As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, so do so many heavy hearts across metro Detroit.

This will mark the 8-year anniversary of the Skelton Brothers' disappearance.

Andrew, Alexander and Tanner, of Morenci, went missing on Black Friday in 2010.

The lead investigator on the case, Michigan State Police Det. Lt. Jeremy Brewer, sat down with Action News in downtown Detroit.

“If the boys are still out there, I hope they know that people are fighting for them every day," Brewer said. "I think about that all the time."

Brewer, lives and breathes this case. As the lead cop, he comes with great commitment and compassion while facing some tough facts.

“We are realist in this, and for three boys to still be out there eight years later, knowing everything we know, It makes you think that something very bad may have happened," Brewer said with a heavy heart.

The boys went missing the day after Thanksgiving while in the care of their father John Skelton.

Right now, he is behind bars for unlawful imprisonment. Skelton claims he gave his sons to an unknown group to keep them safe from his estranged wife, Tanya Zuvers, who is the boys’ mother.

Police don’t believe any parts of Skelton’s story, not one bit.

“I do communicate with him through a lot of different avenues to get information about him and from him," Brewer said. "He’s still giving us nothing but lies. Every time he seems to share information with us, it's either misdirection or it’s a bold face lie."

Though by definition you would call this a cold case, it’s still being worked everyday.

Tips are still coming in, but to get to answers and ultimately justice, Brewer says John Skelton must tell the truth.

If you have information on this case, please contact Michigan State Police at 517-636-0689.