A father has been formally accused of murdering his three sons nearly 15 years after they vanished from their home in southern Michigan.

John Skelton, age 53, faces charges of murder and evidence tampering concerning the deaths of his sons—nine-year-old Andrew, seven-year-old Alexander, and five-year-old Tanner. These charges were filed in the Lenawee County District Court on Wednesday, regarding the incident in Morenci, near the Ohio border.

The charges were announced just days before Skelton was scheduled to be released from prison. He had been serving a 15-year sentence for unlawful imprisonment after he failed to return the boys to their mother following a Thanksgiving Day visit in 2010.

Authorities have long suspected that the boys were deceased and held Skelton accountable for their disappearance.

Due to the absence of the children’s bodies, he was initially charged with unlawful imprisonment and, in 2011, entered a no contest plea to these charges.

In March, a judge officially declared the boys deceased after their mother, Tanya Zuvers, petitioned the court for a formal declaration of death. This decision aimed to offer her a sense of closure and honor the memory of her sons.

‘This development marks a significant moment in a long and painful journey,’ Zuvers said in a statement. 

‘While I understand the public interest in this case, I ask that my family´s privacy be respected as we process this news and continue to grieve the loss of Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner.’ 

John Skelton (pictured), 53, has been charged with the murder of his three sons almost 15 years after they disappeared

Nine-year-old Andrew, seven-year-old Alexander, and five-year-old Tanner vanished after they went to their father’s house for Thanksgiving in 2010

Zuvers praised police and prosecutors who have ‘worked tirelessly over the years to seek justice for my sons.’ 

Skelton has said that he handed the boys over to an underground group to protect them from her mother. 

Police have never found any evidence of the claim and said that Skelton has provided differing accounts of who he entrusted his kids with. 

Investigators said Skelton fed them a long string of lies about the boys’ whereabouts and that his claims they were given to other people for their safety were false.

The lead investigator, Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Jeremy Brewer, said in March that he had ‘no doubt whatsoever’ that Skelton killed the brothers. 

Skelton declined to participate in that court hearing, telling a judge by videoconference from prison: ‘Anything I say isn’t going to make a difference.’

Larry Weeks, a former Morenci police chief who worked on the case, testified at the March hearing that the day the boys were last seen, he received a call from a deputy who was with Skelton at the Fulton County Medical Center in Ohio.

The officer indicated that Skelton had an injury to his ankle from a suicide attempt. 

The boys’ mother, Tanya Zuvers, requested that the boys be declared dead in March. Her ex-husband, Skelton, is seen on a screen above her as he appears remotely from prison

Authorities had always believed the three boys were dead and that Skelton was responsible

Skelton (pictured in court in 2011) was days away from being released after serving a 15-year sentence for unlawful imprisonment charges

Weeks then went to the home where the boys were last seen and described a scene of ‘disarray.’

‘Glass and cabinets had been broken. Electrical cords to all the appliances had been cut,’ he said, adding that ‘there appeared to be a noose hanging from a second story balcony.’

Officers also found a written message from Skelton that was consistent with a suicide note.

Investigators found Bible was open with a verse circled and a note apparently left for Zuvers that read, ‘You will hate me forever and I know this,’ FBI agent Corey Burras testified.

‘That was his passive admission to killing the children,’ Burras said.