Mother of 3 Mich. boys missing since 2010 asks court to declare them dead

A hearing on a request to have three Lenawee County boys missing since 2010 legally declared dead is scheduled to be held later this month.

Tanya Zuvers, the mother of Tanner, Alexander and Andrew Skelton, said last month she has asked the Lewawee County Probate Court to make the declaration.

"In December 2023, three petitions were filed in Lenawee County Probate Court regarding my sons; Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton," Zuvers said in a statement posted June 20 on her Missing ~ Skelton Brothers, Morenci, Michigan Facebook page.

"I am asking the courts to declare Andrew, Alexander, & Tanner legally deceased," she said in the statement. "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."

Tanner, Alexander, and Andrew were last seen in the backyard of their father's home in Morenci, near the Michigan-Ohio border, in November 2010. The boys were 5, 7, and 9 years old at the time and were supposed to be returned to their mother.

The boys’ disappearance led to a large search in Ohio and Michigan.

John Skelton, the boys’ father, gave police conflicting accounts of what happened to his children, including giving them to a stranger to keep them away from his wife.

Now 52, Skelton is serving a 10- to 15-year sentence for unlawful imprisonment. He is scheduled to be discharged in November 2025.

Police said they believe he killed the children because of a nasty custody fight and hid their bodies.

"At the end of the day, one person is responsible for the disappearance of my sons," Tanya Zuvers said in her statement. "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.

"At this time, we, as a family, are asking for our privacy as we continue to process this."

The hearing is scheduled to be held at 9 a.m. on July 29, according to court records.

In 2015, Zuvers said she believed her sons were dead.