Teenage is one of the most crucial phases of a person’s life because, at this age, a kid is trying to leave their parent’s nest and see the world with his own eyes. So people do a lot of stupid stuff, which he regrets his most of life. Today, we are discussing a similar teenage jealousy drama with a bizarre ending; the Murder mystery of Skylar Neese.
Victim’s Bio And Background
Skylar Neese was a sweet sixteen-year-old teenage girl who lives in Star City, West Virginia. She was the only child of David and Mary, and this picture-perfect family lives in a small apartment. Skyler’s father worked as a product assembler at Walmart, whereas her mother worked as an administrative assistant in a cardiac lab.
According to friends and family, Skylar was a successful student in school and wanted to go to University for Law degree. Skyler studied in University High School along with her so-called friends Racheal and Shiela.
The Friendship Of Sheila, Rachel And Skylar
This case gets media attention because the story is very similar to the movie Mean Girls, but how? Let’s find out.
Sheila and Skylar’s friendship evolved when they studied in second grade. Like Skyler, Sheila was also the only child of Tara Clendenen and Greg Eddy.
Although they went to different schools, they love to play with each other and spend time together.With time, their friendship grew stronger, and they became BFF.
When Skylar and Sheila started high school, Sheila moved to her best friend’s school, University High School to spend more time together. Both girls were exploring new horizons and striving for new experiences. And as always, Skylar was performing well in her studies and became famous among her peers.
During their freshmen year, another girl named Rachel Shoaf entered their circle. The three become inseparable and are always seen together in school very soon.
Like all teenage American girls, they love doing weed and chatting over social media platforms, showing love on each other’s timelines. However, Rachel and Shiela became closer and started hanging out without Skylar, which upsets her over time.
Skyler often posted direct and indirect tweets on her Twitter account to show her concern about the growing rift between Skyler and her friends.
3 of my best friends are going out of town this weekend leaving me alone with no plans. fml.
— skylar neese (@hiighasthe_sky) June 30, 2012
Reason Behind The Fight
According to the reports, one day during a sleepover, Skyler caught her friends having drunken sex together, which upsets Skyler, and when she asked about this from her friends, they simply denied the fact. After this incident, both started hating her friend and wanted to get rid of her.
The Planning Of The Murder
Rachel and Shiela were getting sick of her friend Skyler and her complaints, and their fightings were becoming more and more public.
According to Skyler classmate Daniel Hovatter, “Shelia and Skylar were fighting a lot,” and said, One time sophomore year, me and Rachel were at practice for Pride and Prejudice, and Rachel had her phone up to her ear, and she was laughing. She was like, “Listen to this.” Shelia and Skylar were fighting, but Skylar didn’t know Shelia had put her on three-way calling, and Rachel was listening in.”
So to end this once and for all, they decided to take her friend’s life.Sheila and Rachel started planning the murder of her friend.
According to one of their classmates, one day in their forensic class, Sheila asked her teacher the best way to dispose of a body. As it was the forensic class, so nobody suspected anything. Their classmate further said that during the whole class, Sheila uses Skyler’s name to ask questions about killing and disposing of the body.
Before the murder, Shiela put a Murderer kit in her car’s trunk, including towels, bleach, a shovel, and a change of clothes.
Disappearance Of Skyler Neese
On the night of July 5,2012, Skyler returned to her apartment after completing her shift from Wendy’s. At 12:30 a.m. On July 6, Skyler got into her friend’s sedan without telling her father.
The next morning when her father checked her room, he noticed that her window was left open and her phone charger was in the room from which he assumed that she would return in the afternoon.
But when she didn’t return, her father filled a report of her missing. On the same day, her friend Shelia called Skyler, mother.
“She proceeded to tell me that she, Skylar, and Rachel had snuck out the night before and that they had driven around Star City, was getting high, and that the two girls had dropped her back off at the house,” Mary Neese mother of Skyler recalled. “The story was they had dropped her off at the end of the road because she didn’t want to wake us up sneaking back in.”
Skyler Disappearance Investigation
The Police first thought that Skyler was a runaway teenager and would return soon, so they didn’t issue an “Amber Alert” (emergency messages issued by the police when a child has been abducted).
Skyler’s parents started posting leaflets about their missing daughter in the County region, and her friend Sheila actively participated in this activity.
The CCTV footage showed that Skyler went into her friend’s Sedan around midnight.
When police questioned both of her friends about Skyler’s disappearance, they repeated the same story, raising some suspicion but doing nothing as there was no proof against them.
Six months passed, and the family and police became more concerned. During this whole time, Sheila and Rachal were helping Skyler’s parents and showing their love for her missing friend on different social media platforms.
Break In The Case
On September 10, 2012, the FBI took over the Investigation because another three-year-old girl went missing. The FBI thought that both of these cases were connected.
Again, Rechal and Sheila were questioned, but the FBI found something fishy in their story this time, but still, they were unable to find something.
The rumors started to spread back in the school that Sheila and Rachel had to do with Skyler’s disappearance. Many students came forward and told some critical behavioral changes in both girls’ personalities.
The FBI started analyzing the call records of the girl’s phone, which revealed that they were not in the place where they claimed to be during the night of Skyler’s disappearance.
Sheila’s Behavior
Sheila was constantly posing like a caring friend, concerned about her friend’s disappearance during this whole time. She was constantly in touch with Skyler’s parents and asked about all the updates on the murder investigation. The FBI requested Skyler’s family to stop telling Sheila about further updates because they thought she had to do with Skyler’s disappearance.
Rachal Admitted The Murder
On the other hand, the stress started to build on Rachal, and she started behaving weirdly, but her family could not understand the reason.
In December 2012, six months after the murder, she locked herself in the room and wanted to take her life. Due to her mental condition, her parents took her to a nearby psychiatric hospital, where she spent a few days. The FBI requested Rachel’s parents for another round of interviews and told them to meet her before Sheila.
After a few questions, she broke into tears and admitted to the murder, telling them that She and Sheila killed her because they didn’t like her. Rachel also told the location where they hid her body. The police offered her a deal if she could help in arresting Sheila. Neese’s body was discovered near 30 miles (48 km) away from her apartment.
On March 13, 2013, U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II issued a press release revealing the shocking truth behind Skyler Murder.
How Did The Friends Kill Their Best Friend?
During the Investigation, Rachel revealed some gruesome details about the Skylar Neese assumed murder, which shocked everybody. Rachel said that they wore hoodies and hid their knives in their hoodies. Around midnight, they drove into Sheila’s sedan to pick her friend Skyler, who had no idea about her fate.
Sheila drove to near the woods in Pennsylvania and stopped her car near the creak. Then all the girls came out of the car to smoke and enjoy the moment. Shela requested Skyler to retrieve the lighter from the car, and when she went, they both counted to three and started stabbing her in the back.
Skyler tried to fight back, but her friends stabbed her nearly 50 times. Rachel revealed that her last words were “WHY.”
After killing her, both girls tried to dig the ground, but the ground was rocky, so they decided to cover the body with leaves and twigs. The girls changed their clothes and cleaned themselves near the creak. They throw their clothes on their way back home.
Murder Charges
On May 1, 2013, Rachel was charged guilty to second-degree murder, and her friend Sheila was charged with first murder charges.
What’s appalling is that during this whole court trial, Sheila did not show any guilt of murdering her best friend, and she did not even apologize to her father.
Family Of Victim After Her Death
David Neese, the father of the victim Skylar Neese’s, remarked on the charges by the court and said, “They’re both sickos, and they’re both exactly where they need to be: away from civilization, locked up like animals. Because that’s what they are, they’re animals.”
He also vowed to present at every parole hearing to ensure that they would not leave the jail before their sentence.
He also decorated the place of her child murder into her daughter’s memorial, where people can visit to witness the betrayal of best friends.
Skyler Law
After the gruesome murder of Skyler, the West Virginia state legislator approved a bill called Skylar’s Law which will issue announcements by the police when any child is informed missing regardless of whether the child is missing or kidnapped.
