Investigators are probing a possible link between a box of bones containing the remains of three children found in Montana and the 2010 disappearance of three Michigan brothers.
Michigan State Police confirmed late Thursday that a connection had not yet been made, although additional forensic testing “may provide more answers,” according to a statement obtained by MLive.com.
“There has been nothing previously reported to police linking the brothers to Montana, and it is not known at this time if the remains are from related siblings,” state police officials said. “Further forensic testing has been requested by police in Montana that may provide more answers. Until this testing is completed and additional investigation by law enforcement in Montana occurs, it cannot be determined if these remains belong to the missing Skelton brothers.”
A cleaning crew discovered the box of bones in a shed at a Missoula home in September, KPAX reports.
“Loose teeth,” Missoula Police spokesman Sgt. Travis Walsh said of its contents. “There was what appeared to be bone from a lower jaw and others that were not as specifically described, but I would call them pieces of bones. There were also rocks in this box.”
An anthropology professor at the University of Montana later confirmed the remains to be those of three children, one estimated to be between the ages of 2 and 4, a second between 5 and 8 and a third believed to be between 6 and 10 years old.
Investigators found no evidence of a crime occurring at the property, KPAX reports, and the children’s identities, as well as their cause and manner of death, remains under investigation, according to the station.
In 2010, three boys from Morenci, Mich., disappeared after they were last seen in their father’s backyard on Thanksgiving, MLive.com reported. Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton were 9, 7 and 5 years old at the time.
John Skelton, the boys’ father, was later convicted of unlawful imprisonment of the boys, but never revealed their location to authorities. He was sentenced in 2011 to 1o to 15 years in prison, according to the Associated Press.
Skelton insisted that he gave his three sons to an unidentified group in an attempt to protect them from their mother, who had sole custody of the boys after the couple divorced. A judge blasted his version of events as “ridiculous” and untruthful, while the Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said he would pursue murder charges at the time.
“We want resolution now, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Weeks said. “I believe that John Skelton murdered those boys.”
Tanya Zuvers, the boys’ mother, acknowledged the potential break in the case on Facebook late Thursday.
“This information has just been presented to our family within the last several hours,” Zuvers wrote. “We are processing it and hopeful that we will have answers soon. We are thankful for your thoughts and prayers.”
