After being caught on surveillance leaving her home late at night, 16-year-old Skylar Neese disappeared without a trace. Despite months of searching, she was never located. The truth finally surfaced when one of her closest friends confessed.
Skylar’s Life at Home
Skylar Annette Neese was born on February 10, 1996, and was the only child of Mary and Dave Neese. They lived in Star City, West Virginia, a small place where people knew each other and watched out for their neighbors.
Mary worked as an administrative assistant at a cardiac lab while Dave was a product assembler at Walmart, they were a close family and Skylar was the center of their world.
At University High School in Monongalia County, Skylar stood out. She was an honor student who actually cared about her grades and where she was headed in life. She often talked about wanting to become a criminal defense attorney someday. Teachers saw her as intelligent and motivated and her classmates knew her as outgoing, friendly and easy to talk to.
In the evenings, Skylar worked part-time at Wendy’s, saving money and learning responsibility. She balanced school, work and friends like many teens her age.
Skylar loved spending time online, texting friends and hanging out after school. Her parents trusted her and there was no reason to believe anything was wrong in her life. From the outside, everything seemed normal.
The Friends She Trusted
Shelia Rae Eddy was born in Blacksville, West Virginia. Her parents divorced when she was young, after her father suffered a serious brain injury in a car crash. She met Skylar when they were both eight years old at a local children’s program called The Shack. Over time, they became close friends.
In 2010, Shelia moved with her mother to Morgantown after her mother remarried. That move allowed Shelia to attend University High School with Skylar. The two girls were often seen together and were considered best friends.
Rachel Elizabeth Shoaf grew up in Morgantown as well. She was raised by her parents, Rusty and Patricia Shoaf and attended a private Catholic school before transferring to University High School.
According to ABC News, it was there that she became friends with Skylar and Shelia. By 2012, the three girls were spending time together regularly.
To Skylar’s parents, these girls were trusted friends. They were welcome in the Neese home and seemed like part of Skylar’s everyday life.
The Night Skylar Vanished
On July 5, 2012, Skylar returned home after working a shift at Wendy’s. Nothing about the evening felt unusual. Later that night, her parents went to sleep, believing Skylar was safely in her room.
Just after 12:30 a.m. on July 6, surveillance cameras at the apartment complex recorded Skylar climbing out of her bedroom window. She walked across the lot and got into a light-colored sedan. At the time, no one knew who was inside the car.
When morning came and Skylar had not returned, her parents noticed something felt off. She had left her cell phone charger behind, along with her contact lenses and solution. Her window was open. These details suggested she planned to come back.
Police were notified but early on, Skylar was treated as a runaway. Because of this, an Amber Alert was not issued right away.
A Carefully Planned Attack
What happened after Skylar got into the car would only become clear months later. According to court records, the car belonged to Shelia Eddy.
Inside the trunk were cleaning rags, bleach, wet wipes, a shovel and clean clothes for both Shelia and Rachel. They had also brought knives, wrapped in towels and hidden under their arms.
The girls drove Skylar across the state line into Brave, Pennsylvania. They stopped at a remote spot they all knew, a place they had visited before to smoke marijuana. The three got out of the car and talked like usual. Nothing seemed strange.
At one point, Shelia and Rachel said they had forgotten a lighter. Skylar offered to go back to the car to get one. As she turned away, the two girls silently counted to three.
On three, they attacked.
Skylar tried to run but Rachel tackled her to the ground. Both girls stabbed her repeatedly. During the struggle, Skylar managed to grab Rachel’s knife and stabbed her above the ankle. Rachel later said she stopped attacking after being hurt but Shelia continued.
Rachel said Shelia kept stabbing until Skylar was silent and her neck stopped making sounds. When they believed Skylar was dead, they tried to bury her body. The ground was too hard, so they covered her with branches, dirt and leaves instead.
They changed out of their bloody clothes, wiped down themselves and the car and drove away.
Early Search and Confusion
Back in West Virginia, police continued looking for Skylar. An early tip claimed she had been seen in North Carolina but that lead went nowhere. Her parents printed and handed out missing person flyers across the area, desperate for answers.
Investigators reviewed the surveillance video and focused on the light-colored sedan. They traced it back to Shelia Eddy and interviewed her. She admitted picking Skylar up but claimed she dropped her off later that night. This story did not match the timeline on video.
As weeks passed, concern grew. In September 2012, the FBI and West Virginia State Police joined the case. They interviewed students at University High School and began to dig deeper into Skylar’s social circle.
About six months after the murder, Rachel Shoaf suffered a nervous breakdown. Her mother called 911 and Rachel could be heard screaming in the background. She was taken to a psychiatric hospital and stayed there for five days.
After her release, Rachel asked to go straight to her lawyer’s office. There, she confessed to the crime. She told investigators that she and Shelia killed Skylar because they did not like her anymore and did not want to be her friend.
This reason stunned everyone, especially Skylar’s parents. David Neese later said these girls were among his daughter’s closest friends. He also revealed that Shelia had helped the family pass out missing person flyers.
After confessing, Rachel led investigators to Skylar’s body, per CBS News.
On January 16, 2013, a body was found in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, just over the state line. In March 2013, authorities confirmed it was Skylar Neese. She had been found less than 30 miles from her home.
The discovery brought answers but it also brought deep pain to Skylar’s family and community.
Courtroom Decisions
On May 1, 2013, Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Court records showed that other students had overheard her and Shelia talking about the plan but no one reported it, believing they were joking.
As part of her plea deal, prosecutors recommended a 20-year sentence. In February 2014, Rachel was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with the chance for parole after 10 years. Her family issued a public apology through their lawyer.
Shelia Eddy was later identified as the second killer and charged as an adult. She faced counts of kidnapping, first-degree murder and conspiracy. She initially pleaded not guilty.
Before trial, Shelia pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. She showed no remorse in court. She was sentenced to life in prison with mercy, meaning she would be eligible for parole after 15 years, as required by law for juvenile offenders.
Both girls were sent to the Lakin Correctional Center in West Virginia where they remain in custody.
Years after the trial, new information emerged. During Rachel Shoaf’s 2023 parole hearing, Skylar’s father, Dave Neese, stated that Shoaf admitted the original explanation she gave police was not the full truth.
According to Neese, Shoaf said that she and Shelia Eddy were in a romantic relationship and were afraid Skylar would tell others about it. He said this fear was the real reason Skylar was killed. This admission came more than a decade after the crime and was not part of Shoaf’s original confession or plea agreement.
“We found out finally after 11 long years what the real reason why they murdered Skylar,” Neese said, ” She (Shoaf) was in a relationship with Shelia Eddy, a gay relationship and they were both afraid Skylar was going to tell people,” per Metro News.
A Law Born From Loss
Skylar’s case exposed gaps in the Amber Alert system. At the time, police had to wait 48 hours before a teen could be considered missing unless clear signs of abduction existed.
A state lawmaker introduced a bill called Skylar’s Law. The goal was to allow faster alerts when a child is missing and believed to be in danger, even if kidnapping is not confirmed.
The bill received strong support. In March 2013, it passed the West Virginia House of Delegates with a 98–0 vote. The Senate approved it soon after and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed it into law in May 2013.
Skylar’s story helped change how missing children cases are handled in West Virginia.
