ADRIAN, Mich. (Scripps News West Michigan/Court TV) — The mother of three brothers who went missing the day after Thanksgiving in 2010 is asking the state to declare them legally dead.
Tanya Zuvers filed in Lenawee County Probate Court back in December 2023, requesting that her sons Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton officially be declared dead. A three-day probate court hearing is scheduled to begin Monday, March 3.
(L to R): Andrew, Tanner and Alexander Skelton. (NamUs)
Andrew, Alexander and Tanner were 9, 7 and 5, respectively, when they were last known to be alive. The Skelton Brothers spent Thanksgiving that year with their father, John Skelton, at his home in Morenci. When Tanya Zuvers, their mother, didn’t hear from John about a pickup time the next day, she went to his home. No one was there.
Zuvers tracked John down to a nearby hospital where he was being treated for a broken ankle. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he told hospital workers that he injured his ankle while trying to commit suicide.
NEW DETAILS | Judge grants petition to declare Skelton brothers legally dead
John told police he gave the boys to an organization to protect them from Zuvers, accusing her of abuse. Still, investigators have never been able to verify that the group exists. Police say John provided other, conflicting accounts of who he gave the boys to.
John is now serving a 10-year sentence for unlawful imprisonment charges connected to his sons’ disappearance and is scheduled to complete his sentence in November 2025.
After years of searching for clues, including a possible connection to bodies found in Montana, Zuvers says it is time for closure.
In a previous statement regarding her decision to have the boys declared legally dead, she said, “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,” wrote Zuvers. “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.”
