Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Day 5 of John Skelton’s preliminary examination included testimony about extensive searches that found no proof of life for his three missing sons, Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton.
A Michigan State Police cold case analyst testified that she conducted 17 database searches in 2024 and repeated them shortly before taking the stand. Those searches included the boys’ names and Social Security numbers, corrections records, commercial databases and facial-recognition technology. She said none produced proof that the boys are alive.
An investigative analyst with the U.S. Secret Service also described searches using more than 50 tools, including travel and passport records, the deep web, the dark web and commercial facial-recognition databases containing billions of images. Potential image matches were existing photographs and age-progression images of the brothers that had already been published online — not new images of the boys.
The court also heard from one of the first officers to search John Skelton’s home after the boys disappeared in November 2010. He testified that he found no sign of the children but saw a noose, damaged items and cut electrical cords inside the house. The officer said Skelton later claimed he had given the boys to a woman named Joanne Taylor because he planned to take his own life.
Testimony also included an emotional 2011 jail call between Skelton and his daughter. During cross-examination, the defense emphasized that investigators found no blood inside the home and questioned whether police had physical evidence that Skelton killed his sons.
This proceeding is a preliminary examination, not a trial. There is no jury. A judge will determine whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence for the murder charges against Skelton to proceed to trial.
Day 5 of John Skelton’s preliminary examination included testimony about extensive searches that found no proof of life for his three missing sons, Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton.
A Michigan State Police cold case analyst testified that she conducted 17 database searches in 2024 and repeated them shortly before taking the stand. Those searches included the boys’ names and Social Security numbers, corrections records, commercial databases and facial-recognition technology. She said none produced proof that the boys are alive.
An investigative analyst with the U.S. Secret Service also described searches using more than 50 tools, including travel and passport records, the deep web, the dark web and commercial facial-recognition databases containing billions of images. Potential image matches were existing photographs and age-progression images of the brothers that had already been published online — not new images of the boys.
The court also heard from one of the first officers to search John Skelton’s home after the boys disappeared in November 2010. He testified that he found no sign of the children but saw a noose, damaged items and cut electrical cords inside the house. The officer said Skelton later claimed he had given the boys to a woman named Joanne Taylor because he planned to take his own life.
Testimony also included an emotional 2011 jail call between Skelton and his daughter. During cross-examination, the defense emphasized that investigators found no blood inside the home and questioned whether police had physical evidence that Skelton killed his sons.
This proceeding is a preliminary examination, not a trial. There is no jury. A judge will determine whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence for the murder charges against Skelton to proceed to trial.
