An Ohio judge ordered their father, John Skelton, 39, jailed Wednesday December 1 in lieu of $3-million bail on three counts of parental kidnapping pending a formal extradition hearing Dec. 14 in Toledo. Skelton's court-appointed attorney declined on his client's behalf to waive Skelton's extradition rights.
Later Wednesday morning, Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks announced that if the brothers aren't found by the end of the day Friday, volunteers should stop searching for the weekend so officials can re-evaluate their direction next week. Also Wednesday, an anonymous donor offered a $10,000 reward for the return or recovery of the boys. Community members and school officials remain hopeful. "I have to have hope," said Janet Rollins, Tanner's teacher. "I still pray every day that they find them and that they're OK."
Missing boys' dad to stay in Ohio as hearing looms
Days after his three young sons went missing, John Skelton found himself in an Ohio courtroom, facing extradition to Michigan to face charges of parental kidnapping.
But Skelton, 39, of Morenci didn't go home Wednesday with the Morenci police and Lenawee County sheriff's deputies waiting in the courtroom.
Attorney Merle Dech Jr., who was appointed to represent Skelton at the hearing, said his client would not waive his rights, so a formal extradition hearing will be held Dec. 14 in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in Toledo.
The Skelton boys -- Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5 -- went missing sometime between Thanksgiving afternoon and Friday morning. Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks has said police "do not anticipate a positive outcome here."
Skelton has said he gave the boys to a woman named Joann Taylor before he attempted to hang himself in his home, but police have said there was no established relationship between Skelton and a woman by that name.
Skelton looked downward as he was brought into court shackled and in a wheelchair, a fractured ankle apparently injured during an aborted suicide attempt. He was wearing a green bulletproof vest and a sort of green jail smock with an open back, showing off a Calvin and Hobbes tattoo on his back.
At the Dec. 14 hearing, Skelton also has the right to an identity hearing in which he may challenge whether Michigan authorities have the right suspect. Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Cook told Skelton that, based on the presence of Michigan police officers, it seemed certain they had the right man.
Skelton, whose sister said he lost his job as a long-haul trucker last month, said he had no money for a lawyer. Cook arranged for Dech's services in advance, anticipating Skelton wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer on his own.
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