- 7 hours ago
Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese - Season 1 - Episode 02: The Betrayal
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:15Well, I heard at the fair that, uh, she overdosed on heroin.
00:21Sheila just was like, well, I had sex with Dylan Conaway.
00:25I was like, why would you do that?
00:27Why?
00:31Sheila said, Skylar was mad at me.
00:34Do you think maybe Skylar would have hung out with Dylan to make me jealous, to spite me?
00:43We thought we'd start interviewing these people that are being brought up in these rumors.
00:48We kept getting the name Derek Conaway, and we decided, well, let's go talk to him.
00:55Derek Conaway's criminal background, he had a very large rap sheet.
01:00Drug use, and, um, one domestic battery charge.
01:06This guy's dangerous.
01:09He saw us pull up.
01:11We got out of the car.
01:11He was, uh, out in the backyard shoveling something.
01:15And we told him, you know, hey, we're state police looking in, you know, to the bank robbery.
01:22And, uh, this kid was eyes wide open, breathing hard, like, scared to death.
01:30Ronnie, he goes, why are you so sweaty and breathing so hard?
01:33Are you trying to bury a body?
01:36And he stopped, and the way his reaction was, you would have thought he saw a ghost.
01:42Ronnie said, do you have any weapons in the house?
01:45And he goes, what type of weapon?
01:47We got a revolver.
01:50It looked similar to the one that we saw in the video of the bank robbery.
01:55We got a search warrant, and we found a lot of drugs, heroin.
02:01There was videos in there of parties revealing pictures of girls on the couch.
02:07It looked like they were under the influence, obviously, of a drug or alcohol, but to the point of passing
02:13out.
02:14And it was just kind of weird, um, creepy in a way.
02:19With the girls already, um, tied in with the Conaways,
02:24Ronnie and I were thinking, what are you doing?
02:27You're in danger, and you don't know what he could do to you.
03:02We didn't know what was happening with Scholar or the investigation.
03:08You have that sense of loneliness, but you can't, you can't grieve.
03:15You can't hope for the best, because then you might be delaying the inevitable.
03:20So you're just kind of stuck.
03:22You're in limbo of, there's no way to react yet.
03:29It was rough going back to school without Scholar.
03:32And, um, you couldn't turn around a corner without feeling it,
03:37because there was a missing poster in your face.
03:47Skylar was a good student, and she cared about her grades.
03:50And so the hope was that she would show up for the first day of school.
03:55And when she wasn't there, everyone kind of was like, that's not good.
04:05Rachel and Sheila stopped talking to a lot of people.
04:08They had their schedules changed so that they could be in the same classes with each other.
04:15It literally felt like they did not leave each other's side, like, the entire school day.
04:20Before my dining car
04:27Before my dining car
04:33Before my dining car
04:38I was in a class with Rachel
04:51We were in our English class, it was probably like 6th or 7th period.
04:57It was a very quiet class.
04:59We were just sitting around, everyone was sitting around hanging out, not saying much.
05:04And we saw cops come into school.
05:08They pulled Rachel and Sheila out of class.
05:12I just heard like in the hallway, Sheila and Rachel are getting annoyed by the FBI.
05:17Are they going to ask everyone?
05:20It was scary.
05:24I did feel for Rachel and Sheila.
05:28We thought they know something happened and they're scared to tell law enforcement.
05:34And we served the search warrant on them and we collected their phones.
05:39We needed to get them at the same time so they wouldn't be able to erase anything.
05:46Our next step is to go through the text messages, pictures and videos to see were they holding back on
05:54anything.
05:55They would message each other about anything and everything.
05:58It was nonstop, constant text messages.
06:02But it was a surprise.
06:04When we found images and videos, you know, close off and you could see instances of sexual relations between Rachel
06:16and Sheila.
06:18They were obviously intoxicated.
06:20There was one of them on the couch, nothing bad about it, but they're on the couch banking out and
06:25feeling each other.
06:26There was definitely like sexual acts being done.
06:30And then that made me think, is there more there?
06:33Is it more than just friendship?
06:36Or was it just 16 year old girls that were experimenting with each other?
06:42You know, so it was kind of hard to tell.
06:45And it could have been an incident of embarrassment for them because they both had boyfriends.
06:53Ultimately, we thought maybe that's just not something that like we bring up.
06:58It's none of our business.
06:59It doesn't matter.
07:01That's not what we were looking for.
07:02And it has nothing to do with Skylar.
07:10But then we started getting somewhere.
07:14We found a private message.
07:17And it was on July 6th at 12.30, 12.15 in the morning.
07:24The day Skylar went missing, Sheila direct message to one of the brothers that we were looking after the bank
07:31robbery.
07:33Asking if we can buy drugs from you tonight.
07:40It really kind of felt we were headed in the right direction.
07:43Just because everything was kind of starting to make sense when nothing was making sense before that.
07:52There was another message, private social media message from another user to Sheila Eddy.
08:04Then put initials, which matched one of the brothers.
08:09But we could not verify who the user was.
08:12But that individual definitely had an idea on what the countaways were into and what happened at the party.
08:21We said, we know you had these teenage parties.
08:23We're not saying you're in trouble.
08:25We just need to know where Skylar's at.
08:26That's the main focus.
08:28And Rachel goes, why are you guys keeping looking into this?
08:32She told me nothing's changed since Skylar's been missing.
08:37And that Sheila and her has told me the same story.
08:42We needed more.
08:45So, Star City Police obtained additional search warrants.
08:49And that same day, we went to the Rachel Schoff residence.
08:55The scope of our search warrant covered only the electronics.
09:00But as we went through Rachel's bedroom, I came across her journal.
09:04And she had made an entry the day that Skylar was missing.
09:11Lord, I want to tell you how terribly sorry I am for doing wrong towards you lately.
09:18I need to ask for your forgiveness once again, Lord.
09:22I love you so much.
09:25I know that you can't do whatever you want and think it's okay to just come running back.
09:30But I'm sorry.
09:32Amen.
09:35We just knew something happened.
09:39And she was a witness to something.
09:55Every morning, me and Skylar, we rode the school bus together.
10:03It was nice because we would just share headphones and listen to music on the way to school.
10:08Tonight, I'm gonna give you my all.
10:11We listened to anything that was popular at the time, probably.
10:19So, we bonded over music and things.
10:26The bus would get to school and everyone would just kind of like hang out in the cafeteria until the
10:33first bell would ring and it was time to go to class.
10:36There was one morning.
10:38Skylar was not there.
10:39Rachel was on the phone with Sheila.
10:40And they had contacted Skylar without Skylar knowing that it was a three-way conversation.
10:46Trying to get her to say something to, you know, kind of like incriminate the friendship.
10:52It was just like a very mean girl situation.
10:58It felt kind of like bullying.
11:01So, the next day when we were on our way to school on the bus, I told Skylar that, hey,
11:06you know, they were both on that conversation with you and you didn't know it.
11:10And, you know, she was upset and said that she was gonna talk to them and confront them.
11:15That's just who Skylar was.
11:17She wasn't scared to stand up for herself.
11:19So, she really went for it.
11:21And you guys wonder why I don't trust the shit you say.
11:26I'm not trying to replace you.
11:29You guys have the most unbreakable friendship.
11:32I envy your relationship and I would never try to do that to you.
11:36I love you both equally and I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship because I would never do anything to
11:42risk it.
11:44From then, I really started to see them arguing a lot.
11:46You could definitely, um, see the progression of Skylar slowly being, like, pushed out of the friend group.
11:54It would upset her.
11:56You would see, like, tweets or a Facebook post about it.
12:01You're a two-faced bitch and obviously fucking stupid if you thought I wouldn't find out.
12:07But it felt like they were very keen to put their feelings into social media and let it be known
12:14there rather than in public.
12:17I just don't understand what the fuck I ever did to deserve shit like this.
12:32The Conaway brothers, they were into, like, harder drugs.
12:41And most of us, we just smoked weed and, you know, drank and stuff.
12:45So there was a select crowd that would do partying at his house that were more into doing pills and
12:53things like that.
12:57The rumor was that there was, you know, this party at Dylan Conaway's house and, I don't know, they all
13:06did too many drugs and Skylar did something and she OD'd and they, like, just disposed of the body somewhere.
13:24They did pills a couple of times and that she went through a bad stage with them at one point.
13:29I don't know that for a fact.
13:31It's just what Sheila and them told me.
13:36So, I'm thinking that they were starting to move over to the harder drug side.
13:41Sheila said they would mix drugs and alcohol together or they would drive drunk or drive high.
13:48Stuff like that.
13:50The rumor was they apparently had heard something about the Conaways had ditched her in a mine.
13:57She ran off with somebody.
13:59I mean, they told me all these different kinds of things.
14:04Derek Conaway became a person of interest for us.
14:07So, law enforcement developed this theory that the bank robbery money was used to purchase drugs.
14:16There was a teenage party.
14:19Skylar was present at the party.
14:21Drugs were supplied to her.
14:23She overdosed on that.
14:26I suspect the bank robbery guys, they got scared, they dumped her body in a mine shaft.
14:35So, there's a lot of mine shafts in the Blacksville area with the coal mines.
14:39We checked six different mine shafts.
14:42We couldn't find anything.
14:44We would try to locate the source of those rumors.
14:47So, we'd get a name.
14:49They heard it from another person.
14:50So, we never knew who was the primary source of the rumors.
14:54We felt there wasn't enough evidence to formally charge Derek Conaway.
14:59But all in all, the case was just circumstantial.
15:04My mind was like spinning a hundred miles an hour.
15:07It's like, is there anything we didn't cover?
15:08Is there something we need to go back on?
15:11What can we do next?
15:27Oh my god, you know what? I need to tell you a secret. I just forgot.
15:31You have a secret from me?
15:33Well, I mean, I've never told anyone.
15:35Not even Spala?
15:36No.
15:37Okay.
15:40So, I woke up.
15:42And Sheila hadn't called.
15:45Turns out her and Rachel went to the mall.
15:49They couldn't get a hold of me.
15:53I find that so hard to believe.
15:56It killed me.
15:59I feel left out and unwanted.
16:08One night, she came home after she was working.
16:12And she was just boo-hooing very loud.
16:16So, I went in and I said, good lord, what's wrong?
16:19I didn't know if something had happened or what.
16:22And she wouldn't talk to me.
16:24She'd just get out, leave me alone.
16:27And whatever was going on, it definitely devastated her.
16:34Twitter.
16:35It was like an online diary for her.
16:38Scott started posting more open, like, things towards Rachel, Sheila.
16:44The friendship, the dynamic.
16:46You'll regret it.
16:48Trust me.
16:48Why does Sheila do this?
16:52You would see more and more, like, tweets about each other.
16:55Last time, Sheila.
16:57Hate you.
17:00Sheila and I have been arguing.
17:03This hurts so much.
17:06It sucks her not caring when I care so much about her.
17:11I'm done with that being a one-way street.
17:13So, I've been crying for the past while.
17:15No.
17:20Why aren't you fucking replying?
17:27I tell the whole school all the shit I have on everyone.
17:30Which is a lot.
17:45There was one day.
17:47It was a couple months after she had went missing.
17:51We were in a rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
17:57Me and Rachel, we did all the plays and musicals together and stuff.
18:01We had a lot of lines together.
18:04And we were in the auditorium.
18:07Rachel was having kind of like a breakdown.
18:09And she freaked out.
18:12And her mom was there.
18:14She got really angry and told her to get her shit together.
18:18In front of the whole theater, there was at least like,
18:21I think there was like 20 of us in the play.
18:25Your kids having a breakdown, your first instinct would be to console them,
18:30not yelling and screaming.
18:32That's what made her mom so intimidating.
18:36It was just shocking.
18:38Rachel had told me stories to where things would get a little physical during fights with her mother.
18:44She would come to school all the time telling me,
18:48oh, we got in a fight, you know, stuff like that.
18:50So I felt bad for her.
18:53I remember Rachel freaking out and crying.
18:56She was really wild.
18:59I really don't know how to explain it.
19:02It felt like she had a darker energy to her.
19:08At that point, I knew something was really, really wrong.
19:12You really started to wonder if Rachel and Sheila knew more than what they were leading on.
19:21It was really good and crazy.
19:24There was so much posting online like Instagram, Facebook.
19:28There was Twitter posts with gossip about Rachel and Sheila.
19:34I started to like, kind of put my own thoughts or feelings or theory together.
19:41Um, that those brothers could have had something to do with everything.
19:47And that Rachel and Sheila knew something.
19:51Oh my God, I have to go to singing.
19:556.30.
19:56That's when I have to go to singing and do a dance.
20:00And do a song.
20:01Two songs.
20:02I can't sing when I'm lying.
20:06You've heard me.
20:07So, Sheila could get you to do things that you normally wouldn't want to do.
20:13She was pretty good at it.
20:16I thought maybe something bad had happened that night.
20:19And Rachel and Sheila were just scared to get in trouble because they knew that it happened and everything, but
20:27they didn't do anything about it.
20:31So, one night at play practice, I mean, I confronted her.
20:40I remember that exact day because Rachel and I planned matching outfits.
20:45And we were wearing white pants and blue shirts.
20:50I was standing right with Rachel.
20:52I remember Daniel standing up and he decided to make an uprising in class.
20:58I told Rachel that, um, maybe she should go and talk to the cops and just tell them what they
21:04know because obviously they're still questioning her.
21:07But she freaked out.
21:11Rachel had like a meltdown.
21:13Like, just like started freaking out, like screaming at people and just like losing it.
21:23It got really crazy.
21:26She was like sitting over there crying and stuff.
21:28And I was like, Rachel, why don't you just go talk to the police?
21:31Like, go end everything.
21:34There's a huge fight in half the class is like on his side, half the class is on Rachel's side.
21:41And it becomes this huge controversy and the teacher's not even in the room.
21:44And finally, teacher shows up and he's like, stop.
21:50He yelled at me saying that they're already going through enough.
21:53Um, maybe you shouldn't lay more on them right now.
21:58It was very controversial in school.
22:00It really, really was.
22:02It was definitely on Rachel's side.
22:05And Rachel's crying, you know, you know, why would he think that I'm, you know, I'm a victim here.
22:15It was very bizarre.
22:18People were getting suspicious.
22:23They knew more than they were saying.
22:29I felt like I was trying to do the right thing.
22:34Oh, man, I thought it had to be a brutal few months for her.
22:39Like, her best friend's gone.
22:43The school was basically at war.
22:46You had the people that were team Rachel and Sheila, then you had team Skylar.
22:53People were arguing like in the hallways at the cafeteria.
22:57It was like, why aren't you saying anything?
23:02So it was like clashing all the time.
23:08I felt bad for Rachel.
23:10I wanted to be there for her and comfort her and do whatever I could to make her feel better
23:15about the situation.
23:16She was really seemed upset.
23:46When we asked Sheila and Rachel questions about Skylar's disappearance, the information that we were getting was fragmented, not true,
23:55completely changing.
23:56You know, so like, obviously, that was one of the Achilles heels of the investigation.
24:00So like, how could we mitigate that from continuing to happen?
24:05If the girls had nothing to hide, surely they would not object to a polygraph examination.
24:11Sheila's her best friend.
24:13And we talked to the police and they told them to leave Sheila alone.
24:17I said, Sheila is hurting as bad as we are.
24:21Will you please leave that kid alone?
24:23She's told you everything she knows.
24:25It doesn't sound pretty welcome.
24:27It doesn't sound pretty, it doesn't sound pretty.
24:32I don't know.
24:33Why are you...
24:43Will you prepare for that
24:44But until then, evidently, it's good.
24:49In 2012, I was assigned to the Pittsburgh Division of the FBI journalist.
24:55their polygraph examiner I like talking to people and I really like helping
25:01move cases forward my niche really was people seem like they like talking to me
25:08and I really enjoy talking with them Ronnie is there and we just have a
25:13discussion when she was asked was that your car in the video picking up Schuyler
25:20she finally said yes it confirmed what we believed that was Sheila's car in the video
25:29they were the ones that picked her up at 12 32 a.m on July 6th there isn't a second
25:34person
25:36so then it's like okay what happened when she was asked are you withholding information from police
25:45she said no of course I see her physiology on my polygraph on my laptop I go out of the
25:55room
25:56and I'll talk to the state police and the agents that are in another room listening and I say yeah
26:03you know she she failed that test so I go back in and I say hey Sheila you're you didn't
26:09pass this
26:10test and we have to figure out what happened the best person for her right now might be her mom
26:16so I remember going out and having a conversation with Sheila's mom and saying there's something she's
26:23not telling us and we're really at that point where we have to get to the bottom of this can
26:27you go just
26:28talk with her the mom was stoic and they had a conversation privately Sheila comes back and then
26:39that's when she tells the story of oh we both didn't go home we both went out to Blacksville
26:49Sheila said when we were out there Skyler wanted to go to the boy's house to party and then she
26:56left the car and ran away from the car we look for her for 30 to 45 minutes we couldn't
27:07find her
27:08so then we had to drive home that's when Rachel lost her phone and then Sheila went back and grabbed
27:15the phone the next day so it would explain what is bringing them out to Blacksville that morning on
27:22July 6th and that's why the phones were pinging at 4 a.m. when Sheila went to go get her
27:27phone back
27:29it would put your head through the cycle of being like what's true what's not towards the end of her
27:35statement she made kind of a big deal about how Skyler became belligerent with them and got really
27:42upset and demanded to get out of the car and they were really shocked and surprised at her acting this
27:46way and there's a principle in detection of deception where are people trying to convince you
27:52of something are they trying to convey information to you so when you're reading this you're like
27:57this just seems off a little bit and I remember shaking my head and I'm saying Sheila I'm really
28:05sorry I go I do not believe you and I remember her distinctly taking her fingernails putting them
28:12into the top of the mahogany table and scraping them down out of frustration that we're not believing her
28:20but that's when you really see this personality of her this very defiant young girl coming out
28:28Sheila is not telling us the truth and we have to get to the bottom of this
28:32and now we're gonna have to go talk to Rachel
28:52after reading Rachel's journal we were confident that she was you could say the weakest link we felt
29:00that she was more likely to talk and break so we decide to get Rachel back in for another interview
29:09you tell she was visibly nervous unlike Sheila who's always calm this is when Rachel told us Sheila doesn't
29:20know I'm telling you this oh we were out in Blacksville and we were smoking weed
29:30and Skylar was adamant that she wanted to go to the brother's house
29:37so they actually went to the brother's house and they drove there and Skylar got out of the car
29:45went up to the door went up to the front door one of the vehicles was in the driveway
29:48and the door opened and there was a silhouette of like maybe a tall guy or whatever and let Skylar
29:54in
29:57and then Sheila and Rachel drove home
30:02and never heard from their friend again
30:07we were kept on going down these rabbit holes so it felt like they were covering for someone
30:13so it was like a reset every single time that we talked to them because we would get new information
30:36Rachel would tell me kind of a lot about what went on in their little trio they fought a lot
30:45I was kind of an outlet of a third person that she could tell somebody that wouldn't tell anybody else
30:54I don't know exactly when it could have started but Rachel was obsessed with Sheila and Sheila was
31:00obsessed with Rachel back they were very close it was like a different level of something else
31:07you could tell in little ways of the way they talked to each other and it made Skylar very
31:12uncomfortable in a lot of situations there was one situation I guess where they all were just
31:20hanging out drinking one night and I think that Rachel and Sheila had Skylar videotaped them
31:30sleeping together
31:35Tuesday was the back-to-school bash and after Sheila and I went to Rachel's we snuck some vodka and
31:42got
31:42pretty drunk and crazy Sheila and Rachel ended up doing all girls can do with each other
31:52it's her first time having cameras in her phones they just started to do their own thing and they wanted
31:57to get it videotaped
32:00but Skylar on the other hand had hardly ever kissed somebody in her life and it really made her upset
32:07I can't imagine how she felt holding that camera
32:11the night ended with me and Sheila fighting she always favors the other person when we're with people
32:18and it was the second time she made me cry that night we started screaming at each other and Rachel's
32:25psycho mom came down
32:28after that night there seemed to be a lot of issues to be honest it was a big deal they
32:35were frustrated with Skylar
32:39I tell the whole school all the shit I have on everyone which is a lot
32:48I do remember Rachel coming up to me at my locker just telling me how annoyed she was with Skylar
32:54and how she wished
32:55that she wasn't there
32:58she really didn't want me to tell anybody
33:04Lord forgive me for I am lustful and I am a sinner
33:11I consciously turn away from you Lord and I do not mean to
33:18I know that I am a sinner and I am sorry
33:26I knew that she was hanging out you know sexually with Sheila
33:32I just thought it was exploring having fun you know that's really what I thought
33:36I said hey do your own thing it's fine
33:44I never heard of a video of you know Rachel and Sheila in any sexual manner
33:54frankly I feel like that would have been something that would have spread like wildfire
34:02I never saw anything that would have like made me think that
34:09that they were having some kind of secret relationship
34:15Rachel she usually always had a relationship with a boy
34:17and if she did identify as gay she never told anybody
34:25I feel like at our high school it wasn't like abnormal to be in a same-sex relationship
34:32but depending on your family it could be
34:38especially because of her family
34:40like her parents were very strict
34:43her family was really religious
34:46she was catholic
34:47and um
34:49I'm not sure what they would have accepted her
35:14the longer it goes and as it gets closer to like holidays and stuff
35:19you're like it's something's not right
35:24as it got closer to Christmas you know it just felt more like surreal that Skylar was gone
35:33Mary and I both were feeling helpless
35:38that six months was hell and I didn't have any more ideas they had all exhausted I mean everything I
35:48had hoped for fell through
35:52it's tough to think about Dave and Mary
35:56not having their daughter there with them
35:59I'm not having their daughter there with them
36:02Skylar where'd you go to
36:04is she under the tree
36:07Skylar would love Christmas
36:10I'm gonna see
36:14we would
36:15while it all stops
36:17is that a sleeping bag
36:21it's a Barbie sleeping bag
36:24it's a Barbie sleeping bag
36:27cool
36:29Barbies
36:30oh she loved Barbies
36:32no but it's beautiful
36:34that's Barbie horse
36:36yes it is
36:36wow
36:37a flying horse
36:38wow
36:39wow
36:40what do you think me
36:44Christmas came and went
36:46no Skylar
36:47I went to the state police barracks
36:49and the poor girl behind the counter
36:51knew me
36:52because I was up there all the time
36:53and I was crying
36:55I was pissed off
36:57Dave came to our office
36:59very upset that we didn't have answers
37:01and you know
37:03I definitely wanted to give them answers
37:05I just didn't have any
37:06patience was running thin
37:08you know
37:09for their daughter being missing
37:11and I was right there with them
37:13the biggest fear I had
37:15was never learning the truth
37:18it really took a toll on all the investigators
37:22it's been months now
37:24and we didn't know what was the truth
37:27someone's protecting someone
37:29and Sheila's lying
37:31so we asked Rachel
37:33would you be willing to take a polygraph
37:36and she said
37:39yes
37:43the next day
37:45Rachel was
37:46on her way to the Morgantown
37:49State Police Detachment
37:51to participate
37:52in the polygraph
37:56I was extremely confident
37:59excited
37:59a little bit anxious
38:01but like I thought today was the day
38:03because she was actually going to say
38:05what happened
38:07we might not find Skylar today
38:09but we're going to find out today
38:11what happened to her
38:14so
38:15as
38:16we're getting to
38:17the time
38:18where she's supposed to arrive
38:19at the State Police Detachment
38:21she's late
38:22she's not there
38:23and
38:2420 minutes goes by
38:25and
38:26I get a phone call
38:29it was her
38:30defense attorney
38:31called me
38:32and said
38:33Rachel's missing
38:37what are you talking about
38:38Rachel's missing
38:39and he's like
38:40we can't find Rachel
38:41so we were just kind of
38:42looking at each other
38:43like
38:46where'd she go
38:49what is going on here
38:52he said to me that
38:53Rachel jumped out of the car
38:55and
38:55I couldn't believe it
38:57I asked him
38:57you know
38:58what do you mean
38:59and he goes
39:00we got to a stop
39:01and Rachel jumped out of the car
39:03and we're trying to find her
39:04she's missing
39:09hey Long County 911
39:10do you have an emergency
39:11I have an issue
39:12with a 16 year old
39:13daughter of mine
39:14she can't control her anymore
39:15she's screaming
39:16she's running
39:16to the neighborhood
39:17give me the phone
39:20hurry up
39:27hurry up
39:38Rachel had a mental breakdown
39:40and was committed to a hospital
39:42for evaluation
39:44then Rachel's attorney calls
39:48we were told Rachel's ready to talk
39:55to a hospital
39:56and zinc
39:57because she'd take on
39:57and she's like
39:57.
39:57.
39:57.
39:57.
Comments