Skelton boys' father fights extradition; Lucas Co. judge sets $3M bond

Three brothers are still missing - hope is fading of finding them safe

"They go to school with my youngest daughter and we watched Alex while Tanner was being born -- so it's rough, but we are here for as long as it takes and we are not going to quit," he said. "It's a very personal search for me."

An anonymous donor Wednesday offered a $10,000 reward for the return of the boys or the recovery of their bodies.

Unlike in past days when searchers were deployed to specific areas, people now were told to sweep across an expansive swath of land with specific sites. They spent hours looking in ditches, under bridges, and scanning farm fields. The search area covered roadsides in Williams and Fulton counties spanning 16 miles from east to west and about five miles north to south.

Rhett Westfall of Adrian joined the first bus load of volunteers Wednesday morning but admitted hope for a happy ending was dwindling.

"We still have to look because even if the kids are not okay, at least they will have a final resting place," Ms. Westfall said.

Morenci firefighter Steve Meller uses a colleague's back to write on as he organizes searchers who are seeking three Morenci brothers who were last seen on Thanksgiving Day. Wednesday's searchers fanned across a wider area.

Steve Meller, a Morenci volunteer firefighter who coordinated the buses of volunteers, said a dozen area religious leaders and all of Morenci churches were on standby to counsel searchers if needed. "That is just in case they find something or something tragic happens," he said. Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks would not officially switch his focus from finding three boys to recovering three bodies. "I refuse to believe that at this point [they are dead]," the chief told reporters. "It is my desire to maintain hope, but as I said [Tuesday] the information we have does not indicate that this is going to have a positive outcome." Mr. Skelton has not offered Morenci police any new information recently concerning the whereabouts of his sons and authorities declined again to discuss what clues he has offered, if any. "We have not spoken with John in some time and we have not developed any additional information about where they are at," Chief Weeks said. "As far as any details that he has provided us, we will not be offering that information at this time." Chief Weeks ordered the volunteer searches to end at sunset Friday.

"I'd like the opportunity to process what we've collected through the weekend, what's been searched, what hasn't been searched, re-evaluate our direction for the following week," he said.

He called for property owners to search their own lands.

Morenci resident Susan Crawford, who searched ditches and woods near Holiday City in Williams County, was among the last people looking last night. She said frustrations were mounting over not finding the brothers and because their father is seemingly unhelpful to authorities.

"I am hearing a lot of frustration on the bus, and I am upset after hearing he is fighting extradition," Ms. Crawford said.

Mr. Skelton initially told police he had given his three sons to a woman named Joann Taylor and said she was to deliver the boys to their mother, his estranged wife, Tanya Skelton. On Monday, Chief Weeks said Mr. Skelton recanted that story about Joann Taylor.

The Skelton brothers, Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, as seen in this 2008 photo, were last seen at their father's home in Morenci, Mich., on Thanksgiving Day.

Mr. Skelton was hospitalized at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center after a failed suicide attempt Friday. He was arrested Tuesday and booked into the jail by FBI agents from Toledo. The Rev. Donna Galloway, pastor of Morenci United Methodist Church, which the boys attended, said she spoke to their mother recently and acknowledged how painful the ordeal has been. "Everyone is supporting her ... I know the people in this community will not stop looking until the boys are home," Ms. Galloway said. "She wants her boys home. We all want her boys home." She said Mr. Skelton appeared "like any other dad" when she saw him with Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner in the church on Nov. 21 when they arrived to help decorate for Advent. Wednesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, Mr. Skelton, 39, asked Judge Gary Cook for a hearing to determine if he should be sent back to face charges in Lenawee County. Judge Cook scheduled a Dec. 14 hearing and ordered Mr. Skelton held in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $3 million bond during his court appearance. The bond amount is a total of $1 million for each of the three counts. Lenawee County Prosecutor Jonathan Poer on Tuesday filed three counts of felony parental kidnapping in Lenawee County District Court related to the disappearance of the boys.

Judge Cook appointed attorney Merle Dech to represent Mr. Skelton for the extradition hearing. Mr. Dech declined to comment.

After the court hearing, Jeff Lingo, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said Mr. Skelton did have the option of waiving extradition and being transported to Lenawee County, but instead he contested that move.

Mr. Lingo said Michigan officials must now obtain a governor's warrant from their state to have Mr. Skelton returned to stand trial on the charges.

He said two issues will be addressed at the extradition hearing in two weeks -- whether Mr. Skelton is the person wanted in the fugitive warrant from Michigan and whether Ohio has a similar crime to the offenses that Mr. Skelton faces in Michigan.

"Those are the only standards we have to meet at the hearing," he said.

Morenci police officers were in the courtroom for the hearing, prepared to take Mr. Skelton into custody if he had waived his right to the hearing.

The defendant, who reportedly injured himself after he attempted to hang himself at his Morenci home, had a soft cast on his left foot and was seated in a wheelchair during the hearing.

He was wearing a special smock designed to prevent inmates from committing suicide or hurting themselves.

The anti-suicide smock exposed Mr. Skelton's back, revealing a large tattoo that stretched across his shoulders.

Five Lucas County sheriff's deputies surrounded Mr. Skelton while he was in the courtroom. Television and newspaper reporters and photographers crowded into the courtroom for the hearing.

Mr. Skelton kept his head down and made little if any eye contact with Judge Cook or others in the packed courtroom.

His answers to the judge's questions were barely audible.

At this point, Mr. Skelton is not charged with any crimes in Ohio, Mr. Lingo said.