The boys' father, John Skelton, left the children Friday in the care of a woman he met several years ago with her husband when their vehicle broke down on the side of a road, with the intent that she would return them to their mother.
Skelton, who is separated from the boys' mother, Tanya Skelton, wanted the children out of the house when he committed suicide, he told police. He is now in an Ohio hospital and the children have not been seen since early Friday afternoon, when Morenci Police issued an Amber Alert.
Andrew Ryan Skelton, 9, Alexander William Skelton, 7, and Tanner Lucas Skelton, 5, are missing. Police are working with members of the family and neighbors to determine when they were last seen by someone other than their father.
Skelton told police that all three boys were taken by Joann Taylor, with whom he maintained an online relationship after their initial roadside meeting. Taylor picked the boys up from their father's home and took them away in a silver or white minivan, Skelton said.
Nichole DiCenso, a Morenci resident who knows the Skeltons, said this is at least the second time the boys' mother has had to search for them.
"(John Skelton) has taken them to Florida before, just after school started," DiCenso said. "She had to go down there and get them."
