MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Bubbly, sweet, energetic and shy, all wrapped up into one. That’s how Dave and Mary Neese remember their daughter Skylar, now five years after she was tragically murdered by two high school classmates.
On July 6, 2012, 16-year-old Skylar snuck out of her home in Star City and met up with two friends, Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy, who later that night stabbed Skylar to death. It wasn’t until December, that Shoaf confessed to authorities that she and Eddy had planned and carried out Skylar’s murder. Skylar’s remains were finally discovered on January 16, 2013 in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Shoaf and Eddy both pleaded guilty to the shocking murder and are currently serving prison sentences at Lakin Correction Center in Mason County.
In the five years since her death, Skylar is having a positive impact on the lives of teens and others who may be facing difficult situations and contemplating life changing decisions.
“There so many kids who reach out to us on the Internet who are having trouble or problems. We reach out to each and every one of them,” Skylar’s father Dave Neese said on WAJR’s Morgantown A.M. “We Skype with them, whatever it takes. It’s been such a positive result.”
For Dave and Mary Neese, their mission now is two-fold, to keep Skylar’s memory alive and to help others by sharing their story through “Skylar’s Promise.”
“We go around to schools, we go to prisons and we try to give them a positive,” Dave Neese explained. “Know who your friends are. That’s hard sometimes. Try to do positive things. Don’t be a follower, be a leader.”
On a recent visit to a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania, a room of nearly 100 prisoners was brought to tears listening to Dave and Mary tell their story, trying to impress on them the ramifications of one bad decision.
“You can hate someone, even if its a drug deal gone bad, and you shoot them. What about the other people around them? It’s trying to get people to realize there are other consequences,” Mary Neese stated.
The Neese’s continually receive messages through the Team Skylar Facebook page from teenagers and even adults who say Skylar’s story has changed their lives.
“We get messages every day that say ‘If it hadn’t been for listening to Skylar’s story, I would have done something stupid or snuck out of the house,'” relayed Dave Neese.
Each day without their daughter has been difficult for Dave and Mary Neese but knowing that she continues to make a positive impact has helped ease the pain.
“Tell us you want to talk and we’ll talk to anybody, anytime, at just about any place. It’s not a matter of if but we will,” Dave Neese insisted.
A memorial service was scheduled for Thursday night at 8 p.m. at the University Town Center Walmart to honor Skylar’s memory.