Father took boys away previously
Court records detail the fierce battle waged for months over custody of three now missing boys and showed this wasn't the first time their father had taken them away.
John R. Skelton, 39, took his sons and announced his intention to move to Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 13 — the day his wife filed for divorce, according to documents in Lenawee County Circuit Court.
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Father of three missing boys out of work, lost custody
The father of three missing Michigan boys was out of work, his marriage had fallen apart and he'd lost custody of his children in the months before he told police that he gave the boys to an acquaintance and tried to kill himself.
Police said Monday that they don't believe John Skelton's claim that he handed his children over to a woman he met online, and had crews searching areas in Michigan and along an Ohio highway where the FBI said Skelton's blue minivan had been seen Thursday or Friday. Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said police spent several days searching extensively in records and by other means for the woman and couldn't find any evidence she existed.
Skelton's sons -- Tanner, 5, Alexander, 7, and Andrew, 9 -- were last seen Thursday in the backyard of their father's southern Michigan home, and authorities said they believe they are in danger. Weeks did not name Skelton as a suspect in the boys' disappearance, but he said investigators haven't ruled him out. Skelton, 39, has been in an Ohio hospital since Friday, receiving treatment for "mental health issues" after telling police he tried to hang himself, Weeks said.
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Missing boys often visited Jax
As police, neighbors and other volunteers resumed searching Monday for three brothers last seen the day before their father tried to commit suicide, the boys' grandmother in Jacksonville is holding onto hope even as investigators believe the children are in "extreme danger."
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Jax Beach Grandma believes missing grandsons still alive
Roxann Skelton's "grandma's heart" is telling her that her three grandsons missing in Michigan are indeed still alive, scared and wondering what's happening.
Despite comments from Michigan police that Skelton's son, a Fletcher High graduate, is lying about the case, his mother said a woman very well might have the boys.
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Search targeting new areas in case of missing boys
On the same day that investigators expanded a search into a second state in hopes of finding three missing Morenci brothers, they discounted the story their father provided about the disappearance.
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Police discount dad's account of mystery woman
There never was a Joann Taylor.
At least not one watching over three missing brothers as their father, John Skelton, told law enforcement officials investigating their disappearance, Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said Monday. Authorities say Skelton told them he gave his children to Taylor, an acquaintance he met some years ago, so they wouldn't be there when he attempted to commit suicide.
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Video of how Amber Alert works
Friday night's announcement that three little boys were missing reminded us all of the Amber Alert program.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn explains how the system works to recover kids in this edition of FOX Toledo Talk Back.
We do not anticipate a positive outcome
Investigators involved in the case of three young brothers who are missing said Tuesday they are "not hopeful" the outcome of the case will have a positive ending.
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