Skylar Annette Neese (February 10, 1996July 6, 2012) was an American teenage girl who disappeared from her home in

Star City, West Virginia Star City is a town in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,779 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Morgantown, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Star City is located at (39.657966, ...

, around midnight on July 6, 2012. Neese's body was found on January 16, 2013, in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Neese was murdered by two of her high school best friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf. On January 3, 2013, Shoaf confessed to authorities that she and Eddy planned and carried out Neese's murder. Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on May 1, 2013, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison with eligibility for parole after 10 years. Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on January 24, 2014, and was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 15 years. Neese's disappearance led to new

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

legislation that made changes to the

AMBER Alert An Amber Alert (alternatively styled AMBER alert) or a child abduction emergency alert ( SAME code: CAE) is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. The system originated i ...

missing child alert system.

Disappearance

On July 5, 2012, Neese returned to her family's

apartment after working a shift at

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

. Her apartment complex's surveillance video shows Neese left the apartment via her bedroom window at 12:30 a.m. on July 6 and got into a sedan with Rachel Shoaf and Sheila Eddy. Neese's father said she did not take her cell phone charger, her window was left open, and that she planned on coming home.

Investigation

Neese was initially considered by law enforcement authorities to be a runaway and an

Amber Alert An Amber Alert (alternatively styled AMBER alert) or a child abduction emergency alert ( SAME code: CAE) is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. The system originated i ...

was not immediately issued in connection with her disappearance. An early tip indicated that Neese had been seen in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, but the Star City Police Department determined that the person spotted was not Neese. Neese's parents posted flyers about their missing daughter in the Monongalia County region. Police determined that the unknown sedan in which Neese was last seen belonged to Eddy and interviewed her. Eddy admitted to picking up Neese but stated that she had dropped her off an hour later. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and the West Virginia State Police joined the search for Neese on September 10, 2012, and began interviewing Neese's school friends. The break in the case came when Shoaf admitted plotting with Eddy to kill Neese. The motivation Shoaf gave for the murder was they "didn't like her" and "didn't want to be friends with her anymore". David Neese stated that these two girls were among his daughter's best friends and that Eddy had even helped the family by distributing missing person flyers. After her confession, Shoaf led investigators to Neese's body. On March 13, 2013, U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II issued a press release stating that a body found in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania on January 16, 2013 had been identified as the body of Neese. Neese's body was found less than away from her home.

Criminal charges

On May 1, 2013, Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. According to the court transcript, Shoaf said that she and Eddy picked up Neese in Eddy's car. The girls drove to Pennsylvania, got out of the car and began socializing. At a pre-arranged time, Shoaf and Eddy stabbed Skylar to death. The teens attempted to bury Neese's body, but were unable to do so and instead covered the body with branches. The court transcript indicates that other students overheard conversations between Shoaf and Eddy about the murder plot, but failed to report it, mistakenly believing that the girls were joking. According to Shoaf's plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to

murder in the second degree ''Murder in the Second Degree'' is a 2016 album by the American musical group Yo La Tengo. The album consists of cover songs originally written by other musicians, all of which were played live in the studio by Yo La Tengo as fundraisers for indep ...

by "unlawfully, feloniously, willfully, maliciously and intentionally causing the death of Skylar Neese by stabbing her and causing fatal injuries". In the plea agreement, the State of West Virginia recommended a sentence of 20 years incarceration. Rachel Shoaf expressed remorse and apologized to the Neeses, her own family, and God during her sentencing. Shoaf's family also issued a public apology for her actions through their lawyer. On September 4, 2013, West Virginia prosecutors publicly identified Eddy as the second alleged perpetrator of the murder of Neese and announced that she would be tried as an adult. Eddy was indicted by a grand jury on September 6, 2013 on one count of

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

, one count of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

and one count of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

to commit murder. She pleaded not guilty. The date of the trial was originally set for January 28, 2014. Facing the prospect of additional charges from Pennsylvania authorities, Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. She expressed no remorse, but was sentenced to life in prison "with mercy"; under West Virginia law, she is eligible for parole after 15 years. Pennsylvania authorities did not file charges as per the plea deal. Following her guilty plea on May 1, 2013, on February 25, 2014 Shoaf received a sentence of 30 years in prison and will be eligible for parole after 10 years. Eddy originally was held in a facility for juveniles after her arrest. Both women, now in their 20s, are currently incarcerated at the Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County.

Skylar's Law

was not issued in Neese's disappearance because the circumstances did not meet all four criteria for an alert to be issued: (1) a child is believed to be abducted; (2) the child is under 18; (3) the child may be in danger of death or serious injury; (4) there is sufficient information to indicate the Amber Alert would be helpful. A waiting period of 48 hours had to elapse before a teenager could be considered missing. A West Virginia state legislator from the Neese family home district introduced a bill called Skylar's Law to modify West Virginia's Amber Alert plan to issue immediate public announcements when any child is reported missing and in danger, regardless of whether the child is believed to have been kidnapped. Opinion columns appeared in both West Virginia and national media in support of Skylar's Law, some of which also acknowledged criticism and drawbacks of the legislation. On March 27, 2013, the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

approved Skylar's Law with a 98-0 vote. On April 12, 2013, the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in the ...

unanimously passed the law, but made minor technical changes to the bill which the House of Delegates voted to accept on the same day. West Virginia Governor

Earl Ray Tomblin Earl Ray Tomblin (born March 15, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 35th governor of West Virginia from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the West Virginia Senate from 1980 to 2011 and as pres ...

signed the legislation into law in May 2013.

References

External links

* * 45 minute interview of Skylar Neese's parents. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neese, Skylar, Murder of 2012 in Pennsylvania 2012 in West Virginia 2012 murders in the United States 2013 in West Virginia Deaths by person in Pennsylvania Deaths by stabbing in Pennsylvania Formerly missing people July 2012 crimes in the United States Missing person cases in West Virginia Murder committed by minors Crime in West Virginia Criminal duos