Father Who Claimed to Hide Sons in 'Underground Sanctuary' Walks Free—Children Still Missing | Crime Alert 8AM 11.11.25

John Skelton's accounts varied from saying the boys were with a "friend" to claiming he had a "vision" that they were discarded in a dumpster in Ohio. His three sons remain missing. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alard hourly update breaking crime news Now. I'm Nicole
part And. A man from Michigan who was found guilty
of unlawfully imprisoning his three young sons who have been
missing since twenty ten, is scheduled to be released from prison.
John Skelton, now fifty three, was convicted of wrongful imprisonment

(00:21):
in twenty eleven after he failed to return his sons
Andrew aged nine, Alexander seven, and ten Or five to
their mother following the Thanksgiving holiday in twenty ten. In
a two thousand and eight interview with WDV while in prison,
Skelton claimed he had sent the boys to an underground

(00:41):
sanctuary in Ohio, citing concerns that their mother posed a
threat to them. The children have not been seen since
that holiday with their father and their mother, Tenya Zevers,
had them legally declared dead in March. She previously sought
a court rule to hold the father accountable for their

(01:02):
presumed deaths, but her request was denied Skelton. The father,
has not faced any criminal charges related to the boy's disappearance.
As previously reported, Skelton spent Thanksgiving twenty ten with his sons,
assuring the mother he would return them the next day,
but they never came back. Investigators later traced his cell

(01:24):
phone to Ohio shortly after Thanksgiving. In the interview in
twenty eighteen, the father described a van arriving at his
home on Thanksgiving night to take the boys to an
underground sanctuary managed by two women and a man in
his sixties, but authorities found no evidence to back his claims.
Shortly after, the cell phone was located about thirty miles

(01:48):
into Ohio. It was traced back to the father's residence
in Michigan. On the Friday following Thanksgiving, he reached out
to a friend to take him to the hospital due
to injuries sustained in and a suicide attempt. When the
mother learned the father was in the hospital on the
day he promised to return the sons, he offered several

(02:08):
conflicting explanations, leading her to report her son's missing. Skelton's
accounts varied from saying the boys were with a friend
to claiming he had a vision that they were discarded
in a dumpster in Ohio. While in prison, he even
misled police with a story involving an Amish community and
a former reality TV star. Later admitting he fabricated that tale.

(02:31):
He was found guilty on three counts of wrongful imprisonment. Skelton,
the father was sentenced to ten to fifteen years in
prison after being denied parole in twenty twenty three. He
is now set to be released on November twenty nine.
The boys have never been found or crime of Justice
news after this. A middle school teacher from Illinois is

(02:59):
facing Syria charges after being accused of sexually assaulting a
former student who was under age. Jessica Bergman, thirty four,
a teacher at Washington Middle School in Aurora, has been
charged with felony criminal sexual assault and two counts of
aggravated criminal sexual abuse. This announced by the DuPage County

(03:20):
States Attorney's Office. Investigations into Bergmann began in October when
authorities received information suggesting a potentially inappropriate sexual relationship with
a student. It is alleged that Bergmann met the victim
while he was attending Washington Middle School. After the boy graduated,
Bergmann and her former student reportedly starting communicating through text

(03:43):
messages and phone calls. The alleged victim was in his
sophomore year of high school when the supposed sexual misconduct began.
According to the statement, the relationship between them allegedly became
sexual over time. It is claimed that the victim frequently
visited the teacher's residence, some time staying overnight, where sexual
intercourse reportedly took place. The Daily Herald cited court documents

(04:06):
indicating that concerned neighbors had observed the boy at the
teacher's home subsequently would call police after seeing him come
on numerous days and spending the night. Authorities reported that
she was arrested without incident on Friday. Following her initial
court appearance, she was released but ordered to refrain from
any contact with individuals under the age of eighteen. Bergmann

(04:31):
is scheduled to return to court on December one. DuPage
County State's Attorney's Robert Berlin, emphasized the severity of the situation, saying,
the alleged betrayal of trust and authority by the teacher
is deeply troubling and will be addressed with the utmost
seriousness by our legal system. Now to Michigan, where law

(04:51):
enforcement from the east side of the state is asking
for the public's help and finding a missing teen girl
who was last seen in West Michigan. Near the Rochester
Hills area. Janella Arlene Nichols. She's seventeen. She did not
return to her Rochester Hills home after school on Friday.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said she is a senior

(05:14):
at an alternative center for education within Rochester Community School districts.
Nichols was last seen getting off the school bus around
three pm that day, before detective said she may have
left in an older jeep Cherokee with an unknown person,
according to a neighbor. By the end of the day,
her father notified authorities that his daughter never came home

(05:36):
from school. The Sheriff's office believes Nichols may be on
the west side of the state, though no specific area
was shared. The seventeen year old was last seen wearing
a light colored hooded sweatshirt. Deputies describe her as five
five weighing about one hundred and thirty five pounds. She
has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about

(05:58):
her whereabouts is asked to contact the Sheriff's office at
two four eight eight five eight four nine five zero.
For the latest crime injustice news. Follow Crime Alert hourly
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I'm Nicole Parton