MI MI - AMBER ALERT: 3 Skelton brothers, Morenci, 26 Nov 2010 - #4

[imamaze]

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the three missing boys, or information leading to the location of Joann Taylor or is asked to contact the Morenci Police Department at 517-458-7104 or the Lenawee County Central Dispatch at 517-263-0524.

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[Cubby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elepher50
Hi Cubby,

It does seem rather odd doesn't it. It is possible that the boys were spirited away by a fellow good Samaritan trucker and headed to extended family on the Skelton side. A lot of area has been searched by volunteers and official searchers with no real evidence found that we know of as yet.
Could that be why JS was on the turnpike early Friday morning? I rest my head every night with the naive thought that these 3 boys are safe somewhere - just not getting the normal jittery vibes for some reason. But have been wrong many, many times.

You know, I can't quite put my finger on it. Now I have not seen any cable news on this ( we only have free tv - unfortunately no sound with my computer ) but even Cindy A was panick stricken when Caylee was missing even though she avidly stood by her daughter.

Something is off here. Even as goofy as Haleighs case is with the family dynamics there was still sheer panic for Haleighs safety. 5-6 days into this knowing JS has been either hospitalized or incarcerated and I'm just not seeing the concern -sheer fear about these boys safety- from his family.

I know I'm limited without cable or audio on the computer but surely print media wouldn't miss it......

This is extremely far stretched but what if it was planned to take the boys 'underground'. Have JS incarcerated for a year on kidnapping charges and folks believing this was a foul play missing persons case in which the childrens bodies were never found. I know that is so far out there... but plausible kind of......
__________________

[passionflower]

He admitted to killing his sons............I believe him...........now he should be a MAN and tell what he did and where they are.
He can be arrested whether LE ever finds a body or 3.
http://www.nobodymurdercases.com/tips.pdf

[Cubby]

Originally Posted by passionflower

He admitted to killing his sons............I believe him...........now he should be a MAN and tell what he did and where they are.
He can be arrested whether LE ever finds a body or 3.
http://www.nobodymurdercases.com/tips.pdf

He could admit it but without further evidence of a crime LE is not going to prosecute solely on an admittance. There are too many cases of false confessions........

[catydid]

I've been a long time lurker on this site and finally decided to register.

I live about 40 miles north of Morenci and have been following this story closely.

I honestly think that JS's family is keeping these boys. There has to be someone else out there who knows the details and they're afraid to come forward. Maybe they never thought it would go as far as it did and they're scared they'll get in trouble, I don't know. I think that the grandmother, aunt, would be showing more concern for the boys, even if they thought JS was innocent. The fact that they don't seem to be affected by it really concerns me.

I've had a few friends go down and help with the search and everyone is just so heartbroken that there seem to be no clues to be found.

[elepher50]

Originally Posted by catydid

I've been a long time lurker on this site and finally decided to register.

I live about 40 miles north of Morenci and have been following this story closely.

I honestly think that JS's family is keeping these boys. There has to be someone else out there who knows the details and they're afraid to come forward. Maybe they never thought it would go as far as it did and they're scared they'll get in trouble, I don't know. I think that the grandmother, aunt, would be showing more concern for the boys, even if they thought JS was innocent. The fact that they don't seem to be affected by it really concerns me.

I've had a few friends go down and help with the search and everyone is just so heartbroken that there seem to be no clues to be found.

Welcome to WS catydid: Thank you for joining and sharing your insight. Godspeed to the searchers - please thank your friends for their efforts in trying to find the 3 precious boys.

[jashrema]

Ele...you are fantastic with maps! Unfortunately, I am an idiot when it comes to reading them! But..yes..that looked to be the area where they were searching. I was under the impression it was just LE searching and that all volunteers had gone home at dark, but I could be wrong.

My sis drove out there bout an hour ago. As she was driving out, all the local news mobiles/vans/cars were passing her coming back IN to town...so they were all headed AWAY from Morenci...which I find odd. Why are all the news crews leaving?

The just published FB page (5 weeks ago) is in direct contradiction to TS "spokesperson" who said that Tanya has been trying to leave him for several years. 5 weeks ago she's saying in caps that she LOVES HIM....I'm wondering if there was some "trigger" that tripped him over the edge. Everyone says the custody stuff was going along fine, but then 5 weeks ago he writes that "he can't believe she would ever try to deny him his kids"....I wonder if she was okay, and then all of a sudden started to really use the kids as pawns as started jerking him around using the kids.

THis is NO WAY implies that she deserved what has happened!! Nobody does. I was just wondering about a trigger cuz from all that has been said, since sept...everything seemed to be pretty amicable and in October (AFTER the Florida running) she is posting she loves him.....

[jashrema]

Well..I think the sister's explanation of how he broke his ankle sounds plausible at least..but still don't know why he went to St. V's (BTW, the hospital is called St. Vincent's and is part of the MERCY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM here in town.

http://www.freep.com/article/2010120...g-a-fair-shake

[catydid]

Originally Posted by jashrema

Well..I think the sister's explanation of how he broke his ankle sounds plausible at least..but still don't know why he went to St. V's (BTW, the hospital is called St. Vincent's and is part of the MERCY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM here in town.

http://www.freep.com/article/2010120...g-a-fair-shake

This bothers me too, especially since Bixby hospital in Adrian would be closer. I'm not sure if he had medical insurance or not so maybe that had something to do with it.

Also, why would a friend drive him after a supposed failed suicide attempt instead of calling an ambulance? I still want to know who it was that drove him there and the story that he told him or her on the way.

[grace60]

Originally Posted by jashrema

Well..I think the sister's explanation of how he broke his ankle sounds plausible at least..but still don't know why he went to St. V's (BTW, the hospital is called St. Vincent's and is part of the MERCY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM here in town.

http://www.freep.com/article/2010120...g-a-fair-shake

He went to Wauseon hospital first. Then was transferred to Toledo. "Police said Mr. Skelton, who works as a long-haul truck driver, called an acquaintance after the failed attempt and the acquaintance drove him to Fulton County Health Center in Wauseon."
http://fwix.com/toledo/article/219d0..._to_i-475_east

[Banshee]

Originally Posted by catydid

I honestly think that JS's family is keeping these boys. There has to be someone else out there who knows the details and they're afraid to come forward. The fact that they don't seem to be affected by it really concerns me.

Respectfully snipped. I would so love for this to be the case. I'm afraid my ability to think of positive outcomes for cases of this type died with the Susan Smith case. When I heard that no one had witnessed Susan Smith's supposed carjacking and that she and her husband were having marital problems I automatically assumed that she had hidden those 2 precious boys. I firmly believed it right up until the announcement came over the radio that they had found the boys in that lake. I was in my car, and I was so shocked I actually hit my brakes - fortunately it was a lonely road. I honestly never, ever thought that she could have done something so horrendous, especially with her show of tears and concern in front of the cameras. I learned a hard lesson.

[BetteDavisEyes]

I don't feel that I have enough information about the family dynamics to make a decision about who is the wrongdoer in this situation. Seems that the media is focused on John Skelton, but we haven't heard a peep out of the boys' mother. I'm going to remain open to any/all possibilities because I know that there are at least two sides to situations that involve divorce and/or custody issues. jmo

[Cubby]

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

I don't feel that I have enough information about the family dynamics to make a decision about who is the wrongdoer in this situation. Seems that the media is focused on John Skelton, but we haven't heard a peep out of the boys' mother. I'm going to remain open to any/all possibilities because I know that there are at least two sides to situations that involve divorce and/or custody issues. jmo

BBM. I hope you mean regarding the break up of the marriage.
I don't think TS would have anything to do with her boys disappearance with all those searchers out there as a ploy to win custody. It would be far too risky....

I'm a never married single parent and have spent a great deal of time studying child support and custody issues. While we have not heard a peep from the boys mom she also hasn't been doing any mud slinging in the media like his family appears to be.

jmo

[BetteDavisEyes]

Originally Posted by Cubby

BBM. I hope you mean regarding the break up of the marriage.
I don't think TS would have anything to do with her boys disappearance with all those searchers out there as a ploy to win custody. It would be far too risky....

I'm a never married single parent and have spent a great deal of time studying child support and custody issues. While we have not heard a peep from the boys mom she also hasn't been doing any mud slinging in the media like his family appears to be.

jmo

I try to remain open-minded when following cases like this because I have seen the media and folks posting on message boards rush to judgment about who did what to whom. In fact, in the cases that I've followed here on WS, I've withdrawn from discussions altogether when I feel that there's a possibility that someone is being railroaded for a crime that they might not have committed. I have had a strong sense of justice and fairness since childhood and do not like to see anyone accused of a wrongdoing for which they are not responsible.

People have told me that I would have made a good judge, and I'm certain that this is the reason that they say this: I do not rush to judgment until I have all of the facts. We simply do not have enough information about everyone involved in this situation to know exactly what is going on. jmo

[Cubby]

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

I try to remain open-minded when following cases like this because I have seen the media and folks posting on message boards rush to judgment about who did what to whom. In fact, in the cases that I've followed here on WS, I've withdrawn from discussions altogether when I feel that there's a possibility that someone is being railroaded for a crime that they might not have committed. I have had a strong sense of justice and fairness since childhood and do not like to see anyone accused of a wrongdoing for which they are not responsible.

People have told me that I would have made a good judge, and I'm certain that this is the reason that they say this: I do not rush to judgment until I have all of the facts. We simply do not have enough information about everyone involved in this situation to know exactly what is going on. jmo

Thank you and I agree. I admire that trait... I'm kind of the type who likes to study human behavior and look for patterns. The only thing that I can almost certainly say stands out to me is JS appears to be the type who has an image of what married life and fatherhood should be. I have grave concerns he may be capable of extreme behavior if faced with a distressing situation he is unable to fit into that image. I can't necessarily say why other than to say with the time I have spent on single parenting forums there is a noticble difference between someone who is difficult to coparent with but not a danger to the children. And while I don't mean to or wish to sound gender biased due to the fact there are still more mothers with primary physical custody the stories and behavior patterns were more available for non custodial fathers than non custodial mothers.

In an earlier link that not_my_kids (aka nmk) posted with the facebook exchange between the two the fact that JS took the kids - likely out of school and out of state and when she requested they be returned - he replied something to the extent of I didn't think you would take my rights away. His reference to 'take my rights away' set off a red flag for me. Clearly it is not necessarily a good idea to take a child, especially a child in 1st or 3rd grade, out of school for an extended period of time to go out of state. Children at that young of an age don't necesarily do well missing much school as they fall behind far too easily in the younger grades. I would have considered that a poor parenting choice regardless of the couple/parents marital status. Kind of like plan the vacations during school vacations not while school is in session.....

I'm just not coming up with a case where an apparent loving father did not kill his children in a murder/(succesfull) suicide or did not go missing with them. The cases in which I recall where the father killed the children but not himself surround not wanting to pay child support and they may murder the mother in addition to the kids in that case.... and I keep going back to cases such as that usually being younger, or if they are older than toddlers they are cases in which paternity and or child support was recently established through the courts.

I guess I am just going over many possibile scenarios to come up with idea's which might help locate the boys.

[lisser]

I've kind of thought that too Cubby, simply because for someone who claims to love their family, he is showing absolutely no remorse at all for them being gone.

I can't wrap my head around how a parent who has pictures with genuine affection shown to their children could hate their spouse (whom he said he loves) enough to a) kill the children, b) dispose of them so callously and c) lead LE on a goose-chase with the apparent goal in being to never find their whereabouts. To me that seems to be trademarks of a stranger than of a parent who seems to have loved his kids.

I can't understand how he could be more concerned for himself than for his poor children dumped out in the cold, unless he really does know that they aren't out there, or he is completely out of his mind.

My heart hurts for the boys and for their mom, who may not ever get a chance to hold them alive again.

[Cubby]

Welcome to WS catydid!

[not_my_kids]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/...3151291253995/

This article contains many direct quotes from his FB convos with Tanya. His facebook is now private.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._poetry_o.html
Opinion piece regarding the news coverage of this case.

So, pretty much, nothing new in the news. I hate media lulls, they make me nervous in a case like this.

[imamaze]

Welcome to Websleuths catydid and to all of our new members!!!

[JenRen]

Originally Posted by not_my_kids

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/...3151291253995/

This article contains many direct quotes from his FB convos with Tanya. His facebook is now private.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._poetry_o.html
Opinion piece regarding the news coverage of this case.

So, pretty much, nothing new in the news. I hate media lulls, they make me nervous in a case like this.

BBM...I will never understand why some people feel the need to post all of their problems out in the open in front of everyone on FB. I usually unfriend those people. However, in this case, it does provide some insight into the "type" of people they are....drama, drama, drama and loving attention. They seem somewhat immature to me. I'm sure it was a lot of fun in their home for those boys. MOO!!!

[citigirl]

I remember the Manuel Gehring case pretty well, and I thought of it right away when I first heard about this case. The big difference, though, is that I think Gehring really did not know where he had left the children. They were found VERY far away from home.

This Skelton character knows the areas were he said he left them very well. I can't figure out what his game is at all. His mom and sister are "enablers" for sure, because he has committed a very bad crime whether the children are dead or alive. I would be very interested in what his wife has to say. I think she might know better than anyone what he is up to.

This is not a guy who has been pretending to be dad of the year (a la Terri Horman). He has pulled a few stunts, been very depressed, and has well-known problems with alcohol. I think his wife has a good idea where he is lying and where he is telling the truth. I believe the police are taking their cue from her when they refuse to accept his confession.

[lisser]

Originally Posted by citigirl

I think his wife has a good idea where he is lying and where he is telling the truth. I believe the police are taking their cue from her when they refuse to accept his confession.

Respectfully snipped...

I wonder if this is why she has stayed completely out of the media spotlight. Maybe LE has advised her not to say anything. Even her family contact isn't being quoted saying anything.

[catydid]

Also, there was an obit in the local paper of someone from Morenci with the same last name as TS maiden name. I'm sure they were related, but how, I don't know. He was 82 and passed away yesterday (Nov 30) which might account for some of the silence from her side of the family.

[elepher50]

Originally Posted by catydid

Also, there was an obit in the local paper of someone from Morenci with the same last name as TS maiden name. I'm sure they were related, but how, I don't know. He was 82 and passed away yesterday (Nov 30) which might account for some of the silence from her side of the family.

Just checked - he would be a great-uncle to TS (nee Zuvers).

[peeples]

I know a lot of people feel she's a victim and I do to some degree as well, but I don't feel she was looking out for the best interests of the children either...

"(AFTER the Florida running) she is posting she loves him..... "
quote form post above me