( CNN ) -- Police are asking that the volunteer searches for three missing Michigan brothers be stopped by Friday night . Local authorities and federal investigators have been trying to find 9-year-old Andrew Skelton , 7-year-old Alexander William Skelton and 5-year-old Tanner Skelton last seen on Thanksgiving . The end of the volunteer searches will allow authorities the opportunity to process what has been done and collected and to `` re-evaluate our direction for the following week , '' said Larry Weeks , police chief of Morenci , Michigan . John Skelton , the boys ' father who has been charged with parental kidnapping , is fighting his extradition from Ohio , authorities said Wednesday . A hearing is set for December 14 . Skelton was arrested Tuesday upon his release from a mental health facility where he was being treated after a suicide attempt , Weeks said . Although investigators have found `` a number of items , '' they still do not know the children 's whereabouts , Weeks said . Asked whether he believes that the boys are dead , Weeks said Wednesday , `` I refuse to believe that at this point , '' saying he wanted to maintain hope . He did , however , repeat his Tuesday statement that a positive outcome is not anticipated . Investigators have not spoken with Skelton `` in some time , '' he said , or developed any additional information . He previously said authorities are skeptical of the information Skelton has provided . Skelton said he left the three boys with a woman , whom he identified as Joann Taylor , the morning before he tried to take his own life -- in part to ensure that they did not witness his suicide attempt . Skelton said Taylor was supposed to take the boys to their home in Morenci , a southern Michigan town of about 2,400 people about 40 miles west-northwest of Toledo , Ohio , Friday afternoon , Weeks said . But the boys never arrived . Earlier , authorities determined that Skelton had no `` established relationship '' with the person he named as Taylor , and they are n't certain that she even exists . Authorities continue to ask for the public 's help , hoping someone saw Skelton 's blue 2000 Dodge Caravan , in which he was believed to be carrying the boys along a 25-mile stretch of road between Morenci and Holiday City , Ohio . The last time someone other than a family member saw the boys was at 5 p.m. on November 25 , according to the chief . Police say Tanner is 3 feet , 6 inches tall with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes , and weighs about 40 pounds . Alexander is 3 feet , 9 inches tall , has brown hair and eyes , weighs about 45 pounds and has scars on his hairline and chin . The oldest brother , Andrew , is 4 feet , 1 inch tall , has brown hair and eyes and weighs roughly 57 pounds .
Police are told that the searches stop Friday . Chief Skelton is seeking extradition from Ohio . Chief says he refuses to believe the 3 boys are dead .