3 children never returned from their father's home after Thanksgiving; cops find a noose, bible, and an eerie note

Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5, went missing on Thanksgiving Day, about 15 years ago. They were last seen in Nov. 2010 2010 in their father John Skelton’s backyard in Morenci, a city on the border of Michigan and Ohio. The children had gone to celebrate the festivity and never returned.
John Skelton and Tany Zuvers have had their differences since the fall of 2010, and they have been living apart in Monrenci. On Thanksgiving, the children were supposed to spend the day with their dad and return to mom Zuvers the next day. The police tracked Skelton’s phone to Ohio at 4 a.m. and back in Michigan after 6 a.m.

Despite intense searches in the woods and water in Michigan and Ohio and tips from across the country, the police didn't find anything. The police believe John Skelton is responsible for the boys missing, though he was not charged with the killings. He is serving a 10- to 15-year prison sentence for unlawful imprisonment. What led to suspicion was Sketon visiting the hospital the same day with a strange ankle injury. The police also found his home messy, with broken glass, severed appliance cords, and a noose hanging from the second floor. The suspicion intensified when the cops found a bible with a verse circled.

There was also a strange note, supposedly for Zuvers which read, “You will hate me forever and I know this,” according to FBI agent Corey Burras. Skelton also said, "I sent them home," probably referring to heaven.

Upon looking at his computer, the police found searches for whether rat poison can kill people and instructions for how to break a neck. Det. Sgt. Jeremy Brewer of the state police, who frequently visited Skelton in prison said, “He would talk about everything under the sun: his family, the weather, sports, prison life. But if I ever directed the conversation about why I was truly there or about the boys he would shut down. ... He didn’t trust anyone.”

Now the mother, Tanya Zuvers has approached the court, asking the judge to declare her kids dead. “We may not have their bodies, but their life still meant something,” Tanya Zuvers stated at the unusual hearing in Lenawee County in southern Michigan. The mother stated that she wants death certificates, and to put a formal date on their headstone to get a closure.

"Any loving father would not have killed them. I owe them the respect," the 58-year-old mother said. She has 'no doubt' that her children are dead. “If my sons are out there in the world with someone they don’t know,” Zuvers said, “one of them ... would just tell the person next to them, ‘This isn’t mom or dad. I know that if you call this number, my mom will answer it,’” she added.