Skylar Neese was just a typical girl who was looking forward to spending time with her friends. It was summer, which meant she could put school on hold for the time being. “Stress will be the death of me,” she tweeted before retiring for the night. She returned home the next day after working at Wendy’s. Before retiring to her room, she kissed her parents good night as they watched TV. This was nothing out of the ordinary, but it simply made it more difficult to comprehend the tragedy of what happened next…

The Tragedy Of Skylar Neese And Her Friends’ Secrets!
She didn’t return home that night
Skylar was not found in her room the next morning. Her parents discovered she had snuck out in the middle of the night but had not returned. Unfortunately, the next time she saw her was on a black-and-white video of her sneaking out of her window. They noticed she was carrying a pocketbook on her shoulder as she walked up to a car waiting for her. Nobody anticipated to learn the truth about what happened to Skylar Neese.

She didn’t return home that night.
Who She Left With
They eventually filed a missing person report, launching the search for the small girl. Her best friend Rachel had gone to summer camp, but her other best friend Shelia was there to keep her parents company. Shelia was concerned about her best friend’s disappearance, as she kept her parents company but something was just totally off…

Who She Left With
Her Two Best Friends
Skylar Neese and Shelia Eddy had been best friends since second grade. They had remained close throughout their childhood. In fact, their friendship was so strong that they would freely enter each other’s homes. It was fortunate that their parents were unconcerned. You could even say they were sisters! They both attended University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia. They got friends with a fellow student named Rachel Shoaf during their freshman year of high school. Despite the fact that the two have been friends since they were eight years old, they greeted their new friend with open arms.

Her Two Best Friends
Serving As Their Emotional Anchor
The three girls were inseparable. Nonetheless, Skylar is said to have been Shelia and Rachel’s emotional rock. This was significant because both girls’ parents were divorced. Meanwhile, she had parents who would go to any length for their only kid. They polished her brilliance, inspired her to pursue her aspirations, and celebrated her uniqueness. They were, after all, young females. It was only natural for them to have some drama. Even so, no one knew what would happen next.

Serving As Their Emotional Anchor
They Were Treated Just Like Family
The bereaved mother, Mary Neese, stated, “Skylar thought she could save her.” This was spoken in reference to Shelia. “I would hear her on the phone giving Shelia hell: ‘Don’t be stupid!'” she continued. ‘Wait, what were you thinking?’ Shelia, on the other hand, was a lot of fun. She was always being goofy and doing weird things.” Shelia was clearly the most amusing member of their group. Mary and David chose to treat her as if she were their own child. “Shelia didn’t even knock when she came over.” She simply walked in.”

They Were Treated Just Like Family
How She Met Rachel Shoaf and Became Friends
What about Rachel Shoaf, though? Shelia, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of fun. She enjoyed acting in school plays and came from a pious Catholic home. Despite her popularity at school, she began to idolize Shelia. This could be due to how they bonded during their parents’ divorces. It might also be linked to her friend’s wild and carefree personality. After all, Skylar and Rachel did not have the same degree of freedom. In any case, the three girls were content for a short while. But, as we all know, when there are three persons in a group, things may get tricky…

How She Met Rachel Shoaf and Became Friends
They believed Shelia to be a negative influence
People have been noticing Skylar’s transformation since she started high school. Her other friends thought Shelia was a bad influence on her. If you had asked her, she would have said that she was merely maturing. She has no intention of ceasing her friendship with her best buddy. Rachel was experiencing the same thing. Her other friends advised her to keep her distance from Shelia, but she refused. In fact, both girls began to spend out with Shelia even more after that.

They believed Shelia to be a negative influence.
A Lot Of High School Drama
If you look at their social media posts, you will notice that there was conflict in the group. Skylar tweeted the following on May 31, 2012: “You’re a two-faced bitch and obviously f***ing stupid if you thought I wouldn’t find out.” She also wrote in the spring of the same year, “Too bad my friends are having lives without me.” Rachel and Shelia seemed to be leaving her out of their plans as they got closer. We are certain that she was hurt by this, even if it is a very typical occurrence in high school.

A Lot Of High School Drama
Something Out Of Mean Girls
“Shelia and Skylar were fighting a lot,” one of their classmates, Daniel Hovatter, claimed. “One time sophomore year, me and Rachel were at Pride and Prejudice practice, and Rachel had her phone up to her ear, and she was laughing,” he continued. ‘Listen to this.’ she said. Shelia and Skylar were arguing, but Skylar wasn’t aware that Shelia had put her on three-way calling and that Rachel was listening in.”This is the kind of thing we’d expect to see in Mean Girls.” Shelia is even comparable to Regina George! Unfortunately, things escalated even further than a book full of insults and secrets…

Something Out Of Mean Girls
She failed to appear at work
Skylar can be seen in blurry surveillance footage climbing into a car near a garbage in the early hours of July 6. Her family became concerned when she did not return home. They sensed something was wrong when she didn’t show up for her Wendy’s shift. This was not something the young girl would do because she was responsible. Her parents discovered her window open and a seat directly beneath it. This was how they discovered Skylar had sneaked out after saying goodnight. They had no idea why she hadn’t returned home! She didn’t have any cause to flee. She also forgot to bring her toothbrush, phone charger, and other necessities. Skylar, where have you gone?

She failed to appear at work.
Her best friend was concerned as well
Later that day, Shelia called David and Mary Neese to convey her concerns about her best friend. “She proceeded to tell me that she, Skylar, and Rachel had snuck out the night before and they had driven around Star City, getting high, and that the two girls dropped her back off at the house,” the mother explained. Because it is not uncommon for high school students to slip out, no one questions this for a while.

Her best friend was concerned as well
There were gaps in their narrative
Sheila stated that she and Rachel arrived about 11 a.m. to pick up Skylar and returned her to the same location before midnight. This, however, did not match the surveillance video. Skylar left home about 12:30 a.m., and the automobile drove away five minutes later, according to the video. This was the last time she was seen. On July 7, Shelia and her mother assisted in the search for Skylar, while Rachel left for Catholic summer camp. People thought it was strange that she would continue go camping after her best buddy had gone missing. Shouldn’t she be afraid to do anything like that?

There were gaps in their narrative
Always Going To Be Her Best Friend
Mary revealed that Shelia was heavily involved with the search attempts. The young girl was constantly inquiring about new leads and talking about Skylar on social media. She begged her best friend to come home safely. “Relax, Skylar; you will ALWAYS be my best friend.” “I miss you more than you know,” one post said. She even cried with Mary on Skylar’s bed once. She was clearly handled as though she were a member of the family. When the cops began to close in on the girls, David requested that they not harass Shelia and Rachel because they were his child’s best friends.

Always Going To Be Her Best Friend
There were a lot of rumors at school
There were numerous rumors floating throughout the school. Skylar was claimed to have died from a heroin overdose after attending a party, among other things. Corporal Ronnie Gaskins, who was assigned to the case, stated that this was revealed to him. “People there panicked, and they disposed of the body,” he explained. They didn’t have much to go on, so they thought this was correct. It was a good thing Jessica Colebank of the Star City Police Department had reservations. She didn’t dispute her instincts and even went so far as to call out the girls: their stories were identical. Unless it’s prepared, no one’s narrative is the same. ‘Shelia is acting strangely,’ I thought to myself. ‘Rachel is terrified.'”

There were a lot of rumors at school.
What Her Social Media Accounts Told Us
Unfortunately, they did not have a valid justification to arrest the females at the moment. The Neese couple had been in pain as the police continued their investigation. They only wanted to know what happened to Skylar and, if possible, bring her home safely. Because all three of the females were quite active on Twitter and Facebook, social media provided them with a few hints. Skylar tweeted the day before her disappearance, “Sick of being at fu**ing home.” Thank you ‘friends,’ I enjoy getting out with you all as well.” She also tweeted, “You doing s*** like that is why I can NEVER completely trust you.”

What Her Social Media Accounts Told Us
They also discovered her journal
Skylar felt left out, and you don’t have to be a genius to figure it out. The reason behind this is the subject of rumors at the high school. Some of them assumed Rachel and Shelia were romantically involved. Perhaps they wanted to get rid of Skylar so she wouldn’t tell anyone. This was later confirmed when Skylar wrote in her journal about seeing her best pals making out. When the girls decided to drink, they were having a sleepover. They covertly drank their parents’ alcohol, just like every other teenager!

They also discovered her journal
What The Rumors Have To Say
Skylar expressed her dissatisfaction with Rachel and Shelia’s relationship. Their sexual orientation had nothing to do with it. In fact, we’re sure you’d feel the same way if there was explicit PDA going on right in front of you. It was also difficult to be a third wheel. This explains why she felt alienated, but was it really a big enough deal for her to murder Skylar? It appears to be quite extreme. The detectives initially suspected a drug overdose, but it was later uncovered that her best pals knew more than they were revealing…

What The Rumors Have To Say
They Must Be Involved In Some Way
This feud appeared to provide evidence that Rachel and Shelia were complicit in their best friend’s disappearance. If not, they were concealing something. Chris Berry, a state trooper, was assigned to this case in August 2012. He was always confident that the perpetrator would not get away with it. He has already handled instances in which killers boasted about their actions. He could tell this was going to be the same! It was only a matter of time before they admitted their guilt.

They Must Be Involved In Some Way
Time To Go Undercover On The Internet
There were many rumors floating about their high school. Chris Berry created a bogus online profile to investigate what was going on. He pretended to be a teen attending West Virginia University in Morgantown. He went through the girls’ Twitter and Facebook pages after adding them. What did he discover about Rachel and Shelia’s mental states? He rapidly found out more about who they were. For one thing, investigators discovered that Shelia was the more animated of the two, while Rachel was the more reserved.

Time To Go Undercover On The Internet
Don’t Mess With These Ladies
They were perplexed that neither Shelia nor Rachel seemed concerned about Skylar’s disappearance. Shelia would tweet weird stuff like pictures of them together. There were several strange posts, such as this one from Shelia on November 5, 2012: “No one on this earth can handle me and Rachel if you think you can, you’re wrong.” On the other side, both ladies were subjected to negative comments on social media. Other Twitter users accused them of murdering their best friend. Others told them that they would be apprehended sooner or later.

Don’t Mess With These Ladies
They Were Caught In A Lie
Investigators continued to bring the two females in for interviews. Rachel and Shelia gradually became increasingly isolated from the rest of their contemporaries. This meant they could only rely on each other. Police eventually discovered that Shelia Eddy was the owner of the car seen in the security video. On that June night, authorities examined surveillance footage from other establishments. They discovered the vehicle outside a convenience shop in Blackstone, which is located west of Morgantown and Star City. This was odd because both Shelia and Rachel reported they went east instead. For whatever reason, the girls must have lied to them.

They Were Caught In A Lie
It Was Not Enough To Arrest Them
It was becoming increasingly evident that the two girls were involved in this. While the cops could tell they were involved, they didn’t have enough proof to arrest Rachel and Shelia. They could put an end to this madness if they obtained a confession from them. It was strange to see how well Shelia was handling it. Looking back, it was pretty distressing to see how calm she remained throughout. Rachel, on the other hand, was unable to cope with the stress and guilt.

It Was Not Enough To Arrest Them
Rachel had a mental breakdown
They could see Rachel was going through a lot. In fact, things were so severe that her parents decided to reunite in order to assist her. On December 28, 2012, everything came to a head. That’s when Monongalia County police got a call from Patria Shoaf. “I have an issue with a 16-year-old daughter of mine,” she added frantically. I can’t keep her under control any longer. She’s punching us, shouting at us, and racing around the neighborhood.” In the background of the call, they could hear the teen sobbing uncontrollably: “Give me the phone. No! No! This is the end of the story. This is the end!” “My husband is trying to contain her,” her mother said at the end of the phone call. Please act quickly.”

Rachel had a mental breakdown.
Her Confession Was Worse Than They Had Expected
Rachel was then sent to a psychiatric facility. She was released three days after being admitted. The cops then interviewed her. She saw this as her chance to finally tell them the truth. The police were still certain that Skylar had died as a result of a heroin overdose and were eager to learn more. But what this young lady said stunned them all. “We stabbed her,” she admits. The truth was far grimmer than any of them had anticipated. They were surprised to learn that the murder was planned a month in advance. Rachel and Shelia had the idea while in the middle of science class.

Her Confession Was Worse Than They Had Expected
They Planned All Of It
Their aim was to murder Skylar before Rachel left for summer camp. This phase, as we all know, went swimmingly. Rachel used her father’s shovel, while Shelia supplied the kitchen knives. In addition, they had cleaning materials and a change of clothes. Skylar assumed they would simply drive around when her buddies arrived to pick her up. The group enjoyed going to a nearby town called Brave and smoking cannabis in the woods. While her friends did have pipes, they also brought knives.

They Planned All Of It
On The Count Of Three
Despite the fact that it was a hot summer night, Rachel and Shelia were both dressed in hoodies. This was done to conceal the knives. Skylar had no idea what they were up to, so she paid no heed to their attire. Skylar discovered they had left the lighter in the car when they arrived at their usual area in the woods. When her best buddies approached her from behind, she stood up to get it. “On three,” Rachel said as they tackled Skylar. Skylar attempted to flee but was unable to do so since they grazed her on the knee, according to Rachel. Her fate had been sealed. “Why?” was the last word she ever spoke.

On The Count Of Three
What Everyone Wanted To Know
Skylar had no idea what was going on. The cops were also curious as to what might have possessed two young girls to commit such a thing. “We just didn’t like her,” Rachel explained. If you ask us, this response simply adds to the terror. But the worst part of the story was when the two girls stabbed Skylar and then watched her bleed to death. They stabbed their dearest buddy at least fifty times and then left her to die. Who would have guessed that two adolescent girls would murder their best friend for no apparent reason? That has to be the epitome of psychotic!

What Everyone Wanted To Know
It was all because they didn’t like her
When the cops reviewed over their social media posts, one thing jumped out to them. “We really did go on three,” Shelia explained. Isn’t that sounding like they were bragging about what they accomplished? She stated in another post, “They say you remember the past better than it was.” Everything is starting to fall into place. Although it is evident that they did not feel horrible about the act, we find it difficult to comprehend that two girls could do such a thing. We’ve all heard that teens fight, but how did things become this bad?

It was all because they didn’t like her.
She believed they were in the clear
The authorities ultimately found out what happened with Rachel’s confession. Their next objective was to find out what Shelia thought about it. The cops devised a strategy. Rachel was wiretapped and told to talk to Shelia about the crime. Unfortunately, this did not work out since the young girl backed down. Shelia obviously had a lot of power over her. Remember, she had already admitted to planned first-degree murder by that point. Despite this, she was more afraid of what Rachel would say to her. It’s difficult to picture a 16-year-old girl instilling such terror in anyone.

She believed they were in the clear.
The Search For Skylar Neese
Rachel Shoaf took the cops to the woods in January 2013 to show them where Skylar was murdered. She couldn’t recall the exact spot, and the fact that it was now covered in snow didn’t help. The detectives initially failed to locate the body, but Rachel’s confession was sufficient to prosecute her with murder. A week later, the police made a breakthrough when they discovered the body of a little girl in the woods. It was practically unrecognizable by that point. Skylar Neese’s body was officially identified by the crime lab on March 13.

The Search For Skylar Neese
It Was A Perfect DNA Match
This means the cops had both the body and the confession. They then compared blood samples found in Shelia’s car trunk to Skylar’s DNA. Shelia Eddy was apprehended by authorities on May 1, 2013. She was eating with her mum at Cracker Barrel at the time. The cops waited for her outside the restaurant and arrested her as soon as she went out the door for first-degree murder. Lawyers were unwilling to represent the girls because the task seemed too difficult.

It Was A Perfect DNA Match
The Teens Were Tried As Adults
Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy were fatigued as grownups despite the fact that they were both only 16 years old. Finally, in January 2014, she pleaded guilty to the murder of her best friend. She was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole after fifteen years. Many individuals who have followed the case believe she will spend the rest of her life in prison. Rachel, on the other hand, received a lighter punishment. She was only convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to thirty years in prison. We’re guessing this has something to do with her complete confession and aiding in the discovery of the body. Despite this, let us not forget that she, along with Shelia, murdered someone.

The Teens Were Tried As Adults
What The Grieving Father Had To Say
The victim’s father, David Neese, did not believe the two daughters deserved mercy from anyone. “They’re both sickos, and they’re both exactly where they need to be: away from civilization, imprisoned like animals.” “Because that’s what they are: animals,” he explained. Can you fathom how bad things must be for the Neese’s? They had lost their only kid in the most heinous way possible. We can only hope that they will recover from this. Every now and again, David loves to pay a visit to a tree in the Pennsylvania woods. It’s covered in images of Skylar, who was murdered by two envious, murdering “friends.”

What The Grieving Father Had To Say
In Remembrance Of Their Little Girl
“I wanted to take the horrible thing that happened here and try to turn it into something good – a place where people can come and remember Skylar and the good little girl she was, and the little beast they treated her like,” he added. Skylar Neese had been a bright and lovely young lady with a bright future ahead of her. It’s distressing to realize that the ones she considered her best friends took her life away from her. This is the most frightening aspect of the story. Can you imagine how a person would treat a stranger if they could do this to someone they care about?

In Remembrance Of Their Little Girl
The Skylar’s Law Has Since Been Passed
It took her parents some time to submit a missing person’s report once they learned Skylar had not returned home. After all, nothing indicated a kidnapping. In fact, when the little child snuck out at night, it resembled a runaway case more than anything else. Skylar’s Law was enacted with the support of the Neese couple. It mandates the state to issue Amber Alerts for missing children, even if they are not suspected of being kidnapped. Skylar Neese might still be alive if this law had been in effect. It is too late now, but we are confident that this will benefit other children in the future!

The Skylar’s Law Has Since Been Passed