The remains of three children discovered in Tennessee are undergoing testing to determine if they belong to three young brothers who disappeared from their Michigan home 15 years ago. Memphis police found the unidentified remains, believed to be between three and seven years of age, in a wooded area earlier this month. Officials believe the remains may have been there for years, and the cause of death remains undetermined.
The discovery prompted Michigan State Police (MSP) to contact local authorities to investigate whether the remains are those of the missing Skelton brothers: nine-year-old Andrew, seven-year-old Alexander, and five-year-old Tanner Skelton, who vanished on Thanksgiving Day 2010. MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzales told WTOL that the agency's cold case unit has been in touch with the Memphis Police Department, providing DNA and dental records of the brothers. However, Gonzales noted that based on the timeline of their disappearance, they do not believe the remains belong to the Skelton brothers, but tests are being conducted to rule them out.
The boys' father, John Skelton, 54, was charged with murdering his three sons in November and is being held on a $60 million bond. The charges came just days before Skelton was due to be released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence for unlawful imprisonment for failing to return the boys to their mother after they spent Thanksgiving with him. Authorities have long believed the three boys are dead and that Skelton is responsible.
Their mother, Tanya Zuvers, released a statement saying she does not believe the remains belong to her sons, according to WDIV. 'However, we understand that the situation is still developing, and we are awaiting official forensic analysis results for confirmation,' she said. 'No matter who the bones belong to, some families' world will be shattered by the news of their children's deaths. We as a family continue to pray for answers for ourselves, and pray for the family/families that these precious babies belong to that they find peace in knowing where their babies are.'
Because their bodies were never found, Skelton was charged with three counts of unlawful imprisonment and pleaded no contest in 2011. In March 2025, a judge declared the boys dead after Zuvers requested a formal declaration of death for closure and to provide 'respect' to the brothers. Skelton has claimed he handed the boys over to an underground group to protect them from their mother, but police have found no evidence of this and say Skelton has given differing accounts of who he entrusted his children to. Investigators stated that Skelton fed them a long string of lies about the boys' whereabouts and that his claims about giving them to others for safety were false.
The Daily Mail contacted Michigan State Police and Memphis Police Department for comment. Skelton's next court hearing is scheduled for August 24.
