Summer Wells
Candus thought back to the last few minutes she had with her daughter before she vanished over a year ago.
She explained: “Me, my mother, and she were planting flowers. After washing our hands, we walked inside, and [Summer] received a treat from grandma.”
According to reports, Summer was playing with her two siblings right before she vanished from her family’s house.
“I asked the boys where their sister was and they said, “She went downstairs, mom, to play with her toys in the playroom,” until I returned two minutes later.
“I called for her a few times downstairs, but I never got a response, which was unusual because typically she always does. I then walked down there to investigate.
Candus thought back to the last few minutes she had with her daughter before she vanished over a year ago.
According to reports, the five-year-old was dressed in grey slacks, a pink blouse, and no shoes.
She is described by investigators as being 40 pounds, three feet tall, and having blonde hair and blue eyes.
Don described his frantic hunt for his young daughter on the property.
Added him: “She left the basement when I arrived and exited through the basement door. which was unlocked, and we haven’t seen her since.”
Summer Wells, age 5, was reported missing on June 15, 2021, at about 6:30 p.m.
Over 13 days, more than 120 teams, including personnel from the Church Hill Rescue Squad, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, searched a sizable area close to her family’s Beech Creek home.
The house’s driveway has nearly completely disappeared due to erosion. Toys that have been abandoned and covered in grass and vines fill the dirt road as you climb the slope toward the house.
You step on the remains of a partially buried doll near the top of the slope. Next, you notice the house, which has plywood siding on some parts and yellow siding on others. Old cars and other random stuff are spread out throughout the yard.
When you leave the house and get to Ben Hill Road’s entrance, you find placards that read “Missing Child” and have a picture of Summer on them.
On 10 of the 13 days that emergency personnel searched the area, Tim Coup, captain of the CHRS, served as the incident commander.
Summer’s, Coup claimed
He was emotionally affected by her absence, which motivated him to give the hunt for her his all.
Coup declared, “I joined the rescue squad to help and give back to my community. The way this call was made, it was difficult for me to be there and do everything I could to attempt to find Summer Wells because I also have a young child of my own.
Her father Donald Wells believes that she was kidnapped and didn’t just run away.
“She would never leave our hill. I think that someone snuck up on her and grabbed her. I don’t think she’s in the area because the dog goes down to the road and that’s the end of the trail, but I don’t know that for a fact. The way that she just disappeared, she would never do that,” Don Wells said.
ABSURDITY CLAIM
He declared in late June that “she would never leave our hill.” “I believe that she was grabbed by someone who crept up on her. The dog goes down to the road and that’s the end of the trail, so I don’t think she’s in the vicinity, but I can’t say for sure.
He said, “The way that she just vanished, she would never do that. “We are aware that people are praying for her safe return all throughout the world. She is adored by so many people.
In a recent interview with WVLT, Donald expanded on his notion, adamant that someone approached the family’s home through a woodland route and abducted the girl unnoticed.
“We have no idea if someone was
waiting in the basement, she might have gone to the swing or back up there to grandma’s, or she might have waited in the basement. We are unsure,” he remarked.
“She entered the basement, and that is all we know. That is all we are aware of. to engage in toy play.
Donald said the basement door was usually left open or unlocked for the family.
“The boys a lot of times would leave this unlocked and wide open a bunch of times, and we’d get on them a lot and tell them ‘you can’t do that’ but we’d always find it open a bunch of times. We tried to control that but we couldn’t control that 100 percent of the time,” he continued.
From there, according to Donald, Summer has likely transported a little distance from the house down a rocky, steep trail.
Donald said that he was at work, that his sons were inside the house, that his wife and mother-in-law were outside, and that they were facing away from the basement entrance at the time of her abduction.
“Well, whatever took her probably had her mouth covered, and by the time she got someplace down here, I guess she was gasping for breath because our neighbor overheard a scream. She’s been telling us all along that it was a pretty humorous scream, he said.
“LURED AWAY”
Search dogs had previously detected Summer’s scent on the path, but they had lost it close to a road, according to the father of four.
He claimed that he thinks someone put his daughter in a vehicle and left.
Summer’s mother, Candus Bly, seemed to concur with Donald’s notion, telling FOX8 that she has a “gut feeling that someone has come up here and taken her, has lured her away from here.”
She begged, “Whoever has my daughter, I hope they haven’t hurt her, and they bring her back to us safe and sound.”
Numerous local law enforcement agencies spent hours investigating the area around the Wells family home and the trail leading there, but they turned up few leads.
Last month, Ronnie Lawson, the sheriff of Hawkins County, revealed that “dogs had a very solid trail that
It was briefly tracked, but then it vanished close to a road.
“Sometimes K-9s will lose the scent when it changes different types, where they maybe went from the gravel to the pavement,” he said.
But Lawson went on to call Donald’s assertion that a neighbor had heard a scream “unfounded.”
Summer Wells church videos:
Some of what people believe is Summer Wells Church Videos had surfaced with her up on the podium but with no parents in sight. These videos are in TN they were taken from January 2021 to March 2021 and the girl in the blue dress in this video looks a lot like summer.
It was briefly tracked, but then it vanished close to a road.
“Sometimes K-9′s will lose the scent when it changes different types, where they maybe went from the gravel to the pavement,” he said.
But Lawson went on to call Donald’s assertion that a neighbor had heard a scream “unfounded.”
Her golden hair, which had once been chin-length, had recently been buzzed down to a crop.
Police released images of her with long hair in the hours after she disappeared, describing her as three feet tall, 40 pounds, and having blue eyes.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) later tweeted: “Missing five-year-old Summer Wells may now have shorter hair than that pictured in our earlier alerts.”
Here are some recent pictures that can better depict the length of her hair right now.
How recently Summer had her hair cropped has never been revealed by her parents.
Her three brothers can all be seen with short, trimmed hair in family photos.
Six weeks after Summer vanished, her three little boys were removed from the Wells family home.
In response to several threats made against him and Candus, Donald reportedly began drinking regularly, claiming that his home was a “dangerous” place to be.
According to Wells on a podcast, “Right now, with everyone attacking us and all this stuff going on, it’s probably better for them.”
According to reports, Donald also claimed that other individuals had come to him and accused him of various crimes related to the disappearance of his daughter.
“I believed that stuff,” Wells admitted. “Like a fool, I thought it was true, and I lost it, started drinking, and did everything else. And that’s why they abducted our children.
He stated that the boys being removed was because of him, the podcast’s host Jennifer Youngblood told local media, “having an episode of drinking and there are other things swirling around the internet that it could be the home life or what’s going on right now in Summer’s case.”
Donald said that the family had caught other trespassers, including a woman who claimed to be a clairvoyant, on their land.
“She shouldn’t need to stop by our house, her crazy ass. She makes claims of being a Christian and a psychic simultaneously. What’s the process there?” he asked WVLT.
“Please know that our daughter has our undivided affection. We would never act in a way that endangered our daughter.”
We would never harm anyone, my daughter.
“We are Christians, and we love everyone. We wouldn’t harm anyone, certainly not our lovely, devoted daughter.
“At first, I went two days without sleeping. I had trouble sleeping for two days. The sorrow and pain he experienced were the worst he had ever experienced in his life. “A lie detector exam was not available to me. They delayed me a little, but when I finally took it, I passed.
“They extended Candus’ wait for hers by five days. She tried, but she couldn’t. She made an effort but was unsuccessful. People claim that we failed the test and then retook it. Since that is not the case, when we took them, we both passed, he said.
No, Donald responded when asked if his theory of what transpired to Summer had altered. In my opinion, she has definitely been kidnapped.
I am confident Candus wouldn’t misrepresent any of the facts to me.
She wouldn’t lie, and she has no reason to.
Summer most likely passed away.
According to statistics, she probably already passed away, Donald told the Kingsport Times-News. “I detest to consider that. With all of my heart, I adore her.
I’ll at least see her in the resurrection, he continued. I’ll see her if I obey the law and carry out my responsibilities.
Donald continued by saying he would do “anything to have my baby back” and that he is trusting God to “turn this around.”
I’ve decided not to let Satan win, he declared. “I must continue to advance. I still have to report to work. Even though I miss her, I still have to try.
In the interview in July, he also
insisted that he wouldn’t let the disappearance of his daughter lead him back to drinking.
In the phone conversation with the neighborhood newspaper, he declared, “I’m not going to let Satan convince me to go drinking.” “I’m not taking that route. I opt for living. I go with God.
However, Donald was detained on suspicion of drunk driving on Saturday night not far from his Hawkins County home.
Donald is also facing a number of other allegations, such as having an open container and failing to pay his debts.
According to the network, his charge of “financial responsibility” may have resulted from his lack of insurance because Tennessee law requires drivers to show proof of their ability to pay for repairs or damages following certain offenses or accidents.
Donald was also accused of using the wrong lane. According to state legislation, “vehicles shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from that lane until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety.”
He was
Initially detained on a $5,750 bond but released just after 7.30am on Sunday, according to county records. Truthfinder
He was arrested, but no other information has been made public.
The Wells family released a statement on their website devoted to finding Summer in which they called Donald’s actions “stupid” and disclosed that he had been out searching for cigarettes when he was stopped.
The note was titled “Thank You For Prayers” and it said: “Thank you to everyone for the wonderful messages.
What each day and night is like cannot be described in words. We required some cigarettes. IT was a foolish choice. Please continue to pray for us. Save Don. This suffering will not end. I’m grateful.
A judge imposed a gag order on the child protective services case involving Donald and Candus’ sons on Monday after his detention.
It states that “All parties to this action are hereby prohibited from discussing this matter or the children with the media or any other nonessential person entity and/or uninvolved or disinterred parties and/or persons.”
Authorities have declined to comment on the basis for the gag order’s issuance.
Donald Wells has a criminal history that includes domestic violence and further alcohol-related offenses.
A warrant issued in General Sessions Court states, “I am afraid for myself and my children.”
On April 21, two months prior to Summer’s disappearance, she later sought for the order to be revoked, and Donald was cleared of all charges.
A judge imposed a gag order on the child protective services case involving Donald and Candus’ sons on Monday after his detention.
It states that “All parties to this action are hereby prohibited from discussing this matter or the children with the media or any other nonessential person entity and/or uninvolved or disinterred parties and/or persons.”
Authorities have declined to comment on the basis for the gag order’s issuance.
Donald Wells has a criminal history that includes domestic violence and further alcohol-related offenses.
More than a thousand tips have been given to state detectives in relation to Summer’s disappearance, but according to the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, none of them have resulted in any solid leads.
Summer went missing on June 15, 2021 the day before on June 14th, 2021 there were videos and photos of her by a for sale sign. There are theories that one or both of her parents willingly sold her to this church and some ex-members of this church claim it is a cult. Could she have been sold into a religious cult? Some also speculate that they shaved her head because people would have been looking for a blonde girl not one with a shaved head and that would throw off from tips coming in. Could the SDA church be a cult? Could they of offered to buy their daughter from them? Despite several leads and tips submitted early on in the investigation, nearly two years later, Summer is still missing and her AMBER Alert remains active.
The AMBER Alert lists the following to help identify the missing 5-year-old Summer Utah-Moon Wells:
- Age: 5
- Sex: Female
- Race: White
- Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue
- Height: 3′
- Weight: 40 lbs.
- NCIC: M476287498
- Missing From: Rogersville, Tennessee
- Missing Since: June 15, 2021
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