How Two Best Friends Murdered Skylar Neese

Sixteen-year-old Skylar Neese climbed out of her bedroom window in Morgantown, West Virginia, on the night of July 6, 2012, stepped into a car with her two best friends, and was never seen alive again. What began as an apparent missing persons case unraveled into one of the most disturbing true crime stories in recent American history: a cold-blooded murder planned and carried out by two teenage girls against their own closest friend.

Now, the Disney+ documentary series Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese turns a fresh spotlight on the case — one that shocked an entire country and forced difficult questions about what can hide behind the surface of even the closest friendships.

An Ordinary Night That Ended in Tragedy

Skylar Neese appeared to be living a normal teenage life in Morgantown. She had a tight social circle and, like many her age, shared much of her life on social media. Nothing about that July evening gave any indication of what was coming — that the two friends she drove off with had already planned to take her life.

Her body was found months later near Horton, West Virginia, far from her home in Morgantown. The discovery confirmed that the killing was not a crime of impulse. It had been premeditated, and after carrying it out, the two girls returned to their everyday lives as though nothing had happened.

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The Lies That Fell Apart

In the months following Skylar's disappearance, her friends Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf presented themselves publicly as worried, grieving companions. They joined search efforts, posted on social media, and kept up appearances. The police investigation stretched on — but in June 2013, the facade finally collapsed.