Pretty Little Killers (58 page)

       
Skylar does not tweet to or about Shelia or Rachel for eleven days
.

2012

   
L
ATE
M
ARCH

       
Shelia and Skylar come to blows at the local Hollywood Stadium 12 theater
.

   
M
AY
10

       
Skylar tweets that obsessive girlfriends and ex-girlfriends are pathetic
.

   
J
UNE
1

       
Shelia and Skylar leave for the beach, where they have a huge argument
.

   
J
UNE
4

       
Rachel leaves for Young Life church camp in Rockbridge, Virginia
.

   
J
UNE
7

       
The Blacksville branch of Huntington National Bank is robbed, and police later suspect the robbery could be connected to Skylar's disappearance
.

   
J
UNE
7

       
Shelia and Skylar return from the beach
.

   
J
UNE
9

       
Rachel returns from Young Life very early that day, about the same time Skylar argues with an unnamed person on Twitter. Based on police reports that she, Rachel, and Shelia regularly argued online, it is believed Skylar was angry with one or both girls
.

       
That night, Shelia and Rachel are seen arguing in the UHS parking lot about “something on Skylar's Twitter,” and they decide Skylar must die
.

   
J
UNE
10

       
Shelia and Rachel put the plan to kill Skylar into action, beginning with an online search about the best ways to kill someone
.

   
J
ULY
6

       
Skylar sneaks out of her family's apartment just after midnight
.

       
Shelia and Rachel murder Skylar not long after she leaves her home
.

       
Alarmed to learn Skylar did not show up for work, Dave calls 911. Shelia admits she, Skylar, and Rachel went joyriding the night before, but says they dropped Skylar off at the end of her street just before midnight. Star City police officer Bob McCauley responds to the 911 call and begins investigating Skylar's disappearance
.

       
Skylar's parents, their landlord, Shelia, her mom, Tara, and Officer McCauley watch the apartment complex surveillance video. They see Skylar leave in a vehicle no one seems to recognize
.

       
Chief Propst asks West Virginia State Police headquarters to issue an AMBER Alert for Skylar, but his request is denied
.

       
Shelia and Tara help Mary and Dave canvass the neighborhood, looking for Skylar
.

       
Online, word begins to spread about the missing teen
.

       
Rachel and her mother visit Cheat Lake. That night Rachel writes in her diary, in a personal conversation to God, about something that went wrong the previous night
.

   
J
ULY
7

       
Rachel leaves town to attend Catholic summer camp for two weeks
.

       
Shelia and Tara help Mary and Dave canvass the neighborhood again, and Shelia begins to question the Neeses about what the police know
.

   
J
ULY
8

       
Officer McCauley hands off the case to Officer Jessica Colebank
.

   
J
ULY
9

       
Colebank conducts her first interview with Shelia
.

       
The public learns Skylar is missing via TV, radio, and internet
.

   
J
ULY
10

       
First print mention of Skylar's disappearance occurs in the
Dominion Post,
Morgantown's newspaper
.

       
Dave's aunt Joanne organizes first coordinated search for Skylar
.

   
J
ULY
13

       
First Websleuths thread about Skylar's disappearance is started by kmartin96, leading to a crowdsourcing of the investigation. Pisces_Sun later posts how people in Morgantown are not paying attention to Skylar's case
.

   
J
ULY
15

       
Mary and Carol realize Skylar must be dead–or she would have come home by then
.

   
J
ULY
16

       
The Blacksville branch of the Huntington National Bank is robbed a second time. State troopers Gaskins and Berry respond to the scene, which will later lead them to become involved in Skylar's case
.

   
J
ULY
19

       
First police interview of Rachel Shoaf
.

       
Gaskins and Berry interview Darek Conaway and other Blacksville residents about the area bank robberies. They return to the Conaway residence later with State Police, sheriff's deputies, and the FBI to search the house
.

   
A
UG
. 6

       
Shelia posts selfie of her and Skylar along with the words, want my bestfriend back .

   
A
UG
. 16

       
University High School classes begin
.

       
Daniel Hovatter is suspicious of Rachel and Shelia, and begins pressuring Rachel during drama class to talk. He doesn't let up throughout the fall or winter
.

   
A
UG
. 17

       
Mary and Dave start TEAMSKYLAR 2012, a closed Facebook group
.

   
A
UG
. 25

       
Dissatisfied with the status of the Star City Police investigation, Mary calls West Virginia State Police and asks them to get involved
.

   
A
UG
. 27

       
Trying to see if Skylar's disappearance is linked to the bank robberies, Gaskins and Berry visit the Neese home and begin investigating Skylar's disappearance
.

       
Police begin hearing vague rumors that the Conaway boys are involved, but later discover that isn't true
.

   
S
EPTEMBER

       
The Eddy and Shoaf families each hire attorneys. A major breakthrough occurs in the case when Trooper Chris Berry realizes the car seen on the apartment complex surveillance video belongs to Shelia
.

   
S
EPT
. 7

       
First search warrant is served at UHS, and Shelia and Rachel's cell phones are confiscated
.

       
First searches are conducted at the Eddy-Clendenen and Shoaf homes, and all of the girls' electronic equipment is seized
.

   
N
OVEMBER

       
A Midsummer Night's Dream
performances take place at UHS; Rachel and Daniel have prominent roles. Upon hearing Rachel missed her opening night performance because she was with Shelia, Patricia confronts Rachel before show time
.

       
The FBI and West Virginia State Police question Crissy Swanson, Eric Finch, and Aaron Roupe about Skylar's disappearance. The three teens are subsequently served with subpoenas for a federal grand jury
.

       
Crissy tells Shelia she appeared before the grand jury
.

   
D
ECEMBER

       
Shelia fails polygraph
.

       
Rachel jumps from her father's car on the way to take her polygraph and runs to Tara's office
.

   
D
EC
. 25

       
Shania gives Shelia a collage of photos with Shelia and Skylar as a Christmas gift
.

   
D
EC
. 28

       
Rachel has a nervous breakdown and is committed to a local psychiatric hospital
.

2013

   
J
AN
. 3

       
Rachel is discharged from the hospital
.

       
Rachel confesses to her attorney, John Angotti, and the police that she and Shelia stabbed Skylar to death
.

       
Snowfall hinders Rachel from leading police to Skylar's remains
.

       
Rachel talks with Shelia while wearing a microphone, but Shelia fails to incriminate herself. There are no direct tweets from Shelia to Rachel from this day forward
.

   
J
AN
. 16

       
Using GPS coordinates, police return to kill site after snow melts. They find Skylar's remains, where they discover her head is missing
.

   
J
ANUARY

       
Skylar's Law is introduced to the West Virginia Legislature
.

   
F
EBRUARY

       
Dave speaks to House legislative committee
.

   
M
ARCH
13

       
Remains publicly identified as Skylar's by the U.S. Attorney
.

   
M
ARCH
29

       
Gaskins returns to the kill site and finds Skylar's skull
.

   
M
AY
1

       
Rachel turns herself in to authorities at the Monongalia County Circuit Court
.

       
Shelia arrested in Cracker Barrel parking lot
.

       
Rachel transferred to criminal court in closed hearing. After Rachel is assigned adult status, she pleads guilty to second-degree murder and is incarcerated at the Northern Regional Juvenile Detnetion Center in Wheeling, WV
.

       
Gaskins, Spurlock, and Colebank take Shelia to the Lorrie Yeager Juvenile Center in Parkersburg, WV
.

       
UHS students are stunned when they learn Rachel has confessed to killing Skylar, after news of her plea is broadcast on radio and TV
.

   
J
UNE
2

       
Mary and Dave begin to clean up the spot where Skylar's remains were found and create a memorial site in Skylar's honor
.

   
J
UNE
23

       
Memorial held for Skylar by family and close supporters at site of murder
.