Michigan State Police don’t believe human remains discovered earlier this month in Memphis, Tennessee, are those of the Skelton brothers, who have been missing from Morenci since Thanksgiving 2010.
Still, the agency will provide DNA and dental records to investigators in Memphis to formally eliminate the brothers as possible matches.
The discovery of the remains prompted questions on social media about whether Andrew, Tanner and Alexander Skelton had been found.
Michigan State Police Lt. Rene Gonzales told WTOL 11 the agency’s cold case unit has been in contact with the Memphis Police Department and doesn’t believe the remains belong to the brothers based on the timeline of their disappearance.
Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, were reported missing in November 2010 after their father, John Skelton, failed to return them to their mother following parenting time over Thanksgiving.
Skelton was convicted in 2011 on three counts of unlawful imprisonment and sentenced to 10-15 years in prison for failing to return the children. He gave investigators multiple, conflicting accounts about his sons’ whereabouts.
In March 2025, a judge in Lenawee County declared the brothers legally dead. In November, prosecutors charged Skelton with three counts of open murder and tampering with evidence.
Those charges are still pending. Skelton is due back in court for a preliminary examination May 11-15 and 18-20.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Remains found in Memphis evaluated for link to Skelton brothers
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, The Daily Telegram / The Detroit News
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