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50 people in 50 days: Boys visit father, never return home
Tanner, Alexander and Andrew Skelton have been missing since Thanksgiving.
February 9th, 2011
08:18 PM ET

50 people in 50 days: Boys visit father, never return home

Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.

This is the 18th case, and it aired on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on HLN.

The Skelton brothers left their mother's home in Morenci, Michigan, on Thanksgiving Day for a custodial visit with their father and never returned.

Alexander, 7, Andrew, 9 and 5-year-old Tanner, are still missing, and police say the case has turned into a homicide investigation.

Their father, John Skelton, allegedly first told police he left the three boys with a woman, whom he identified as Joann Taylor, the morning before he tried to take his own life - in part to ensure that they did not witness his suicide attempt, police said. Skelton said Taylor was supposed to return the boys to their mother at their home in Morenci, a southern Michigan town of about 2,400 people about 40 miles west-northwest of Toledo, Ohio, on November 26, Weeks said. But the boys never arrived, and authorities said earlier they aren't certain she even exists.

John Skelton, now charged with 3 counts of parental kidnapping, says he would never hurt his children. His latest story is that he gave the boys to a group called United Foster Outreach and Underground Sanctuaries, but no such group was found to exist.

Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here.
Filed under: Crime • Missing Children • TV-Nancy Grace
soundoff (12 Responses)
  1. RUFFNUTT

    how come we can waterboard enemies of the state but not suspected murderers?

    February 9, 2011 at 8:20 pm | Report abuse |
  2. chrissy

    wow 2 days in a row that u and me been thinkin alike!

    February 9, 2011 at 8:40 pm | Report abuse |
    • RUFFNUTT

      or why can't we use the truth-serum like in the spy movies

      February 9, 2011 at 9:04 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Ernie

    Get the "waterboard"!

    February 9, 2011 at 8:45 pm | Report abuse |
  4. RUFFNUTT

    where does he live? i'll slam his hand in my cardoor till he talks..

    February 9, 2011 at 9:03 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Bleh

    Why, oh why do these people hurt their children? Waterboarding is too good. Hook up the car battery to his 'nads!

    February 9, 2011 at 9:05 pm | Report abuse |
    • RUFFNUTT

      A 12volt battery wouldn't do much.. but if you took a couple wires off your spark plugs and ran some wires from those to his nads that would work much better and we would know within 1 minute or less what happen..

      February 9, 2011 at 9:16 pm | Report abuse |
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    February 9, 2011 at 11:11 pm | Report abuse |
  7. raven

    This clown said he was gonna kill himself and he gave his kids to someone to keep em safe from the mom til he could come get them . Hows he plan on THAT if hes DEAD ? I think the cops already have him nailed,just gotta get thier ducks in a row, thats why they changed it from a missing persons to a murder investigation .

    February 10, 2011 at 1:42 am | Report abuse |
  8. LiberalLawyerLobby

    Come now people we can't go around treating murderers and molesters like criminals. They deserve the caring and neutering I mean nurturing their lives are clearly lacking. Why we don't already neuter I mean nurture people who harm children is beyond me. I think we could prevent lots of repeat offenders if we neuter I mean nurture them the first time they are caught harming someone. It's not like they ruined someone else's life or anything.

    February 10, 2011 at 6:01 am | Report abuse |
  9. chrissy

    first ...it doesnt mention that the children have been spotted several times with the same woman so theres a possibility they are still alive. they have even showed videos of them at dif locations

    February 11, 2011 at 12:09 am | Report abuse |
  10. hadabadday

    @LiberalLawyerLobby..i agree that neutering oops I mean to say nurturing is what is called for...i think you have hit the nail right on the head....(thats not a bad idea either).....

    February 22, 2011 at 7:26 pm | Report abuse |
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