We all grew up with Hollywood’s idea of what high school is like – not the High School Musical version which was just plain unrealistic, but more like the experiences the characters had in movies like Easy A and Mean Girls – ones where true friends were hard to come by and the fake ones had no problem starting rumors about you.
But even though your own high school experience might have been far different from Hollywood’s version of high school, we’ve all had a fake friend or two who either abandoned us for someone else, had only befriended us for what we could offer them, or had no problem stabbing us in the back when it suited them best. Eventually, though, we all left high school and its teenage politics behind, and hopefully, made new and more lasting adult friendships that would last for years.
But the protagonist in today’s story would never have that opportunity. This is the story of Skylar Neese.
C’mon, Join the Joyride
The 5th of July 2012 was a typical Thursday, and nothing about it should have made it stand out. The evening passed just like any other in the Neese household – Dave and Mary Neese sat in the living room of their two-bedroom apartment in Morgantown, West Virginia, and were watching an episode of CSI: Las Vegas when their only child, the 16-year-old Skylar Annette Neese, got back from her shift at Wendy’s at 10:15 pm.
As was her habit, Skylar gave each of her parents a kiss good night, then took a shower to scrub the smell of french fries and grease from her body, tossing her Wendy’s uniform into the hallway for her mother to wash. Once she was clean, she headed into her bedroom and closed the door, and spent the next two hours texting and tweeting, and arguing with her two best friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf.
For some time now, Shelia and Rachel were making a habit of excluding her from their plans, and Skylar often felt like the third wheel. She had been growing increasingly frustrated with the situation, had fought with Shelia about it on more than one occasion, and had been venting about it on her Twitter feed for weeks already.
But soon after she’d returned home from work, both Rachel and Shelia had texted her, inviting her to go joyriding with them later that night – only they didn’t intend to steal a car and take it for a spin. No, the three girls planned on getting into Shelia’s car and just driving around aimlessly, listening to music on full blast, smoking pot, taking videos and selfies of themselves, and just enjoying spending time together – just like they had done almost every night that summer.
Both Shelia and Rachel were insistent that since Rachel would be heading to church camp for two weeks on Saturday, it meant that this might be the last opportunity the three of them had to hang out before school started up again. Around 11 pm they seemingly managed to convince Skylar that they didn’t want to fight, they just wanted to hang out with her, and Skylar agreed, getting up out of bed and getting ready for a night out with her two best friends.
Rachel sent Skylar a text at around midnight to let her know that she and Shelia were on their way, and Skylar locked her bedroom door, took the black cushioned vanity bench that she kept in her closet out, and opened her bedroom window. She carefully leaned out and lowered the bench to the ground, dropping it the last few feet. She then slid out of her bedroom window, adding to the already fading bruises on her thighs, and landed on the bench. She hid it around the corner so that she could use it to climb back into her room later that night, and then waited for Shelia and Rachel.
At 12:31 am on the 6th of July 2012, the newly installed security cameras around their apartment building recorded Skylar as she ran out of her hiding place next to the apartment building and got into Shelia’s silver Toyota Corolla. Morgantown had a curfew for minors, so they had to take a few detours to avoid the police checkpoints, but eventually, the three girls took Route 7 out of town, drove through the neighboring town of Blacksville, crossed state lines into Pennsylvania, and headed down Morris Run Road toward their favorite hangout spot. Shelia often took them there since it was practically deserted and close to some property that her father owned, and they parked the car next to a gnarly old tree that stood out from the rest of the surrounding forest.
There the three girls got out of the car and Shelia produced a joint, patting her pockets for a lighter. When she couldn’t find one, Skylar offered to go and get one from the car and made the mistake of turning her back on her two best friends.
She might have heard them whisper “one, two, three” to each other without realizing what it meant, but at the count of three, Rachel and Shelia took out the knives they’d hidden underneath their hoodies, grabbed onto Skylar’s shoulders and arms, and started stabbing her in the back.
Skylar managed to jerk loose and tried to get away, running down the empty road, but Rachel tackled her to the faded tarmac, and then both she and Shelia were on top of Skylar, taking their rage out on her. Skylar managed to wrestle Rachel’s knife away and slashed at her, managing to cut Rachel’s ankle, but Rachel screamed and took the knife back and continued stabbing, aiming for Skylar’s neck.
The two girls would stand over a crying Skylar and watch as she bled out, her last word – “Why?” – echoing in the air around them.
They didn’t answer her, of course. Instead, they dragged her body towards the gnarled old tree, took out the Handi wipes, paper towels, bleach, clean clothes, and shovel that they’d stashed in the trunk of Shelia’s car, and got to work. They left Skylar underneath that old tree, washed their hands and arms in the nearby creek, and got dressed in their clean clothes. When they finally drove back to Morgantown, four hours had passed, and Skylar’s ghost would now haunt them for the next six months.
Best Friends Forever
Some of our US and Canadian readers might already be intimately aware of the details surrounding Skylar Neese’s murder. Her case has been featured in various documentaries, and her father, Dave, has made multiple TV appearances to talk about his daughter’s disappearance and murder, especially once her murderers were sentenced.
Unlike many other cases, Skylar’s story is a true crime murder mystery/drama worthy of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why or One of Us is Lying, so for those who are unfamiliar with her story, here is a background on Skylar’s so-called “best friends.”
Skylar first met Shelia Eddy when the two girls were in second grade. They met at The Shack Neighbourhood House, a community center and swimming pool that is located outside of Morgantown, and the two quickly became friends with Skylar spending most of her summer days at Shelia’s house in Blacksville.
Just like Skylar, Shelia was also an only child, but where Skylar had two devoted parents, Shelia’s parents became separated after a nasty car accident left her father partially crippled. Her mother, Tara, had to raise Shelia on her own. Money was tight, and Tara spent less and less time at home to provide for her daughter.
Yet, the two were close, and Shelia was the center of her mother’s universe. Tara eventually married a coal miner named Jim Clendenen when Shelia was 13, causing Shelia and her mother to have fights that often turned into screaming matches since Shelia didn’t like Jim, but it did mean that they would leave Blacksville and move to Morgantown. The move would allow Shelia to transfer from Clay-Battelle High School in Blacksville, a twenty-minute car ride west from Morgantown to University High School, the same high school that her long-time friend, Skylar Neese, attended, and Shelia was elated at the prospect.
By all accounts, none of Skylar’s other childhood friends who also attended University High School liked Shelia. Allegedly, Shelia craved to be at the center of attention, could often be mean-spirited toward others, and tended to be controlling toward Skylar. Shelia’s old friends from Blacksville claimed that she’d been popular back at Clay-Battelle High, but now that she was in a new school, she had to make new friends, so she flirted and kissed her way into a new social circle.
Skylar and Shelia befriended Rachel Shoaf in 2011 after Skylar struck up a conversation with her in one of their shared classes. Just like Skylar and Shelia, Rachel was also an only child. Her parents got divorced when she was four, and she lived with her mother, Patricia. Unlike Skylar and Shelia though, money was never an issue for Rachel – her mother’s temper, however, was.
Allegedly, appearances meant everything to Patricia, and Rachel was under a lot of pressure to be the “perfect” teenager. She was said to be friendly and kind, was an active member of the drama club, regularly attended social gatherings at her church, and volunteered with the Special Olympics. She was also surrounded by her childhood friends at University High, but just like Skylar, she felt drawn to Shelia.
And then there were three. They made the perfect picture as well – Skylar was the Honours student – a smart, caring, petite blonde with big blue eyes. Shelia was the popular, confident brunette who loved the spotlight and acted as the leader of their little gang, and the red-headed Rachel was the talented one who sang like an angel and wanted to become an actress one day.
Shelia was the more daring of the three girls, and soon she started dragging her two BFFs to parties and hangouts, introducing them to older teens who taught them how to drink and smoke weed. Sneaking out to parties and going on joyrides became one of their favorite past-times, and they were careful not to be caught out after curfew.
But those who’d grown up with Rachel and Skylar noticed that they’d changed since becoming friends with Shelia – and not just because they were suddenly going to parties and smoking weed. The change was most obvious in Skylar though. After her daughter’s disappearance, Mary Neese would say that her daughter was “obsessed with Shelia,” even going so far as to dye and straighten her curly blonde hair so that it matched Shelia’s straight, dark ones.
Her diary was also filled with details about Shelia’s life but contained very little about her own. On September 20th, 2011, Skylar wrote in her diary that she felt closer to Shelia than anyone she’d ever met and that she couldn’t “imagine life without her.”
But the trio’s friendship wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, and somewhere along the way, something changed. Rachel and Shelia grew closer, and soon, they started excluding Skylar. Amorette Hughes, one of the classmates in whom Skylar had started confiding in shortly before her death, was quoted as saying: “I had two best friends, and [Skylar] had two best friends. We were going through the same thing at the same time.”
Hughes also noted: “Sometimes I would see that Rachel and Shelia would match and Skylar wouldn’t. They’d both wear jeans and a pink shirt and Skylar would be in yoga pants.”
And yet, the benefits of being one of the trio seemingly far outweighed the downsides, because even though their friendship was falling apart, Skylar jealously clung to Shelia and the social benefits their friendship brought her. But during a six-day vacation at Myrtle Beach with Shelia and her family in June 2012, Skylar and Shelia had a big fallout, and their friendship never recovered from it.
A month later, Skylar would be dead.
Have You Seen This Girl?
Dave Neese was the first person to realize that Skylar was missing. When neither he nor Mary could get a hold of her, Dave called Shelia and asked whether she’d seen Skylar. Shelia said that no, she hadn’t seen or talked to Skylar that day, and provided Dave with the cellphone numbers of two of Skylar’s other friends. They hadn’t seen her either.
When Skylar’s shift manager at Wendy’s called the Neese household to let them know that Skylar hadn’t shown up for her shift, Dave and Mary called 911 to report their daughter missing. Shelia and her mother arrived to help the Neese look for Skylar and they went door to door to ask if anyone had seen a sign of the missing teenager.
When Officer Bob McCauley arrived to follow up on the 911 call, he joined the search, and when they returned to the Neese household later that evening, he sat with Dave and Mary as they went through the newly installed surveillance tapes.
On it, they saw Skylar getting into an unknown vehicle at 12:31 am, but the footage was too grainy to identify the vehicle. Shelia admitted that she and Rachel had picked Skylar up at 11 but told the police that they’d dropped her off again at 11:45. They didn’t drop her off at home though – Shelia told the police that Skylar had asked them to drop her off at the end of the road so that they wouldn’t wake her parents up. Shelia then told the police that she didn’t recognize the vehicle in the surveillance footage.
No one thought to double-check her story, and Shelia’s version of events became the official timeline. After all, at this point, no one had a reason to suspect that she had anything to do with Skylar’s disappearance.
Soon everyone thought that after Shelia and Rachel had dropped her off, Skylar got into an unknown vehicle with someone else, giving birth to the theory that she’d either met up with some unknown boy or had run away.
But Skylar’s dad insisted that she hadn’t run away – Skylar hadn’t packed a bag, and her contact lenses, lens solution, and her cellphone charger were still in her room. She had also left the vanity bench outside her window – proof that she’d planned on sneaking back in.
So for the next six months, Dave and Mary would lead the search for their missing daughter both in Morgantown itself and online, assisted by family, Shelia, and some of Skylar’s other friends. They would set up mental milestones for themselves for when Skylar would return home – Sunday night, after a week, the day before school started – but when every milestone came and went with no sign of Skylar, they finally admitted to themselves that their daughter wasn’t coming back home alive.
Bullshit
It didn’t take police long to figure out that Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf were hiding something. The investigative team ended up with two working theories during their search for Skylar Neese – one, Skylar was hiding away at a boy’s house and would resurface eventually, or two, the three girls had gone to a party and Skylar had somehow died because of an accident or an overdose, and her friends didn’t want to get into trouble for her death. Either way, they were convinced that Shelia and Rachel knew exactly where Skylar was. All they had to do was convince the two girls to tell them what had happened to Skylar Neese, and where to find her body.
Almost as soon as Skylar was reported missing, her case was handed over to Officer Jessica Colebank from the Star City Police Department, who, despite her young age, had a lot of experience locating missing teenagers. As she did with every child that went missing, Officer Colebank entered Skylar’s information into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database as soon as she was assigned Skylar’s case.
According to the book, The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese by Daleen Berry and Geoffrey C. Fuller, the FBI makes this database available to all police agencies to help facilitate the flow of information so that crimes can be solved faster. The Star City Police Department also contacted the State Police Headquarters to have them issue an AMBER alert for Skylar. However, at the time, the State Police had four criteria that had to be met before an AMBER alert could be issued: there had to be indications that the child had possibly been kidnapped; they had to be under 18; it was suspected that they were in certain danger; and an AMBER alert could help locate them. Additionally, a child had to be missing for 48 hours before the AMBER alert could be issued. Since the surveillance footage suggested that Skylar had willingly gotten into the silver vehicle, the State Police had labeled her a runaway, so no alert was issued.
But even though the State Police weren’t interested in Skylar’s disappearance, the FBI got involved on the 7th of July 2012 – the very day after Skylar was reported as missing.
The FBI doesn’t usually get involved in cases of missing teenagers, but it has been suggested that the disappearance of a 3-year-old girl named Aliayah Lunsford might have prompted their involvement since the FBI reportedly suspected that the two cases might be connected.
When Special Agent Morgan Spurlock and Officer Colebank arrived at Shelia’s home, Shelia and her family were gathered together in their converted garage to watch the first televised news report about Skylar’s disappearance. But the almost festive atmosphere in the house bothered Officer Colebank. She later recalled: “I will never forget [how they were gathered] in the garage just hanging out, sitting on chairs, just chillin’. I’m like, okay, your supposed best friend is missing.
Why are you sitting here having a good old time?”
Officer Colebank questioned Shelia and listened to her account of how they’d picked Skylar up and then dropped her off again, but the story didn’t make sense to her. When she asked Shelia why they’d picked Skyler up from her house but dropped her off further away, Shelia insisted that Skylar had been mad at them and insisted on getting out earlier. But another thing was bothering Officer Colebank as well: “Why haven’t you done more online to try to locate her?”
Mary Neese had gone onto Facebook to let the world know that her daughter was missing, and soon a Facebook group was established that was dedicated to sharing any information that could help find Skylar. Skylar’s other friends were messaging her constantly on Twitter and Facebook, urging her to come back home, but neither Rachel nor Shelia had posted anything relating to Skylar in days. Shelia explained that she’d been too upset to post anything, and when Officer Colebank called her on her bullshit, Shelia burst into tears and her mother brought the interview to an end.
And just like that, Shelia jumped to the top of Officer Colebank’s list of suspects.
Now it was Rachel’s turn. Officer Colebank tracked Rachel down at church camp and gave her a call. When she asked Rachel whether she knew anything about Skylar’s disappearance, the teen claimed that she didn’t know that Skylar was missing.
Again, Officer Colebank called bullshit. Skylar had been reported missing on Friday, and Rachel had only left for church camp that Saturday. There was no way that she would not have heard something about Skylar’s disappearance before she left, especially since Shelia had either called or texted a bunch of people that Friday night to let them know that Skylar was missing. There was no way she wouldn’t have included Rachel in her news blast.
When Officer Colebank asked Rachel whether she might have any idea where Skylar could be, Rachel said that she and Skylar weren’t that close and that Officer Colebank should talk to Shelia instead. Sensing that she’d reached another dead end, Officer Colebank asked Rachel to report to the police station for an interview once she returned from camp. Rachel agreed, but she never did show up for that interview.
So two weeks later, Officer Colebank and Special Agent Spurlock tracked Rachel down at her home to finally have that face-to-face interview. In essence, her version of that night’s events matched Shelia’s – yes, she and Shelia had picked Skylar up from her home at eleven. They dropped her off at the end of the road forty minutes later because Skylar had asked them to. No, she hadn’t seen or spoken to Skylar since.
But when Officer Colebank and Special Agent Spurlock asked her where they drove to and what route they’d followed, Rachel gave them contradictory answers, stating that they drove down the main road – Patteson Drive – but had also kept to the side streets to avoid the police checkpoints.
When Officer Colebank confronted Rachel with the fact that it was impossible to drive on Patteson Drive and keep to the side streets, Rachel shrugged and said that she couldn’t remember the exact route because she’d been too high at the time, and then said that if they wanted to know the exact route, they should “Ask Shelia.”
They didn’t learn anything new and ended the interview, but as they headed back to the Star City Police Department, Officer Colebank and Special Agent Spurlock both agreed that the two teens were lying through their teeth – they just didn’t know why.
Wanted for Information – Skylar Neese
In the meantime, Skylar Neese became a person of interest in a bank robbery.
Ten days after Skylar had disappeared, a man wearing a full-face mask walked into the Blacksville branch of the Huntington National Bank. He wore a backpack and didn’t say a word as he calmly pointed his gun at the lone teller. Even though the silent alarm had already been activated, the man still handed his backpack to the teller who filled it with cash. Then, the man fled through the back door.
It was the second time in 5 weeks that the bank had been robbed, with the first robbery occurring a month before Skylar had disappeared.
The West Virginia State Police sent two State Troopers to investigate the robbery – Corporal Ronnie Gaskins and Senior Trooper Chris Berry. It later became known that one of their suspects, a man named Darek Conaway as well as his younger brother, Dylan, were friends with Skylar, Rachel, and Shelia. Rumour also had it that Dylan and Shelia were dating and that Darek would often give the girls rides to parties.
Gaskins and Berry soon theorized that maybe Skylar and her besties had been involved in the bank robberies or knew enough that the Conaway boys got rid of Skylar to keep her quiet. So, they went to meet with the Neeses and asked permission to go through Skylar’s things, hoping to find any clues as to what the Conaway boys were up to.
Mary, thinking that the Troopers were finally looking into her daughter’s disappearance, told them that they could look at whatever they needed – which included Skylar’s diary – hoping that it would help bring her daughter home.
According to Senior Trooper Berry, reading Skylar’s diary changed everything for them. It didn’t take them long to realize that Skylar wasn’t a bank robber, but her caring nature and soft heart shone through in her diary, and as Trooper Berry puts it, you could tell “…how much she cared about people.” After reading her diary, Gaskins and Berry both became convinced that Skylar didn’t run away, and just like that, Skylar Neese had posthumously recruited the State Troopers to her cause.
Pretty Little Liars
As soon as summer ended and school started up again, the rumor mill started churning out one theory after another – Skylar had snuck out to meet with a boy. She had run away from home to get away from her abusive parents. She’d gotten drunk at a party, got raped at a party, overdosed at a party, got murdered at a party…you get the idea.
But there was one thing that all the teenagers in Morgantown agreed on – Rachel and Shelia knew exactly what had happened to Skylar.
During this time, Shelia was an almost constant presence in the Neese household. She and her mother had helped the Neese family and their neighbors to search for Skylar when she first went missing. Then Shelia and her mother helped Dave and Mary hang up Missing Person posters all over town.
Shelia constantly followed up with Mary and Dave to hear how they were doing, whether they’d heard anything yet, and what was the police telling them? Once Shelia had even asked whether she could spend a few minutes alone in Skylar’s room where she then burst into tears, and it was Mary who comforted Shelia and told her that everything would be all right.
It would be months before Mary and Dave realized that Rachel was markedly absent through all of this.
Eventually, Officer Colebank heard about Shelia’s visits to the Neese household and ended up ordering Skylar’s parents not to give Shelia any information about the case, correctly guessing that she was using the Neeses to fish for more information regarding how the police investigation was progressing.
The police still suspected the two girls, and soon enough, their families and the public also started asking questions. Kids at school constantly asked them about Skylar, their families kept wanting reassurance that they hadn’t been involved in whatever had happened to Skylar, and Skylar’s other friends kept demanding answers, sure that Shelia and Rachel weren’t telling the police the truth.
Even Twitter got involved, with more than one Twitter account straight-up accusing Shelia and Rachel of murdering Skylar and getting away with it. @Snyder28Josie made a point of harassing the two teens, posting statements like “besties don’t like having to answer questions of their guilt!” and “bring pretty little liars down together…#promisetoneverleaveyoucold.”
After Officer Colebank had pointed out that Shelia hadn’t tried to contact Skylar on social media, Shelia would constantly post to Facebook to tell people just how much she missed Skylar. At one point, Shelia even complained about the constant pressure that was placed on her and Rachel to give the police something to work with, saying: “All I want is for my bestfriend to come home. I wish I knew something to give the police a lead or so she can come home but I don’t know ANYTHING. Id do anything to have her home right now and I wish I knew something like everybody thinks I do.”
And Dave, feeling protective towards his only child’s two best friends, offered his support, responding to Shelia’s post with: “Hang tough, babe. Do not let things get you down.”
But in September 2012 the police turned the pressure up a notch when search warrants were issued for Rachel and Shelia’s electronic devices. The police also showed up at the school to search their lockers, giving the rumor mill new material to work with, and allegedly convincing a lot of teens that Rachel and Shelia had murdered Skylar.
The girls’ cellphone records and text history indicated that the two of them had been chatting with Skylar until she disappeared, and then they made no further attempt to contact her. Their records also showed that they hadn’t been together at 11 pm that night like they’d claimed, but when they did meet up, they drove to Blacksville. So now the police had concrete proof that the two girls were lying about where they’d been that night.
Then Special Agent Spurlock and the State Troopers had a breakthrough.
They’d been watching the surveillance footage of Skylar over and over and over again, trying to determine the make and model of the car that had picked Skylar up after the two girls had dropped her off. And after weeks of completely missing the obvious, they realized that only one car showed up on the video footage – Shelia’s silver Toyota Corolla.
Finally, it clicked that the only people to pick Skylar up that night were Shelia and Rachel, and the police turned the pressure dial up another few notches. They called Rachel and Shelia in for questioning AGAIN, but this time, they told Rachel that the police knew they’d been in Blacksville. So Rachel changed her story, confirming that yes, they’d been in Blacksville. She then told the police that they’d been driving around, and then Skylar got mad at them and asked them to drop her off in the middle of nowhere.
When they did, she ran into the woods and disappeared. They went looking for her but couldn’t find her, and after a while, they just returned home, leaving Skylar to fend for herself. They hadn’t seen or talked to her since.
Of course, Shelia wasn’t aware that Rachel had changed her story, so Shelia repeated the same old story that they’d been spinning for months. But once she and Rachel had had a chance to catch up, Rachel told Shelia that the police knew they’d been in Blacksville, so Shelia called the police station and told them that she’d lied, and now had to change her story…because, of course, she did. Nothing suspicious about that.
In November several of Shelia and Rachel’s friends and classmates were given subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury, and later their texts would prove that the two girls were worried that the FBI was asking them about Skylar’s disappearance.
On the 6th of November, Shelia texted Rachel the advice she’d received from her attorney, Mike Benninger, claiming that “…it was ALL gunna be about drugs.” Rachel didn’t seem reassured though, and asked: “okay how does he know that’s all this is about? Im sure its more for me.” And Shelia responded with: “because that’s what the [US] attorney said their gunna follow the drugs to get to skylar.”
In the end, we’re not sure what the teens who had been subpoenaed were asked, but then Shelia and Rachel each was asked to undergo a polygraph test in mid-December. Allegedly, Shelia wasn’t concerned about the test, even going so far as to tell Rachel that she was “probably gonna fail cause of nerves no big fucking deal” and “…im definitely not scared about lying but its not like theyd know the difference lol.”
Well, Shelia DID fail. TWICE. Yes, the result of a polygraph is not usually used as evidence in court, but still.
Rachel, on the other hand, was scared about undergoing the polygraph test. So much so that she jumped out of her father’s car while they were on their way to her attorney’s office and ran to Shelia’s mom’s place of work to hide out. Her polygraph test had to be rescheduled for the end of December.
Her mother, Patricia, was at the end of her rope when it came to dealing with an increasingly rebellious and anxious teenager, and the two fought constantly. Patricia had even gone so far as to ask her sister – Rachel’s favorite aunt – to take Rachel out to dinner and interrogate her since Rachel had begun to avoid Patricia and her constant questions. As a result, Rachel was looking forward to visiting her dad so that she could get a much-needed break from her mother and the constant pressure she was under.
But on the 28th of December 2012, Patricia and Rachel had just returned home from their Christmas holiday when Patricia told her daughter that she wasn’t going to her dad’s anymore. Instead, her dad was moving back in to help keep an eye on her, and Rachel realized that she wouldn’t get the much-needed break she’d been looking forward to.
And, to put it simply, Rachel finally broke down and LOST HER SHIT. She started raging and screaming about how her parents had ruined her life, and the resulting fight had the neighbors rushing out of their homes in time to watch as Rachel tried to bash her mother’s head in with a candelabra. The fight had become physical and violent, and in the end, Patricia called 911 and told the police that her daughter had lost it and that she wanted her to be put in jail.
When the police arrived at the Shoaf household, Rachel had barricaded herself in her bedroom, had threatened to kill herself, and had to be calmed down before the police could lead her away. The police eventually convinced Patricia to have Rachel placed in a mental institution instead of jail, and Rachel was admitted to the Chestnut Ridge Center for “observation” until the 3rd of January 2013.
While she was there, Shelia wasn’t allowed to see or talk to her, and when Rachel’s parents went to collect her at the end of her stay, Rachel was a changed person – one who was now willing to talk to the police.
”We Stabbed Her”
Mike Angotti, Rachel’s attorney, gave Corporal Gaskins a call that afternoon and said: “My client has something she wants to tell you. Is the immunity offer still on the table?”
Representatives from the Star City Police Department, the West Virginia State Troopers, and the FBI all sat down around a conference table in Mr. Angotti’s office and watched as Rachel was strapped to a polygraph machine.
Agent Brock Ambrosini from the FBI led the interview, read Rachel her rights, and then started asking her about the night Skylar had gone missing, leading with their theory that Skylar had died from an accidental overdose.
He started by asking her if Skylar was dead, and Rachel confirmed that she was. Agent Ambrosini then asked if Skylar’s death had been an accident, but Rachel shook her head and said: “We stabbed her.”
Rachel told them everything then. How she and Shelia had been planning Skylar’s murder for MORE THAN A YEAR, but they had only decided to go through with it early in June 2012. She explained how they’d meticulously planned when they were going to do it, how they were going to do it, how they were going to get rid of her body, and what their alibis for the night would be.
Police officers from all three agencies sat and listened as she calmly told them how she and Shelia had hidden the knives in their clothes, how they’d counted to three before attacking Skylar, and how they’d stood and watched as Skylar bled out on the faded tarmac. She even showed them the scar on her ankle from where Skylar had cut her that night.
She explained how they couldn’t dig a grave for Skylar because the ground was too hard, so they’d dragged her body to a nearby fallen log and covered it with branches and leaves and dirt. She explained how they’d gotten dressed in clean clothes, and then Shelia had gotten rid of the knives, the shovel, Skylar’s purse and iPod, and their bloody clothes, and how Shelia had gone back in the days following the murder to move Skylar’s body to keep the police from finding it.
And when the police asked Rachel the same question that had fallen from Skylar’s lips – why? – Rachel shrugged and said: “We just didn’t want to be friends with her anymore.”
Initially, both girls had been offered immunity for more information on Skylar’s disappearance. But now that Rachel had admitted that they’d murdered Skylar, the immunity offer was null and void. In exchange for a written confession as well as her taking the police to Skylar’s body, Rachel was offered a sentence of second-degree murder instead, meaning that she would receive 20 to 30 years’ worth of jail time instead of a life sentence, and at least have some hope of eventually being released from jail.
Rachel ended up taking the police to the approximate location on Morris Run Road where they’d murdered Skylar, but now everything was covered in snow and she wasn’t sure whether or not the spot she’d shown the police was the correct one. The police made a note of the location, and Rachel was allowed to go back home and get on with her life – for now.
According to Trooper Berry, Rachel wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy person they’d met, and they needed to find some physical evidence that would prove that Rachel was telling the truth. On the 16th of January 2013, they finally found Skylar, and her remains were sent to the FBI’s laboratory so that a full autopsy could be done to not only prove how she’d died but that the remains they found did belong to Skylar Neese.
On the 13th of March 2013, the police finally confirmed that the remains that had been found back in January were indeed Skylar’s, and the search for her officially ended. Rachel Shoaf turned herself in on the 30th of April 2013. She would eventually plead guilty to second-degree murder by “unlawfully, feloniously, willfully, maliciously, and intentionally causing the death of Skylar Neese by stabbing her and causing fatal injuries.” And would ultimately receive 30 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Skylar Neese.
On the 1st of May 2013, the day after Rachel had turned herself in, the State Police cornered Shelia and her mother outside a local restaurant, confiscated Shelia’s car and cellphone, and arrested Shelia Eddy under suspicion of kidnapping and first-degree murder.
She was taken to the Lorrie Yeager Jr. Juvenile Center in Parkersburg, West Virginia until she could appear in court, and according to Officer Colebank, Shelia’s only concern was that her hair was a mess and that she had to look presentable when they got to the detention center. But Gaskins simply told the image-conscious teen that “No one’s going to be waiting, Shelia. No one cares.” And left her to pout all alone in the back of the police cruiser.
Big Girls Don’t Cry
Because their crime had crossed state lines, there was a question about whether Shelia and Rachel should be tried in West Virginia or Pennsylvania. From what I understand, the argument was that the initial crime – the kidnapping of Skylar – took place in West Virginia, even though her actual murder took place in Pennsylvania. Eventually, it was agreed that both Rachel and Shelia would be tried in West Virginia and that they would both be tried as adults – meaning that they could receive the maximum penalty for murder instead of being released when they turned 21.
On the 6th of September 2013, a grand jury charged Shelia Eddy with one count of kidnapping, one count of first-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit a murder. With her head held high, Shelia Eddy pled “not guilty” to these charges, and her trial was scheduled for the 28th of January 2014.
In preparation, the prosecution combed through dozens of hours of video footage of the three girls – most of which featured Shelia performing for the camera in one way or another. They looked at the social media posts that the girls had made, their texts, their calls, everything – including the numerous Facebook posts that Shelia had made after Skylar had disappeared.
Rachel’s social media had been wiped clean before she’d handed herself over, and as a result, most of the conversations that the girls had had over Twitter were one-sided and the public and journalists had a field day interpreting these messages so that they fit their versions of what had happened between the trio.
But even though the police hadn’t found the murder weapons and the rest of the evidence that Shelia had dumped, they were able to gather other physical evidence that linked the two teens to Skylar’s murder. The FBI’s autopsy of Skylar Neese’s remains indicated that one of her vertebrae had been nicked with a sharp blade, which backed up Rachel’s claims that they’d stabbed Skylar. Skylar’s DNA had been found in the trunk of Shelia’s car, directly implicating her in the murder.
Video footage confirmed that Shelia’s car had driven towards Blacksville on the night that Skylar had disappeared, and cell phone records placed both Rachel and Shelia in Blacksville at the time of Skylar’s death. And – most importantly – they had Rachel’s confession.
On the 24th of January 2014 – four days before Shelia’s trial was scheduled to commence – her attorney, Mike Benninger, let the prosecution know that Shelia wanted to plead guilty with mercy to all charges.
After the prosecution stated their case and Shelia admitted her guilt with a broken “Yes, sir”, the court asked whether or not her attorney wanted to make a stand and defend his client. He stood up and calmly informed the court that he’d “…examined…the entire scope of the law…to attempt to find a reasonable defensive law for my client. I have found none.
I have looked at all the evidence…and have evaluated every piece of paper…every video, and every audio recording provided to us in discovery and pre-trial proceedings. And I have found negligible if any factual basis upon which to develop a defense in this murder and conspiracy case.”
Which – in essence – meant that even though Shelia didn’t dig a grave for Skylar, she’d managed to dig a grave for herself with her lies and constant need to be the center of attention.
Now, on to the sentencing. Shelia’s attorney essentially asked the court to be “compassionate” and provide her with a degree of leniency when sentencing her. Because – of course – she’d been so young when she’d brutally murdered her best friend. They also asked that she should be allowed a grace period of a month before being transferred to the adult holding facility since it would be the “humane” thing to do and would allow Shelia time to adjust to the idea of Big Girl Prison.
Well, Shelia Eddy was sentenced to life in prison with the option of parole after 15 years – satisfying her request for “mercy” – with the caveat that she would be transferred to Big Girl Prison the moment a bed opened up for her – whether it was the next day or a week after.
But throughout all of this, Shelia never apologized for what she’d done. Rachel had gotten up in court and publicly apologized to the Neeses and her own family for what she’d done, but Shelia had only scoffed at the idea, smiling sweetly at Dave Neese whenever she caught him looking at her in court.
Of course, nothing that Shelia, Rachel or the Neeses do can bring their daughter back, but Dave Neese has vowed to be at every single one of Shelia’s parole hearings to ensure that Shelia Eddy never sets foot outside of prison again.
With Friends Like These
After Shelia and Rachel were sentenced, the teens who’d once been friends with Skylar reported that they’d never liked Shelia. Some people would later say that they’d never liked Rachel either. And those who had once stood by the two murderers were ridiculed and shamed for publicly defending them.
Of course, people are quick to change their opinion of someone once they learn that they are convicted murderers. But hindsight is 20/20, and after Skylar went missing, a lot of people realized that the two teens had openly been discussing Skylar’s murder in the months leading up to her disappearance. In fact, in October 2011 the two were heard discussing the best ways of getting rid of a body in Biology class, mentioning Skylar by name. They would also openly talk about how much they disliked Skylar, with Rachel allegedly telling a friend that she wouldn’t mind it if Skylar died.
Allegedly, some of her classmates had warned Skylar that they were discussing her murder, but Skylar had laughed it off, saying that Shelia liked to play games like “how would you rather die – by drowning or suffocation?” – but as far as we know, it never crossed her mind that Shelia and Rachel would hurt her. Otherwise, she never would have gotten into that car with them.
But why did they kill her?
According to Skylar, she’d witnessed Rachel and Shelia having drunken sex during a sleepover on the 16th of August 2011. She wrote in her diary how uncomfortable it had made her, and allegedly, it led to her becoming the third wheel whenever the three girls hung out. She became jealous of the friendship that Shelia and Rachel shared, and it led to fights between Shelia and Skylar, with Skylar threatening to tell everyone what she knew in a post on Twitter on the 6th of September 2011. Allegedly, it was Rachel who then suggested that she and Shelia should just get rid of Skylar since both girls thought that Skylar would tell everyone their secret if they stopped being friends with her, but they only seriously started planning her murder in June 2012 after Skylar and Shelia had returned from Myrtle Beach.
This theory has been put forward more than once, and 10 years after Skylar’s death, it’s the accepted motive for her murder. Neither of the girls had ever provided police with a better reason, instead sticking to their claim that they just didn’t want to be friends with Skylar anymore.
Rest in Peace, Skylar. You deserved better than this.
Additional Information
Aliayah Lunsford: The 3-year-old missing girl who prompted the FBI to help with the investigation into Skylar’s disappearance was reportedly murdered by her mother. Her two sisters had witnessed her murder and handed their mother over to the police. Aliayah’s body has never been found, but her mother is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence without the possibility of parole for her murder.
Skylar’s Law: After Skylar went missing, an old school friend of Dave Neese started a petition to change the requirements for an Amber Alert to be issued, and Mary in particular fought to have the necessary changes brought into legislation. “Skylar’s Law” was approved and signed off in May 2013, and now requires that an Amber Alert should be issued as soon as a child is reported missing, regardless of whether the child is believed to have been kidnapped.
The Conaway Brothers: In their book, The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese, authors Daleen Berry and Geoffrey Fuller suggest that Darek Conaway was arrested under suspicion of being involved in the Blacksville bank robberies. Darek Conaway is now a convicted sex offender for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, and his brother Dylan – an ex-boyfriend of Shelia’s – received 3 years probation for dealing in illegal firearms.
Key Takeaways
- Skylar Neese was murdered by her two best friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, on July 6, 2012, after sneaking out for a joyride.
- Rachel Shoaf confessed in January 2013 that she and Shelia had planned the murder for over a year, claiming they simply didn’t want to be friends anymore.
- Shelia Eddy received life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years, while Rachel Shoaf received 30 years for second-degree murder.
- Skylar’s Law was passed in May 2013, requiring Amber Alerts to be issued immediately when any child is reported missing.
- The accepted motive for the murder was Skylar allegedly witnessing Rachel and Shelia having sex and threatening to reveal their secret.
Dana Ortiz covers prosecutorial mechanics, evidentiary procedure, and how investigations unwind decades after the original case file went cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were Skylar Neese’s two best friends who murdered her?
Skylar Neese’s two best friends who murdered her were Shelia (Sheila) Eddy and Rachel Shoaf.
When and where was Skylar Neese murdered?
Skylar Neese was murdered on July 6, 2012, on Morris Run Road in Pennsylvania, near Blacksville. The three girls drove there from Morgantown, West Virginia, crossing state lines.
How did Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf lure Skylar Neese out of her house on the night she was killed?
Shelia and Rachel texted Skylar around 11 pm, inviting her to go joyriding with them. They claimed it might be their last chance to hang out before Rachel left for church camp and school started. Skylar snuck out through her bedroom window using a vanity bench around midnight.
What was Skylar Neese’s last word before she died?
Skylar Neese’s last word was ‘Why?‘
How long had Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf been planning Skylar Neese’s murder?
According to Rachel Shoaf’s confession, she and Shelia had been planning Skylar’s murder for more than a year, though they only decided to go through with it in early June 2012.
What was the stated motive for Skylar Neese’s murder?
Rachel Shoaf stated they killed Skylar because ‘We just didn’t want to be friends with her anymore.’ However, the accepted theory is that Skylar had witnessed Rachel and Shelia having drunken sex during a sleepover on August 16, 2011, and they feared she would tell their secret if they stopped being friends with her.
How did Rachel Shoaf eventually confess to the murder?
Rachel confessed on December 28, 2012, after a violent fight with her mother where she tried to bash her mother’s head in with a candelabra. She was admitted to the Chestnut Ridge Center for observation, and when her parents collected her on January 3, 2013, she was willing to talk to police. Her attorney called Corporal Gaskins to ask if the immunity offer was still on the table.
What sentences did Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy receive for Skylar Neese’s murder?
Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 30 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Skylar Neese. Shelia Eddy pleaded guilty with mercy and was sentenced to life in prison with the option of parole after 15 years.
What is ‘Skylar’s Law’ and how did it come about?
Skylar’s Law was legislation approved and signed in May 2013 that changed the requirements for an Amber Alert to be issued. After Skylar went missing, an old school friend of Dave Neese started a petition, and Mary Neese fought for changes. The law now requires that an Amber Alert should be issued as soon as a child is reported missing, regardless of whether the child is believed to have been kidnapped.
What key evidence linked Shelia Eddy to Skylar Neese’s murder?
Key evidence linking Shelia Eddy to the murder included: Skylar’s DNA found in the trunk of Shelia’s car; video footage confirming Shelia’s car drove toward Blacksville on the night Skylar disappeared; cell phone records placing both Rachel and Shelia in Blacksville at the time of Skylar’s death; the FBI autopsy showing one of Skylar’s vertebrae had been nicked with a sharp blade; and Rachel Shoaf’s confession implicating Shelia.
Sources
- Original Casual Criminalist video: Solving the Mystery Behind the Mean Girls Murder
- Hero image source by Cbusram / openverse, by.
