Three
After midnight on July 6th, 2012, three teenage girls walked into the thick Appalachian woods somewhere along the Mason-Dixon line. Hours later, under the glow of a nearly full moon, only two walked out.
The very last time Dave and Mary Neese saw their only child Skylar was in a grainy black-and-white video. In it, she's sneaking out of her ground-floor bedroom in the middle of the night, her purse over her shoulder, her brown hair swinging as she hurries across the small parking lot to a waiting car.
What happened to Skylar Neese has become gothic American lore: the odd girl out in a vicious teenage triangle. But in the ten years since that fateful night beneath the West Virginia stars, a fuller portrait of what happened has emerged. From award-winning journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea comes a gripping 10-part series featuring Skylar's family, closest friends, and law enforcement who lived the case– and are still living it.
“Harman and Millea interview Skylar's family and close friends, as well as investigators on the case, about the chilling dynamic at the heart of this teen triangle — and how it reached its sinister pinnacle.” – Mashable, The 20 Bests Podcasts of 2024
Our Editor's Take
Three is a limited-episode true crime podcast about the murder of Skylar Neese. The hosts of the show are journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea. Harman has written for Elle and has hosted popular podcasts about Los Angeles culture. Millea followed the Neese case as it developed and wrote about it in "Trial by Twitter," which ran in Elle.
The podcast explores the case from the first instance of Skylar's disappearance in July 2012. Sixteen-year-old Skylar Neese is home from her shift waiting tables. After her family goes to sleep, a security camera catches her getting into a car that is idling near her home. There would be nothing remarkable about the event if it wasn't the last night of Skylar's life.
When her parents discover Skylar's disappearance, they raise the alarm. Police discover that Skylar rode off with Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, her two best friends. Shelia explains that she dropped Skylar off ten miles away and hasn't seen her since. A frantic search ensues. The Neeses hand out fliers, and police continue to investigate. They question Shelia and Rachel, but the podcast reveals they can't find clues as to where Skylar might be.
The girls return to high school, and fall sets in. At last, in January, Rachel confesses. She and Shelia plotted Skylar's murder. They drove her into the woods, stabbed her, and covered her body in twigs and leaves. Rachel brings the police to the site where Skylar's body still lies.
After the recovery of Skylar's body, all that remains is to ask why. On the surface, the three girls were inseparable. So what would drive two of them to plot, then execute, the murder of their friend? Podcast hosts Harman and Millea interrogate the question as the trial unfolds. They talk to the girl's friends and family for insight. They also examine each girl's social media accounts for signs of intent.
Three is more than a true crime podcast. It's also an exploration of the minds of teenage girls in the age of social media.
Episodes
