Pretty Little Killers (17 page)

Hayden wasn't just Skylar's coworker at Wendy's. She and Skylar had been friends since they were small children. So when Daniel texted saying Skylar was missing, Hayden knew something was wrong. At first she didn't believe him. So she asked her mother to call Mary and Dave. That's when Hayden learned it was true: Skylar was gone—and no one knew where. Or why.

Hayden knew Skylar was upset because she thought they would spend the weekend together. But Hayden had gone to Ocean City with her parents at the last minute, and called off work. So when Skylar got to Wendy's and realized she was the only girl in her social circle stuck at home, she felt abandoned.

Hayden worried about her childhood friend all the way home, and tried to reach out to Skylar, too. Naturally, Hayden didn't hear anything back.

Several teens reported receiving a text message or phone call from Shelia Eddy about Skylar's disappearance. All of them say the same thing: Shelia seemed nonchalant over the fact no one could find her best friend. However, there is one person Shelia did not reach out to with the news—Crissy Swanson.

That singular fact struck Crissy as very odd. “She knew I really liked Skylar,” Crissy said. “She knew I was a huge fan of Skylar. I loved Skylar. I told her that all the time.”

Skylar often visited Crissy's home with Shelia, where they would hang out, watching movies or sometimes drinking and playing cards. Crissy said she loved Skylar, in part because Skylar didn't feel the need to hide her activity from people. If she thought it, or did it, Skylar talked about it.

The tendency to be open often got her into trouble with Shelia, like the time Skylar told Crissy about Shelia losing her virginity to Dylan Conaway. Crissy said Shelia gave Skylar a dirty look to try and silence her, but it was too late. Crissy was glad Skylar spoke up—because she was like Shelia's big sister and was better able to give her advice about being sexually active.

When Crissy learned Skylar was missing three days later, on Monday, July 9, she was shocked Shelia had not told her. Crissy later related that day's events, saying she was stunned to learn about Skylar's disappearance from a Facebook friend in Virginia. At the time, Crissy wasn't in the same Facebook social circles as Mary and Dave, so she wouldn't have automatically seen the news online.

I heard Skylar's missing, just let me know if you hear anything
, the friend messaged Crissy.
I just wanted to let you know . . . let me know what's going on
.

Where did you hear that? Since when
? Crissy said she immediately replied.

She's been missing since Friday
.

You're shitting me
.

Crissy was at work, but she immediately texted Shelia,
What's going on? What's going on with Skylar
? Shelia said she didn't know.
I guess she's been missing since Friday. No one has heard from her
, she replied.

All through her shift, Crissy couldn't believe it. “I told my mom, ‘Shelia didn't even tell me Skylar was missing. Did you know?'” Her mother told Crissy that she had found out earlier in the day.

Crissy also reached out to Tara, hoping she might have answers. Tara was really worried, too. “She was scared for Shelia, like this would alter her life—because Shelia's best friend had gone missing,” Crissy said. “Like it would ruin her childhood. Like Shelia . . . would just be traumatized, basically.”

The next day Crissy printed copies of the MISSING Skylar flyers, picked up Shelia and Shania, and the three of them headed to Fairview, where they plastered the flyers all over storefronts and utility poles. They had so many the three teens ran out of time long before they ran out of flyers.

Crissy stashed the extra copies in her car trunk. When she discovered them there months later, she didn't have the heart to remove them.

While Shelia was busy alerting her closest friends about Skylar's disappearance, that first weekend was a blur for Mary and Dave. Watching Skylar vanish on videotape had been harder than they realized. Worry, hope, fear, and despair filled the atmosphere of the apartment. They both felt the urge to do something,
anything
, to find their only daughter. At the same time, they felt too trapped and helpless to come up with an effective course of action. All they could do was cling to what the Star City police told every parent of a missing child. Trying to reassure Mary and Dave, the police said not to worry
because Skylar had probably gone on some kind of crazy summer getaway.

Even though they knew Skylar would never be that irresponsible, Mary and Dave tried to talk themselves into believing she had. The alternatives were too grim. “They said teenagers do this,” Mary said later, referring to what the Star City Police initially said, “and we should give it the weekend.”

They almost convinced themselves Skylar would be home Sunday night. Almost. At the end of the weekend, she would magically appear. Her reckless, impromptu beach visit would be over, and their beloved daughter would be all apologies.

The weekend was torture for Mary and Dave. They sat. They waited. They wondered when they would hear Skylar's ornery laugh, see her mischievous smile. They barely noticed the endless parade of friends and relatives that weekend. Through it all, every time someone knocked, every time the door opened, Dave would think,
God! It's her. It's her. It's her
.

But it never was.

twelve

Rumor and Silence

From the moment they
knew Skylar was gone, the nearby sound of police sirens set Mary and Dave's nerves on edge. Was an officer coming to tell them Skylar was home? Or were the sirens conveying something worse?

Actually, the shrill sounds had nothing to do with Skylar. One fire whistle that ripped through the night, waking them up, went off because a couch was in flames. Another West Virginia University student igniting another couch. As one popular T-shirt said, “WVU: Where greatness is learned and couches are burned.”

Skylar had planned to attend WVU, Morgantown's great equalizer. Although many residents, like Mary and Dave, didn't have college degrees, others jumped at the chance for their child to receive an education and have a better life. West Virginia PROMISE Scholarships provided free tuition for bright, hardworking students like Skylar. The money helped them cross the line from blue-collar to white-collar status.

The population of greater Morgantown swells to almost 100,000 when class is in session, but shrinks by half when students leave for the summer. The town is well-to-do, but with coal mining on the wane in the outlying communities—with names like Core, Osage, and Blacksville—life can be hard. The university boasts faculty
and students from around the world, a diverse population that the families who have lived in these mountains for generations mostly succeed in ignoring. The two cultures mix to some degree, but they often clash at the two largest high schools, Morgantown High and University High, where the children of university folks go to school with the children of townspeople.

Early on, before most adults even knew there was a missing girl named Skylar, UHS students were abuzz with speculation. While Mary and Dave and their immediate circle worried and searched around the clock, most of Morgantown remained in the dark.

Not so the town's teenagers. In fact, those teens were coming to conclusions the adult world wouldn't reach for months.

In the days following Skylar's disappearance, while the Neeses were filled with panic, Shelia and Rachel showed very little concern. This was odd, given how close they had been to Skylar. In fact, UHS students said the trio had been inseparable in their freshman and sophomore years. Where you saw one, you usually saw all three.

On Friday, July 6, while the Neeses were searching for their daughter, Rachel and her mother were sunning themselves at Cheat Lake, out in the suburbs. Patricia Shoaf, a full-time communications sales rep, had originally planned to go out onto the lake with her good friend, Kelly Kerns. But for some unexplained reason, Rachel asked to tag along. Patricia really thought Rachel should be home sleeping, since the dark circles under her eyes belied Rachel's claims that she hadn't been awake the entire night.