Missoula, Montana, authorities recovered a box containing the teeth and skeletal remains of three children, which could possibly be three brothers who disappeared in 2010.
ABC7 reports that the Michigan State Police stated they’re working with Montana authorities to determine if the remains found are indeed of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton: three boys who disappeared in 2010 after spending Thanksgiving with their father in Morenci, a town on the line Ohio and Michigan state line.
Authorities may have a major break in the mysterious disappearance of the three Skelton boys from Morenci, #Michigan. They went #MISSING in 2010 after Thanksgiving.https://t.co/WnHGlOm0Zi
— NCMEC (@MissingKids) December 15, 2017
“There has been nothing previously reported to police linking the brothers to Montana, and it is not known at this time if the remains are from related siblings,” state police said in a statement.
“Further forensic testing has been requested by police in Montana that may provide more answers. Until this testing is completed and additional investigation by law enforcement in Montana occurs, it cannot be determined if these remains belong to the missing Skelton brothers.”
The boys disappeared after their father, John Skelton, failed to return them back to their mother’s Michigan home. He’s always maintained that he handed all three sons over to a “group” who he felt would provide better for them than their mother, Tanya Zuvers. It’s a story that authorities never bought.
In 2011, Skelton was sentenced to 10-15 years behind bars for unlawful imprisonment, but he’s never been charged with the murder of the boys.
MORE Information: Seven years and still no answers: What happened to the Skelton Brothers?
According to NBC Montana, a cleaning crew found the box of remains while cleaning a home after a tenant was evicted. So far, the tenant’s name is unclear, but police reported they are questioning a “person of interest.”
The State Crime Lab indicated that the remains, which matched three children between 2-4 years old, 5-8 years old and 6-10 years old, were shipped for DNA testing to the University of North Texas. The process could take months, as the remains must first be checked for matches in missing persons cases, then sent to the crime lab and inputted into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Further, since the bones found were so small, it may be impossible to extract DNA, at least according to a local medical examiner.
The story is still developing. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Skelton brothers/National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]
