Shelia posted about her missing best friend. Then police learnt the truth.

On July 6, 2012, 16-year-old Skylar Neese snuck out of her family's Star City, West Virginia apartment just after midnight to meet her two best friends.

She had no idea they were plotting her murder.

What followed is chilling proof that you can't believe everything you read online. Even if it comes from your daughter's best friends.

Skylar has been thriving. The West Virginia teen maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA, held down a part-time job and an active social life.

Her parents described her as "inseparable" from her friends Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf.

According to ABC News, Skylar met Shelia when she was just eight years old. The pair shared what seemed like an unbreakable friendship ever since.

"She was like a part of our family. She really was," her dad Dave Neese told ABC's 20/20. "I mean, just like one of our kids."

When Shelia transferred to Skylar's school in 2010 and brought her friend Rachel into their circle, it seemed like the perfect trio. But beneath the surface, something sinister was brewing.

Watch a snippet of Dateline's Crime Capsule on Skylar Neese. Post continues below.

The night everything changed.

July 5, 2012, started like any other day. As the hours wore on, Skylar finished her work shift and headed home. Her parents thought she stayed in her room, but when Dave discovered her empty bed and the missing fly screen from her window the next morning, alarm bells went off.

"I knew: she snuck out last night," Dave told ABC News. "And then, oh my god, she snuck out last night, and she's not home."

For the first time ever, Skylar didn't show up to work. It was completely out of character, and her parents immediately called police.

While Skylar's parents frantically searched for their missing daughter, Shelia and Rachel were the picture of concerned friends. They told everyone their story: they'd picked up Skylar the previous night, driven around smoking marijuana, then dropped her at the end of her street so she wouldn't wake her parents.

Shelia even helped search for Skylar, comforting her devastated parents while knowing exactly where her friend's body was.

Skylar's parents were distraught.

"I was scared to death. I mean I didn't know where my baby was," Dave said. "It was horrible."

Skylar Neese. Image: Facebook.

As the investigation progressed, police believed the most likely scenario was that Skylar went to a house party and overdosed, ABC News reported.

Meanwhile, her best friends continued to post about their lives online. And there was a disturbing aspect to Shelia's posts.

The day after Skylar's disappearance, she casually posted birthday wishes to another friend. For months, she tweeted about homework, TV shows, and typical teenage complaints — all while authorities desperately searched for her "missing" friend.

On April 1, 2013, she posted: "We really did go there."

"It's so weird how people fight with their bestfriend, like i never fight with mine," she wrote on April 29, 2013.

"I hate seeing or hearing things that remind me of you because you're the last person i want to be reminded of," another post from that day read.

rest easy skylar, you'll ALWAYS be my bestfriend. i miss you more than you could ever know. pic.twitter.com/g6UaDf9Vfb

— shelia eddy (@_sheliiaa) March 13, 2013

how am i supposed to concentrate on homework when svu is on all day

— shelia eddy (@_sheliiaa) April 30, 2013

For half a year, both girls maintained their facade.

Meanwhile, Skylar's body lay in Pennsylvania woods, about 40km from home, where she'd been stabbed over 50 times.

The truth only emerged when Rachel suffered a nervous breakdown and confessed on January 3, 2013. She led police to Skylar's remains and revealed the horrifying reality of that July night.

Shelia was arrested months later when DNA evidence was found in her car. Even then, she maintained her innocence until the evidence became overwhelming.

Shelia Eddy, Rachel Shoaf and Skylar Neese. Image: ABC News.

The unthinkable truth.

What actually happened that night defies comprehension. While Skylar thought they were going for a drive to smoke marijuana, her friends had planned her murder.

The pair had brought all they needed with them: kitchen knives, a shovel, cleaning products and fresh clothes, per People.

Once in the woods in Brave, Pennsylvania, Rachel told police they counted to three, then both girls stabbed Skylar to death, per ABC News.

Authorities said Skylar was stabbed over 50 times.

People reports that Skylae put up a fight, even managing to get Rachel's knife from her and cut her leg, but Shelia kept going. When Skylar had passed, Shelia and Rachel attempted to dig a hole but were unsuccessful. They left her body covered with leaves and drove home.

When the truth finally came out, the motive was as shocking as it was senseless: "We just didn't like her," Rachel told police, per ABC News.

Both teens were charged as adults.

Rachel received 30 years and has been repeatedly denied parole — most recently in 2024. Shelia got life without parole. Only Rachel apologised to Skylar's parents.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know if there's a proper way to make this apology, because there are not even words to describe the guilt and remorse that I feel each day for what I've done. The person that did that was not the real me, not the person I am, not what I'm made of and not what I believe," Rachel said in court.

Today, both women remain incarcerated at the Lakin Correctional Center in West Virginia. While they are in the same facility, People reports they're not as close as they were.

Skylar's story is now helping to protect other children.

The case led to "Skylar's Law" in West Virginia, requiring authorities to issue Amber Alerts for all missing children, regardless of circumstances.

Feature image: ABC News.