The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese: The Truth Behind the Headlines Read Free Page A

students to leave her alone. The day after Rachel was charged with Skylar’s murder, it was rumored Kyer was so distraught he missed school.
    Dan Demchak : A UHS science teacher at the time of Skylar’s murder, Demchack taught the class in which students say they overheard Rachel and Shelia discussing the best way to dispose of a body. He has since retired.
    Skylar’s Law
    Becky Benson Bailey : Becky went to school with Dave Neese and was ranting one night over the inaction in Skylar’s case when she came up with the idea to expand the AMBER Alert program. Skylar’s Law mandates that police contact the AMBER Alert system and that the AMBER system treat all missing children and teenagers—regardless of how they came to be missing—as actual kidnapping cases unless an investigation proves otherwise.
    Chuck Yocum : One of Tom Bloom’s former students, Chuck became interested in Skylar’s disappearance and helped Bailey write Skylar’s Law. He works in the public school system in Maryland.
    Tom Bloom : A Monongalia County commissioner and retired high school counselor, Tom is familiar with Skylar and many of the students involved in this case. He helped revise Skylar’s Law and drew the attention of state legislators to the bill.
    Charlene Marshall : When Tom Bloom came to her asking for help getting Skylar’s Law introduced into the 2013 session of the legislature, the 80-year-old Marshall went to work. She was largely responsible for getting unanimous support from both the West Virginia Senate and House of Representatives. The bill became the top priority for politicians and sailed through with bipartisan support in just one session.

Chapter 1
The Death of Skylar Neese
    Sixteen-year-old Skylar Neese kept a black cushioned vanity bench in her closet so she could climb out of her bedroom window at night. She used it when she snuck out for the last time at 12:31 a.m. on July 6, 2012. After stashing the bench around the corner of the apartment building, she hurried to a waiting silver Toyota Corolla and climbed into the backseat.
    Skylar was probably apprehensive about joyriding with Shelia and Rachel that night. Her two best friends had ditched her more than once in the previous week. Her friendship with them seemed to be falling apart, and Skylar had no idea why.
    When they were freshmen, they were a well-known trio at University High School. Skylar had been ecstatic when Shelia Eddy—
her
Shelia—transferred there from an outlying rural area. Skylar and the tiny blonde beauty had been friends since second grade, and she could imagine how fantastic it was going to be, because Shelia loved to laugh, have fun, and party.
    Rachel was the new addition to the Skylar and Shelia club. She had graduated from middle school at Saint Francis, the local parochial school, and then chosen to attend UHS. A popular redhead, Rachel was an aspiring stage actress, and Skylar thought her singing voice was exquisite. She also thought Rachel was pretty and funny. Skylar and Shelia had met Rachel when the three had a class together, and the next thing Skylar knew, wherever she and Shelia were, so was Rachel. Which was fine by Skylar, who made friends with everyone. They were inseparable: the blonde, the redhead, and the beautiful brunette with big blue eyes.
    Sitting in the backseat, watching Rachel and Shelia up front laughing, Skylar might have thought about the beach trip she and Shelia had taken and how badly it had ended. That argument between her and Shelia—the
most recent
argument, the one that ruined their six-day vacation at Myrtle Beach in June—still wasn’t resolved. Her tweets proved it. About eight that night Skylar had tweeted,
you doing shit like that is why I will NEVER completely trust you
. Skylar no doubt wondered what it would take to return to the days of their earlier friendship.
    Rachel had been acting a little odd the last few days, also. She had grown distant and reserved. Skylar would have wanted to resolve