Skylar Neese, a 16-year-old teenager, disappeared without a trace after sneaking out of her bedroom to meet up with her friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, on July 6, 2012.
This heartbreaking incident forms the basis of a true crime Dateline investigative report called Something Wicked, which is set to premiere on Sunday, April 7, at 10 pm ET.
The trio of friends, including Shelia Eddy, Rachel Shoaf, and Skylar Neese, were known to be inseparable in their high school in Morgantown, West Virginia. They shared their daily adventures on social media platforms and hung out frequently.
Neese disappeared after leaving her apartment complex in a car with her friends around midnight. However, the police initially ruled her as a runaway as she did not return home. The search for her intensified, with Shelia Eddy even helping Neese’s parents distribute missing person flyers and providing comfort.
In January 2013, Rachel Shoaf confessed to the police that she and Shelia Eddy had plotted to kill Skylar Neese. The girls took Neese to a wooded area in Pennsylvania under the guise of smoking marijuana and brutally stabbed her multiple times before covering her body with debris.
Shoaf admitted that the motive behind the murder was that they did not want to be friends with Neese anymore. Despite the heinous act, Shelia Eddy continued to profess her innocence and even posted a tribute to Neese on social media.
After the confession, Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, while Shelia Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with mercy. Shoaf was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Eddy received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Shoaf recently appeared for a parole hearing in May 2023, where she explained that they committed the murder due to tensions arising from their relationship being exposed. Both Shoaf and Eddy remain incarcerated at the Lakin Correctional Center, with Shoaf’s projected release date set for April 2028 and Eddy’s first parole hearing scheduled for May 2028.
The Dateline episode, Something Wicked, delves into the chilling details of Neese’s disappearance and murder, uncovering the betrayal by her friends and her family’s search for justice. The episode is set to air on Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 10 pm ET, offering a deep dive into this tragic true crime story.
