Skylar Neese memorial site

This is the location where Skylar Neese was murdered.

The memorial site is situated on a rural road in Wayne Township, in the south of Pennsylvania. It lies to the northwest of Blacksville, West Virginia.

Friendship

At the time of her death, the 16-year-old was friends with two girls named Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, both of whom attended her high school.

However, the two girls reportedly fell out with Neese at some point during the summer of 2012.

Murder

On the night of July 5th, 2012, Eddy and Shoaf texted Neese and asked her to sneak out of her apartment in Star City.

At first, she thought the invitation was strange, as she wasn't on great terms with the girls. However, after a series of messages, she eventually agreed to hang out.

Shortly after midnight, she quietly climbed out of her bedroom window and ran across the street to Eddy's car, completely unaware that she was being lured to her death.

Her "friends" had been secretly planning the murder for months. That night, they brought knives, a shovel, cleaning supplies, and a spare change of clothes.

After picking up Neese, they drove northwest, crossed the state border, and then stopped at this rural road in the south of Pennsylvania.

The girls were familiar with this location, as they had hung out by the creek several times in the past.

Once Neese had her back turned, Eddy and Shoaf set upon her with knives and stabbed her multiple times. When she attempted to run away, one of the girls jumped on her and dragged her to the ground.

The teenager did not die without putting up a fight, however, as during the struggle, she grabbed one of the knives and cut Shoaf's ankle.

The two girls continued their attack on Neese until she eventually stopped fighting back.

Once they were confident she was dead, they attempted to bury her body using the shovel. However, this plan failed, as they were unable to dig a hole in the dense, rocky soil beside the creek.

Realizing they needed to improvise, Eddy and Shoaf covered the body with branches, twigs, and whatever else they could find.

Investigation

On the morning of July 6th, 2012, Neese's father, Dave, entered her bedroom and noticed she wasn't there. After finding her window screen in her closet, he concluded that she must have snuck out during the night.

Later that day, her parents learned that she had failed to show up for her part-time job at Wendy's. Consequently, they reported her missing.

The police initially assumed Neese was a runaway. This was despite the fact that she had left her home in Star City with no money.

However, as time wore on, they began to suspect that foul play was involved.

During the investigation, they found security footage of Neese entering a sedan outside her apartment building. Shortly afterwards, they determined that the car was owned by Eddy.

When they questioned Eddy, she claimed that she had dropped her "friend" off at the end of the road by her apartment.

As the search for Neese heated up, Shoaf suffered a mental breakdown and confessed to the crime. She also told the authorities where they had hidden the body.

Investigators fitted her with a wire in an attempt to record Eddy talking about the crime. However, she failed to say anything of note.

When detectives finally decided to arrest Eddy, they visited her house and discovered she wasn't home, as she and her mother were at a Cracker Barrel diner at the time.

Consequently, they drove to the restaurant and arrested her in the parking lot.

Outcome

In exchange for her cooperation, Shoaf was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser crime of second-degree murder.

Eddy, on the other hand, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Although she initially denied any involvement, she changed her plea shortly before her trial was due to start.

In January 2014, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Due to Shoaf's cooperation, she received a shorter sentence of 30 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

Shoaf was denied parole in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, she chose to waive her hearing.