(WWJ) It's a heartrending update to a missing persons' story more than a decade old.
A Lenawee County Probate Court judge has declared the Skelton brothers — three boys who disappeared nearly 15 years ago — dead.
Announcing her ruling on Wednesday, on Judge Catherine Sala however did not, however, go as far as to say that Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton were murdered by their father.
"Given their undisputed disappearance for over 14 years, statutory presumption is that applies," Sala said. "Presentation of evidence, however, does not present any convincing evidence that John Skelton murdered these children."
Judge Sala said that she must follow the law, and while authorities and the boys' mother, Tanya Zuvers, have testified that they believe John Skelton murdered the boys, there just isn't enough evidence to support that decision.
John Skelton did not attend the hearing.
Andrew, Alexander and Tanner were last seen alive in their father's backyard in Morenci, Michigan, on Thanksgiving Day 2010.
Zuvers reported the boys missing the following day on Black Friday.
At the time, Andrew was nine; Alexander, seven; and Tanner, only five years old.
Police issued an Amber Alert.
According to published reports, John Skelton was hospitalized and undergoing treatment for a suicide attempt on the day his estranged wife reported the boys missing. He initially told investigators that he left them with a woman he met online, but then claimed he gave the boys to an underground group for their protection.
The FBI, local and state agencies; aided by helicopters and K9s; searched for the boys across farmlands, woodlands and state lines.
About a year after their disappearance, John Skelton pled no contest to three counts of unlawful imprisonment and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
Police said Skelton has changed his story multiple times, but he has maintained he did not harm the boys.
In 2017, bone fragments and teeth of three children who matched the ages of the Skelton brothers were found in Missoula, Montana. Later testing revealed the remains did not belong to the Skelton boys.