Age Progression Photos Mark The 2-Year Anniversary Of Missing Brothers
MORENCI (WWJ) - It's been nearly two years since the three Morenci brothers Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton went missing.
Now age progression photos of the boys are being released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Tanya Zuvers, the mother of the three boys, said at first it was difficult to see these new pictures.
"It was very overwhelming and emotional at first because it's been two years," said Zuvers."In our minds, we still see the boys in the pictures ... in their camouflaged shirts and their 5, 7, 9 year-old pictures from school."
Zuvers said that she thought, "yeah, they are going to look older, and if you sit and you look at the pictures -- and I have done that -- I can see where, yeah, that does look like each of them. It just takes a while to absorb that," she said.
She said over the last week - she has come to terms with the new photos and she hopes the update pics will help find authorities find her boys.
The three boys have been missing since November 26, 2010, from Morenci, Michigan after a holiday weekend with their father John Skelton. He is currently in prison serving 10-15 years for unlawful imprisonment.
The boys' mother had exclusive custody of them, but had allowed them to visit their father for the holiday. He was supposed to return them to her the next day.
John Skelton claims he gave the children to an "underground organization." Despite massive searches, the boys have never found.
The Morenci Police Department responded to the photos, saying the investigation remains active, but they do not believe the boys are alive.
"The facts of this case lead us to believe that John Russell Skelton murdered his sons and likely disposed of them during the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2010," Police Chief Larry Joe Weeks said in a press release.
Police added that Skelton has told tales "wrought with inconsistencies."
"His choice to hide behind this outlandish story is selfish and cowardly," Weeks said. "If he cared about his sons at all he would disclose the truth and bring resolution in this case."
Connect with the Facebook page for the missing boys, here.
