Episode 113-Gone by Thanksgiving: The Skelton Brothers of Morenci

Episode description 

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2010, three young brothers from Morenci, Michigan – Andrew (9), Alexander (7), and Tanner (5) Skelton – vanished while staying with their father, John Skelton, during a bitter custody dispute with their mother, Tanya Zuvers. John claimed he’d handed the boys over to a mysterious “organization” to protect them, spinning stories about a woman named Jo or Joann Taylor and an underground group that would keep the children hidden and safe. In the fifteen years since, no such group has ever been verified, no credible sightings of the boys have surfaced, and investigators have publicly said they believe the brothers were killed and their remains concealed somewhere between southern Michigan and northwest Ohio.​

This episode of [Podcast Name], “Gone by Thanksgiving: The Skelton Brothers of Morenci,” walks through the last known hours of Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner’s lives; the frantic searches across fields, ditches, and farm country; and the evolving lies John told about secret rescues and shadowy networks. We examine the digital and phone evidence that shifted the case from a possible parental abduction to a presumed triple homicide, the 2011 unlawful‑imprisonment conviction that kept John behind bars for up to 15 years, and the heartbreaking decision by Tanya to have her sons legally declared dead more than a decade after they disappeared.​

Finally, we bring the story into the present: in 2025, just as John’s sentence was nearing its end, prosecutors charged him with three counts of open murder and three counts of evidence tampering in connection with the boys’ disappearances, even though their bodies have never been found. Through court records, local reporting, and long‑form coverage, we explore what it means to seek justice in a no‑body homicide case, and how a small town and a mother live with fifteen Thanksgivings of unanswered questions.​​

Content warnings: Child disappearance and presumed homicide, family violence, mention of suicide attempts, legal discussion of murder charges.​

 

“On Thanksgiving weekend 2010, brothers Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton vanished from Morenci, Michigan while visiting their father. He claimed a secret ‘organization’ took them to safety. Fifteen years later, the boys are presumed dead, and their father has finally been charged with their murder—despite no bodies ever being found. This episode traces the boys’ last known hours, the shifting lies, the searches across Michigan and Ohio, and the long road to murder charges in one of the Midwest’s most haunting family mysteries.”​​

Sources used in this episode include:
Local and regional reporting from ClickOnDetroit / WDIV‑Local 4 on the Skelton brothers’ disappearance and timeline of events; Fox 2 Detroit coverage of the 2010 Thanksgiving disappearance, ongoing searches, and 2025 murder charges; national reporting on the legal declaration of death and court proceedings; CBS Detroit coverage of the new murder and evidence‑tampering charges; and open‑source case discussions and anniversary pieces that compile interviews, law‑enforcement statements, and court records.