The Disturbing Aftermath: Where Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf Are Today, 14 Years After Killing Skylar Neese

14 years ago, Skylar Neese unknowingly found herself in a deadly betrayal perpetrated by her close friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf. The 16-year-old West Virginia teenage girl was a straight-A student who worked part-time at a local fast-food restaurant with dreams of becoming a lawyer. Tragically, those plans were cut horribly short on July 6, 2012.

Where Are Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf Now?

The victim’s killers are currently incarcerated at the Lakin Correctional Center in West Columbia, West Virginia. They are held at the same facility, but the relationship that once defined their lives has not survived prison. Shoaf has appeared before the parole board twice and been denied both times. June 2026 is when she will be up for parole again.

Eddy will not be eligible for her first parole hearing until 2028. Neese’s story has been revisited in “Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese,” a three-part documentary series that premiered on Hulu on March 6, 2026. Her parents, Dave and Mary Neese, have continued to speak publicly about their daughter, keeping her memory alive more than a decade after her death.

Who Are The Girls Who Killed Skylar Neese?

Both girls were Neese’s best friends. Neese and Eddy had known each other since the second grade, when they met at an after-school program. Although they lived in different towns, the pair kept in close contact with each other. Eddy’s family moved closer to Neese in 2010, and she began attending University High School.

The victim’s father made a statement to 20/20, saying, “If they weren’t together, they were on the phone together, and that’s literally 24 hours a day.” Shoaf previously attended a private Catholic school, but then she enrolled at the University High School during her freshman year, leading to her becoming the new addition to the group.

Who Was Skylar Neese?

Neese was a typical teenager who lived in the small suburban community of Star City, West Virginia. She was raised by her father, who worked at Walmart, and her mom, Mary Nesse, who was employed at a local doctor’s office. The teen loved the Disney Channel and would watch the channel with her parents every Friday. She was the only child of her parents.

She achieved a 4.0 grade point average at the University High School, and was working part-time at Wendy’s most evenings and on the weekends. Neese wanted to be a criminal lawyer and would even ask her mom if she would make a good lawyer. Per MetroNews, the teen’s dad said, “Her dream was to go to law school. That’s what she was going to do. If you ever argued with her, you’d see why. She was great.”

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What Happened the Night Skylar Neese Disappeared?

The evening of July 5, 2012, began like most others. Neese worked her shift, came home, and said goodnight to her parents. Just after midnight, Neese slipped out through her bedroom window. Neese and Shoaf were waiting outside in a car. Neese believed they were heading somewhere to smoke marijuana — a routine outing.

She had no idea her killers had planned something much more sinister. The two had come prepared: Kitchen knives. A shovel. Cleaning products. Fresh clothes. They drove to a wooded area in Brave, Pennsylvania — a spot the three had visited before. Before they lit up, Eddy claimed her lighter wasn’t working and sent Neese back to the car. With the victim’s back turned, both girls attacked.

Although Neese fought back, her killers just kept stabbing her. The attack didn’t stop until there was no sound left. Neese had been stabbed more than 50 times. The girls tried to dig a hole to bury her, but the ground was too rocky. Instead, they covered her body with leaves and drove away.

How The Killers Were Caught

When Neese didn’t show up for work the next day, her parents contacted the police. The investigation that followed would take months and test every resource available to investigators. In the early days, Neese’s killers played the roles of grieving friends. They handed out missing flyers and posted tributes online. And when questioned by police, they stuck to a story: they had picked Neese up around 11 p.m. for a short joyride and dropped her back near her apartment about 30 minutes later.

Security footage from Neese’s apartment complex showed her climbing into a car around 12:30 a.m. — not 11 p.m. Gas station footage identified the vehicle as Eddy’s Toyota Camry. Cell phone records placed both girls near the Pennsylvania border around 4 a.m., nowhere near where they claimed to have been. Still, neither girl cracked immediately.

In December 2012, both agreed to take polygraph tests. Eddy failed. Shoaf, meanwhile, was falling apart. On the way to her test, she jumped out of her father’s moving car and ran to Eddy’s home. Not long after, she suffered a breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric facility. When Shoaf was released in January 2013, she asked to meet with her attorney — and then confessed everything.

Shoaf led investigators to the crime scene, but snowfall prevented evidence collection at the time. Authorities sent her home and attempted to get Eddy to incriminate herself by wiring Shoaf for a recorded conversation. It didn’t work. When the snow finally melted, cadaver dogs located Neese’s remains. Around the same time, FBI forensic analysis found Neese’s DNA in the trunk of Eddy’s car. The case was closed. Eddy was arrested in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in May 2013.

Did The Killers Plead Guilty?

Eddy was held in jail without bail shortly after her arrest. She pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Her case was set for trial on Jan. 20, 2014, but she took a plea deal at her pre-trial hearing and pleaded guilty. Eddy avoided federal charges and prosecution from the state of Pennsylvania for hiding Neese’s body.

The judge then sentenced her to life in prison with mercy, a West Virginia law that allows juveniles the possibility of parole after 15 years. Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May 2013 and received a 30-year prison sentence, with eligibility for parole after 10 years. She issued an apology to the victim’s family at her sentencing. “Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese” is now streaming on Hulu.