton, 39, by telephone and video link within the Lucas County Jail in Toledo, according to Corrections Administrator Jim O'Neal.

The Jacksonville, Fla., couple told reporters outside the jail that their son didn't reveal where the boys are, but insisted he had to act to get them out of harm's way.

Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5, were reported missing Thanksgiving Day by their mother, Tanya Skelton, who filed for divorced on Sept. 13. Police say the boys were last seen a day earlier visiting their father. Up to 400 volunteers searched in vain for a week around the Michigan /Ohio border town.

Skelton and his wife had been engaged in a bitter custody fight. Tanya Skelton had accused him of twice taking the boys without permission, and got a Florida judge to order their return to Michigan.

He accused her in a document demanding full custody of the children of an unspecified criminal offense stemming from Tanya Skelton being on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry for her 1998 conviction for having a relationship with a 14-year-old neighbor boy.

The parent's jailhouse comments today drew a startled response from the pastor of John and Tanya Skelton's Morenci church. Rev. Donna Galloway also visited Skelton in jail last week, where she said he offered no explanation of what happened to the children.

"Mr. Skelton, through his relatives, is attempting to deflect the attention from himself and his bad acts," Galloway said today. "If the boys are somewhere safe, anyone with knowledge of that should tell because they would be as criminally liable as he is. I'd be looking over my shoulder for a police car or an FBI agent."

Skelton has been in jail since last week on Michigan charges of parental kidnapping. An Ohio judge set bond at $3 million and ordered a Dec. 14 hearing on extradition to Michigan. He was taken into custody Nov. 26 in Wauseon, Ohio, where he sought medical treatment for injuries he said he suffered in a failed suicide attempt. He spent several days in a mental health facility before his arrest by FBI agents who lodged him Toledo's jail.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks, who has said Skelton lied to authorities about handing the children for safekeeping to a woman he met on the internet, declined to comment about the parent's statements today. Weeks has warned that he fears the search for the boys will end badly, and warned news agencies about stories that might give his community and relatives of the boys "false hope."

[Jenn]

http://wtvbam.com/ne...sing-boys-case/

Strange Twist In Missing Boys Case

Posted Thursday December 9, 2010 2 hours, 6 minutes ago

MORENCI (WTVB) - There has been another twist in the story of the 3 missing boys from Morenci. The Parents of John Skelton say their son is innocent, that their three grandsons are alive and in hiding to protect them from being sexually abused by their mother.

William and Roxanne Skelton say they believe their son after a visit with him in jail. William Skelton says the police may have given up finding them alive, but they are just looking in the wrong places. The boy’s mom is a convicted sex offender who appears in the registry, but was seeking full time custody of the boys.

[Jenn]

http://www.todaystmj.../111559104.html

East Troy Woman Says Missing Michigan Boys Are Safe

Story Updated: Dec 9, 2010

EAST TROY - Three young Michigan boys who have been missing since Thanksgiving are safe, according to their great aunt in East Troy.

Sandy Arens is the aunt of the boys' father, John Skelton.  Skelton has been charged with three counts of kidnapping in the case.

Arens claims Skelton would never hurt his three sons.  Instead she says, he told his parents he hid them with another person for protection.

The boys were last seen on Thanksgiving at Skelton's house.  Authorities say he tried to kill himself that night.

Skelton told police he gave the boys to a woman named Joann Taylor.  Police don't believe the story.

Skelton was in the midst of a bitter divorce from his wife Tanya Skelton.  According to Arens, he told his parents today that he sent the boys away because he feared their mother was touching them inappropriately.

Tanya Skelton was convicted of misdemeanor sexual assault in 1998.  A judge however, awarded her custody of her sons earlier this year.

Police do not believe Tanya Skelton has anything to do with the disappearance.

[Jenn]

http://www.wane.com/...on-grandparents

Grandparents say they've been told the missing Michigan boys are safe
Grandmother of missing Michigan boys speaks out

Updated: Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 7:26 AM EST Published : Thursday, 09 Dec 2010, 4:17 AM EST

TOLEDO, Oh, (WANE/AP) - We have new details on those three missing brothers from Michigan.

Their grandparents have said they've been assured by the boys' father that the children are safe.

Roxanne Skelton said her son told her, "The boys are safe and sound." But she said he did not tell her nor did she want him to tell her or her husband where they are.

"He took those boys out of harm's way and I respect my son," she said.

Roxanne and William Skelton say their son told them the boys were the subject of sex acts with his estranged wife.

John Skelton is in jail in Toledo, Ohio on parental kidnapping charges and currently fighting extradition back to Michigan.

Police have said Skelton fabricated a story about leaving the five, seven and nine year old boys with an acquaintance.

Hundreds of volunteers have been searching southern Michigan and northern Ohio since they disappeared on Thanksgiving.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.sanduskyr...ention-sandusky

Missing boys spotting gets attention in Sandusky
Dec 09 2010
Melissa Topey

Sandusky - FBI agents and police in Michigan are trying to confirm a tip from a Sandusky woman who suspects she saw three missing boys at a local doughnut shop.

House of Donuts employee Sandy Jones told Sandusky police on Saturday that an unknown woman walked into the store with three children just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 28, a police report said.

The woman’s short hair looked to be recently dyed a dark color, and she called one of the boys “Tanner” as they ordered doughnuts to go.

Tanner is the youngest of three Michigan brothers who were last seen on Thanksgiving. The brothers are Tanner Skelton, 5, Alexander Skelton, 7, and Andrew Skelton, 9.

Their father, John Skelton, is being held in prison on three counts of parental kidnapping. Investigators are still trying to locate the boys.

Jones told police she didn’t think much of the incident at the time, but after seeing news reports she decided to report the possible sighting.

There were no video cameras operating at the House of Donuts.

Sandusky police Detective John Orzech said his officers forwarded the information to Morenci police.

“We haven’t been requested to do anything more,” Orzech said.

Erie County Sheriff’s deputies and Perkins police have received no reports of similar sightings.
Morenci police Officer Brad Elston said his department is investigating the House of Donuts tip, as well as a number of others.

“It’s still pending, we have not completely vetted it yet,” Elston said.

The tips have slowed, but Jones’ information is similar to several other reported sightings in Ohio and Michigan, Elston said.

After the Register’s story on the House of Donuts sighting, an employee at McDonald’s on River Avenue reported seeing a boy who she thought was one of the missing boys, Orzech said.

Sandusky police reviewed surveillance video from that McDonald’s and discovered it was not one of the missing boys.

[Jenn]

http://radioamber.net/?p=3374

Day 15 Three Skelton Boys Still Missing

Dec 11th, 2010 | By Lydia |



After more than 2 weeks the three Skelton boys Tanner, age 5, Alexander, age 7, and Andrew, age 9, remain missing despite efforts of authorities to locate them. Two people have came forward saying they saw the boys after the date they went missing. Both have said they were unaware the boys were missing. The sightings have not been confirmed by police saying they did not want to create false hope.

The boys mother, Tanya Skelton, and their grandfather, Don Zuvers, appeared on Fox News yesterday for the first time. At Tanya’s request Don Zuvers spoke for both of them. During his emotional statement he expressed that he loved, missed and wanted the boys home. He also said he did not believe the reported sightings, but he does believe the boys are alive and in hiding with someone.

John Skelton, the boys father, remains in custody charged with parental kidnapping. He is awaiting an extradition hearing scheduled for next week in Ohio. According to reports John Skelton assured his parents. Roxann and William Skelton during a video and telephone conference, that the boys are safe, but would not say where they were.

[Jenn]

http://www.freep.com...r-faces-hearing

Missing boys' father faces hearing

Posted: Dec. 14, 2010 FREE PRESS STAFF

The Michigan man charged with parental kidnapping in the disappearance of his three boys has an extradition hearing scheduled this morning in a Toledo, Ohio courtroom. It is set for 9 a.m.

Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9, disappeared after staying with their father John Skelton in Morenci on Thanksgiving. Skelton told authorities he turned the boys over to a woman so they wouldn't witness his suicide attempt, but police said the woman did not exist.

In court this morning Skelton has the right to an identity hearing in which he may challenge whether Michigan authorities have the right suspect.

Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Cook previously told Skelton that, based on the presence of Michigan police officers, it seemed certain they had the right man.

Morenci Police have cautioned against holding out hope that the boys will be found alive.

Skelton told relatives in jailhouse discussions that the boys are safe but in hiding. He has refused to say where.

Since the boys went missing, there have been two reported sightings of them in Ohio.

Skelton is being held on $3-million bond at the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo.

[Jenn]

http://www.freep.com...d-back-to-Mich.

Missing boys' father waives extradition, headed back to Michigan

By Elisha Anderson Free Press staff writer Posted: Dec. 14, 2010 | Updated: 10:16 a.m. today

The man charged with parental kidnapping in the disappearance of his three boys is on his way back to Michigan.

John Skelton waived extradition in a hearing this morning in a Toledo, Ohio, courtroom.

He was in a wheelchair and wearing handcuffs and chains around his waist.

Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Cook ordered Skelton to return to Michigan.

Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9, disappeared after staying with their father in Morenci on Thanksgiving. Skelton told authorities he turned the boys over to a woman so they wouldn't witness his suicide attempt, but police said the woman does not exist.

A video arraignment on charges of parental kidnapping is scheduled for Skelton at 1 p.m. today at 2A District Court in Adrian, district court clerk Melissa Wahl said.

After the news conference, assistant Lucas County prosecutor Jeff Lingo said he didn’t know why Skelton waived but wasn’t surprised by the decision.

“He was going back, in my opinion, one way or the other,” he said.

Skelton’s attorney, Merle Dech Jr., didn’t comment before or after the hearing.

Cook kept bond for Skelton at $3 million.

Morenci Police have cautioned against holding out hope that the boys will be found alive.

Skelton told relatives in jailhouse discussions that the boys are safe but in hiding. He has refused to say where.

[Jenn]

http://www.ajc.com/n...f-3-777477.html

Michigan dad of 3 missing sons due in court

December 15, 2010 07:07 AM EST The Associated Press

John Skelton of Morenci is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Lenawee County, one day after waiving his right to an extradition hearing in Ohio and being driven back to Michigan. He remains held on a $30 million bond.

The unemployed truck driver is charged with parental kidnapping in the disappearance of 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton.

The boys were last seen on Thanksgiving in their father's backyard in Morenci, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit. Volunteers have searched southern Michigan and northern Ohio.

Police say John Skelton made up a story about giving the boys to a female acquaintance.

[Jenn]

http://www.myfoxdetr...ive-20101216-mr

Mother of Missing Mich. Brothers Feels They're Still Alive

Updated: Thursday, 16 Dec 2010, 6:34 AM EST  Published : Thursday, 16 Dec 2010, 6:31 AM EST  By myFOXDetroit.com Staff

MORENCI, Mich. (WJBK) - The mother of three missing Michigan brothers not seen in nearly three weeks talked one-on-one with FOX 2 about the search for the boys, her husband's role in their disappearance and how she feels they're still alive.

"Until they prove to me that they're no longer on this Earth, I believe and I feel in my heart, they're still alive," Tanya Skelton told FOX 2's Alexis Wiley.

Click the video player to watch an 11-minute interview with Tanya Skelton

Skelton's sons -- Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5 -- were last seen on Thanksgiving playing in the backyard of their father John's home in Morenci, a town about 70 miles southwest of Detroit on the Michigan-Ohio border.

Police say Skelton tried to hang himself the next day, and made up a story about having first given the boys to a female friend to give to their mother.

Hundreds of searchers spent days combing the countryside on both sides of the border but found no trace of the boys.

"People I've never met are looking for my boys," said Skelton. "Taking time out of their lives and from their families to come look for my sons."

Skelton says she has no idea what it will take to get her estranged husband to tell authorities what happened to the boys. He was arraigned Wednesday on three counts of parental kidnapping and remains in jail on $30 million bond.

District Court Judge James Sheridan scheduled a Dec. 28 hearing to determine if there's probable cause to order a trial on parental kidnapping charges.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.detnews.c...81/1409/METRO08

Missing boys' dad claims he gave them to an 'organization'

Last Updated: December 16. 2010 4:57PM
Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

John Russell Skelton refused to tell a judge today the location of his missing sons, except to say they are with an "organization."

Lenawee County Circuit Judge Margaret Noe ordered the man suspected in the Thanksgiving Day disappearance of Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5, to a hearing today over accusations he failed to comply with her orders to share custody of the children with his separated wife, Tanya Skelton. Noe has overseen the bitter divorce and custody disputes between John Skelton, 39, and Tanya Skelton, 44, since September.

The children had been the object of a massive volunteer search the week after Thanksgiving in their hometown of Morenci, near the Michigan/Ohio border. Nothing was found and Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks warned Tanya Skelton and her family that Skelton may have killed the boys. Skelton was extradited from Ohio earlier this week and bond was set in the county's courthouse in Adrian at $30 million.

In the civil hearing local authorities said was separate from the criminal charges of parental kidnapping/custodial interference that Skelton faces, Noe asked Skelton to reveal the location of the children. Skelton told the judge the children were given to a woman in a van who came to his Morenci home on Thanksgiving Day, according to the court's reporter. Skelton said he didn't know the name of the woman, but he knew the organization. He declined to tell the name of the organization.

Skelton's parents said last week that Skelton told them during a visit to the jail in Toledo where he was being held on Michigan charges that the children are alive and well and in the care of people he refused to name. They said he took the children to protect them from their mother. Tanya Skelton is on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry for her 1998 conviction for a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old neighbor boy.

Prior to the children's disappearance, Judge Noe rejected a petition from John Skelton requesting full custody of the boys, based in part on his claim that Tanya Skelton was in violation of the Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act.

Weeks said today that about 900 tips have been received by police, including "a number" of suspected sightings. He said a task force composed of local officers and members of the FBI and Michigan State Police continue to investigate the disappearance. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the children.

"Each of these tips is prioritized and thoroughly vetted. As of this time, we have been unable to confirm that any of them are the Skelton boys," Weeks said.

[Jenn]

http://toledoblade.c...00444/-1/NEWS02

Family prepares for holiday with fate of children unknown
Mother says she feels her boys are alive

Article published December 21, 2010 By IGNAZIO MESSINA BLADE STAFF WRITER

MORENCI, Mich. -- In a few days, there will be Christmas gifts under the tree at Tanya Skelton's home -- at least one for each of her three sons who have been missing since Thanksgiving.

"I have bought some presents," the mother said Monday, fighting back tears. "I still have some things I want to get. It is very hard to go shopping not knowing, but there will be presents under the tree."

Twenty-five days after the boys, Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, went missing, Ms. Skelton still prays they are alive and unharmed, and that they will be home in time to unwrap those presents.

"I want my boys home for Christmas," she said. "My boys are full of life. They are all boy, and [Christmas] is loud and busy and they are not the typical kids who want the new toy or the latest."

"They are happy with what they get, so Christmas is always fun because you never know what's going to be in the present and how they are going to react, but they are always smiling and happy, and it's going to be hard if they are not home -- very quiet, emotional Christmas," Ms. Skelton said.

The boys were last seen in the backyard of her estranged husband, John Skelton, on Thanksgiving Day. They were reported missing by their mother the next day, which was when Mr. Skelton was taken to a Wauseon hospital to be treated for an ankle injury suffered in an apparent suicide attempt.

The boys were with their father for Thanksgiving and Ms. Skelton said she was not hesitant to let them go with him.

"They had been going with him on a regular basis so I wasn't concerned about that at all," she said.

She declined to discuss the parents' relationship or why they were divorcing.

The ordeal has been crushing for Ms. Skelton and her family, she said.

Ms. Skelton said she first started to think the worst when Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks told her a massive search for the boys "would not have a positive outcome," signaling that they were presumed dead.

But now, she thinks differently.

"In my heart, as a mom, I have not felt that my children are gone. I feel they are out there alive somewhere. I just don't know where," she said.

Mrs. Skelton said she hasn't had any contact with the boys' father and fights the urge to question him herself -- something she has not been asked to do by authorities.

Mr. Skelton was arrested Nov. 30 and is accused of kidnapping the three boys. He refused last week to tell a Lenawee County judge during a civil hearing the name of the person who he claims took the children on Thanksgiving night from his home.

Mr. Skelton said his sons are with an "organization," but he refused to reveal its name, where the boys are being held, and also said he was "unable" to produce them for their mother.

Mr. Skelton, an unemployed truck driver, initially told police he had given his three sons to a woman named Joann Taylor and said she was supposed to deliver the boys to their mother. Investigators said days later that story was a fabrication.

The boys' mother Monday said she doesn't know what motive their father could possibly have for giving them to a stranger or a supposed organization.

"I don't know why but to hurt me, but along the way he has hurt more than just me," she said.

"He has hurt our sons. He's hurt my family, his family; he has hurt the whole county. He's hurt their friends -- friends who have to wonder at night where their friends are. They have to sleep with their parents because they are scared and that's not fair that they should have to suffer."

She also said it's impossible to fathom that Mr. Skelton could harm the boys.

"The John I knew and was in love with, wouldn't," she said.

Yellow bows still decorate trees and fences along Main Street but life has returned to normal for most of the other 2,200 people in Morenci. News trucks and hundreds of search volunteers had crowded the small Lenawee County town every day for nearly a week after the disappearance.

Monday, Ms. Skelton made a public plea for the safe return of her boys.

"Please, I beg, call 911 or take my children to the nearest police, or fire station, hospital, even a fast-food restaurant," she said Monday, sobbing.

"You could tell them to stay together and tell them we are the three missing boys and I know my boys can do that."

The mother's past criminal history was raised by Mr. Skelton in divorce papers filed in September, when he cited the fact that she is a registered sex offender.

Ms. Skelton, 44, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1999, according to court records. She received a sentence of 12 to 24 months. Her plea was part of a plea bargain after she was accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Morenci.

The fact that Ms. Skelton is a sex offender is not relevant, according to family spokesman Kathye Herrera, saying it has nothing to do with the missing boys.

Mr. Skelton spent time in jail in 2009 for failing to pay child support to his previous wife for their daughter.

"I'm a good mom. I love my children. I would give my life for my children and I have never hurt my children nor would I ever hurt my children," Ms. Skelton said. "I think he knows where they are."