Where Are Skylar Neese’s Killers Today? Inside the Brutal Murder Plotted By Teenagers Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, 13 Years Ago

When Skylar Neese sneaked out of her family’s apartment one summer night, she had no idea her best friends were secretly planning to kill her.

The 16-year-old high schooler from West Virginia was a straight-A student, had a part-time job at a local fast food restaurant and had dreams of going to law school. All of that was cut short when her friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, stabbed her to death.

Skylar had been friends with Shelia for years, but Rachel was a new addition to their friend group. Over several months, things grew tense between the trio, who often aired out their frustrations on social media.

It all culminated in the early hours of July 6, 2012, when Shelia and Rachel murdered Skylar during a late-night outing to smoke marijuana. In the cover of a wooded area, the pair attacked Skylar, stabbing her over 50 times with kitchen knives, according to ABC’s 20/20.

In the months that followed, Shelia and Rachel lied to authorities and denied any knowledge of Skylar’s whereabouts, claiming they had dropped her off near her family’s apartment before she went missing. Eventually, after they were caught in their lies, Rachel confessed to the crime, and Shelia was incriminated by DNA evidence shortly after.

So where are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf now? Here’s everything to know about their involvement in Skylar Neese’s murder and when they will be up for parole.

Who was Skylar Neese?

Skylar was a typical teenager in the small suburban community of Star City, W. Va. She was raised by her father, Dave Neese, an employee at Walmart, and her mother, Mary Neese, who worked at a local doctor’s office.

“I spoiled her beyond rotten. Skylar was a very bubbly person. She had a smile that’d light the room up. She was also very loyal to her friends, and she was all those things wrapped into one,” Dave said on 20/20.

Mary added, “She loved the Disney Channel. And every Friday night, they would have a new Disney movie. We’d curl up on the couch to watch a new Disney movie. And she just loved that.”

Skylar attended the nearby University High School, where she had a 4.0 grade point average. In the evenings and on the weekends, she had a part-time job at a fast food restaurant, but had dreams of going to law school one day, per MetroNews.

Who are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf?

Shelia and Rachel were two of Skylar’s best friends. Skylar had known Shelia since the second grade when they met in an after-school program, per 20/20. The pair were fast friends, and while they lived in different towns, they kept in touch. In 2010, Shelia’s family moved closer to Skylar, and she also began attending University High School.

“If they weren’t together, they were on the phone together, and that’s literally 24 hours a day,” Skylar’s father shared on 20/20.

Meanwhile, Rachel was a newer addition to the friend group. Having previously attended a private Catholic school, she met Shelia and Skylar when she enrolled at University High School during her freshman year.

The trio was inseparable both inside and outside of school, but as time passed, there were signs that trouble was bubbling beneath the surface. On social media, Skylar often posted angry messages seemingly directed at her friends. Shortly after she disappeared, Skylar posted on X, writing, “You doing s— like that is why I will never completely trust you.”

What happened on the night that Skylar Neese went missing?

On the evening of July 5, 2012, Skylar worked a shift at her job at the fast food restaurant. She returned home as expected and greeted her family before heading to her room.

“Skylar came home from work and walked through the door, and she went over and petted her dog and said, ‘Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.’ She walked out and she said, ‘I love you, Daddy.’ It’s the last time I ever heard her,” her father recalled on 20/20.

Just after midnight, Skylar snuck out of her family’s apartment through her bedroom window and was picked up by Shelia and Rachel in a waiting vehicle. Skylar believed they were driving somewhere to smoke marijuana and had no idea her friends had ulterior motives. Shelia and Rachel had brought kitchen knives, a shovel, cleaning products and fresh clothes.

They soon arrived at their destination in Brave, Penn., a wooded area where they had previously smoked together. Just before they were about to light up, Shelia claimed her lighter was not working. Skylar headed back to the car to find another, and with her back turned, Shelia and Rachel attacked, the latter recalled to authorities.

Although Skylar put up a fight and even managed to wrangle Rachel’s knife from her and cut her leg, Shelia persisted. Skylar was stabbed over 50 times, until the girls no longer heard any noise. They then attempted to dig a hole to bury her, but couldn’t break through the rocky soil. Instead, they covered Neese’s body with leaves and drove away.

That morning, Skylar’s father went to wake up his daughter, only to discover that she was not there and her bed had not been slept in. It began a painful, months-long investigation into Skylar’s disappearance.

What happened during the investigation into Skylar Neese’s disappearance?

Skylar’s parents attempted to find their daughter by calling friends and family, but came up empty-handed. When she didn’t show up to her scheduled work shift, they knew they had to contact the authorities.

During the initial investigation, Shelia and Rachel claimed to have seen Skylar shortly before she disappeared, per 20/20. They explained that they had picked her up for a joyride around 11 p.m. but returned her home about half an hour later — a story that investigators would later question. All along, they played the roles of devastated friends, handing out missing flyers and posting tributes on social media.

Detectives sifted through years of social media posts, noticing the growing tension between Skylar and her friends. They even came across a video of Skylar playing a game of Would You Rather? with Shelia and Rachel, where Shelia asked ominous questions about how they’d rather die.

Eventually, investigators turned their attention back to Shelia and Rachel, realizing there was a hole in their story, per 20/20. While the girls had said they picked up Skylar around 11 p.m. and dropped her back off about 30 minutes later, the timeline on security footage from Skylar’s apartment didn’t add up.

In the grainy footage, Skylar can be seen heading to a car outside the complex around 12:30 a.m. While Shelia and Rachel claimed not to know who the vehicle belonged to, gas station security footage soon revealed that it was, in fact, Shelia’s Toyota Camry.

On top of that, cell phone records showed a ping near Skylar’s apartment complex at that same time. The next was around 4 a.m. in Blacksville, a town on the border of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, long after Shelia and Rachel alleged to be at home and in bed — and in the opposite direction to which they said they had traveled, West Virginia State Police trooper Chris Berry recalled on 20/20.

How were Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf caught?

Shelia and Rachel were again interviewed by police, this time sharing a slightly different story and changed demeanors, according to 20/20. The girls claimed that they had picked up Skylar later than they had previously shared and had driven to Blacksville to smoke marijuana.

“The two girls were different, like night and day. Rachel was more nervous. She seemed to be distracted. She would not look at us when she was talking. When we had talked to Sheila, she would look right at you in your eyes. She did not appear to be nervous. She was calm. She was collected,” Berry shared.

In December 2012, Sheila and Rachel agreed to take a lie detector test, even though investigators knew results were not admissible in court. Shelia failed the test, which included questions about the night Skylar went missing, but she wasn’t directly asked if she had murdered Skylar.

Meanwhile, Rachel’s mental health had been deteriorating. With growing suspicions around her and Shelia, she was beginning to crack. On the way to her lie detector test, she jumped out of her father’s moving car and ran to Shelia’s home. Shortly after, she experienced a nervous breakdown and was checked into a psychiatric hospital.

Upon her release in January 2013, Rachel requested a meeting with her attorney. In front of a police officer and an FBI agent, Rachel confessed to Skylar’s murder. When asked why they did it, she replied that they didn’t like Skylar.

“The first words out of her mouth were, ‘We stabbed her,’ ” Corporal Ronnie Gaskins recounted on 20/20. “[It was a] complete surprise.”

Rachel was arrested after her confession and led authorities to the site of the murder. However, they could not reach the area without potentially damaging evidence because of the snowy conditions. Since they weren’t able to collect evidence to corroborate Rachel’s story, she was sent home.

Shortly after, authorities attempted to get Shelia to incriminate herself by having Rachel wear a wire during a meeting between the two girls. The plan failed. Meanwhile, Rachel’s car was collected as evidence and was examined by the FBI.

Weeks later, investigators returned to the crime scene when the snow began to melt. With the help of cadaver dogs, Skylar’s body was found, a little over six months after her disappearance. Around the same time, the FBI discovered Skylar’s DNA in the trunk of Shelia’s car, officially incriminating her.

In early May 2013, Rachel turned herself in as part of a pre-arranged plea deal. Shelia was later arrested in the middle of a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

Did Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf plead guilty to murder?

Following Shelia’s arrest, she was held in jail without bail, per MetroNews. After she was indicted on charges of kidnapping, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, according to the Observer-Reporter, she pleaded not guilty. Her case was set to go to trial on Jan. 20, 2014, but at her pre-trial hearing, she accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty, according to WBOY.

Under the terms of the deal, Shelia was protected from federal charges, and the state of Pennsylvania agreed not to prosecute Shelia for hiding Skylar’s body. The state of West Virginia also dropped the conspiracy and kidnapping charges. Shelia was then sentenced to life behind bars with mercy, a West Virginia law which grants juvenile offenders the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Meanwhile, Rachel, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May 2013, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with the eligibility for parole after 10 years behind bars, according to West Virginia Press. During her sentencing, she issued an apology to Skylar’s family.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know if there’s a proper way to make this apology, because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that I feel each day for what I’ve done. The person that did that was not the real me, not the person I am, not what I’m made of and not what I believe,” Rachel said in front of the court, as seen in 20/20.

Where are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf now?

Shelia and Rachel have spent the last decade behind bars at the Lakin Correctional Center in West Columbia, W. Va.

While being held in the same facility, the pair reportedly are not as close as they once were.

“It doesn’t seem like they are confidants because Rachel ratted Shelia out. Without Rachel’s confession, they probably would’ve gotten away with it. They see each other, I would say, on a daily basis,” Three co-host and award-winning journalist Justine Harman told PEOPLE in February 2024.

Since beginning their sentences, Rachel has been up for parole on two occasions and denied both times. She and Shelia will be up for parole in 2028.