(MORENCI) - Fifteen years after the Thanksgiving disappearance of three young brothers from Morenci, their father, John Skelton, has been charged with three counts of open murder and three counts of evidence tampering. The charges mark the most significant development yet in the 2010 case that gripped the nation and devastated the boys' family. Skelton, 53, is accused in the disappearance of 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Alexander, and 5-year-old Tanner. The boys vanished after spending Thanksgiving with him during a turbulent divorce and custody dispute with their mother, Tanya Zuvers. Prosecutors say the alleged crimes occurred on Nov. 25, 2010 -- the last day the children were seen. Skelton was just two weeks away from completing a 10- to 15-year prison sentence for unlawful imprisonment when the new charges were filed. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
The announcement comes months after a Lenawee County judge declared the brothers legally dead, noting that investigators lacked enough evidence at the time to directly tie Skelton to their deaths, though he had long been viewed with suspicion. Over the years, Skelton offered shifting stories, including a claim that he turned the boys over to a clandestine adoption group to protect them from alleged abuse -- an allegation authorities and the children's mother have consistently rejected. Investigators previously tracked Skelton's cell phone to Holiday City in Williams County, Ohio, about 25 miles from Morenci, around the time the boys disappeared. That led to searches of wooded areas, an abandoned school, and other locations, but no trace of the children was ever found.