Latest news with #SummerWells
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Father of missing Summer Wells tells of 'living nightmare' and reveals their home has been searched 11 times
The father of missing Tennessee girl Summer Wells says the past four years have been a 'living nightmare' - with 11 police searches on his home, his other children taken by the state, and his eldest son now listed online 'like a shopping product'. Speaking ahead of the anniversary of his daughter's disappearance, Don Wells told Daily Mail that he still believes his daughter was kidnapped and addressed her abductors saying: 'Be glad I'm a Christian. I just hope law enforcement finds you first.' Summer was five years old when she vanished from her family's home in Hawkins County on June 15, 2021. Despite extensive searches and an ongoing AMBER Alert, no trace of her has ever been found. Police have said there is no evidence of an abduction. Her disappearance devastated the family - but Don says what followed nearly broke them. 'We were a two parent family. They kept trying to get us to divorce. We suffered together. We suffered separate. We are now more solid together than ever before,' he said. 'We are still a two parent family with no children to parent.' He and wife Candus Bly lost custody of their three sons in the wake of Summer's disappearance. One of them, Josey, is now featured in a public adoption video. '(He) is online being marketed like a shopping product. The pain never ends,' Don said. 'It was so good to finally see him. He is a great young man but has to be so hurt cause they took him and his brothers away from everything they knew. Then they took him from his brothers. 'This isn't about us now, it's about our boys. They took three of the five witnesses away. Together we could have worked together to try to solve what happened to their sister. Instead they lost everything. When we lost them, we lost everything. Hell times four.' He says their hearts were so 'shredded' by the loss that it became nearly impossible to focus on the search for Summer. 'How could we concentrate on Summer when our hearts were shredded that our boys were gone so far away,' he said. 'We didn't know how the system worked... constantly being told how rotten we are by DCS, by social media, by people on the streets, on and on.' Now, after years of legal battles, both Don and Candus have been cleared by the Department of Children's Services. In spring 2025, DCS withdrew its findings of abuse or neglect, and a judge formally dismissed the allegations against them. 'Now DCS admits for the second time we are NOT abusers or neglectors of our children,' Don said. 'So bring Josey home. Bring them all home.' The home they once shared with their five-year-old daughter has now been searched 11 times by investigators. 'Yes. If it wasn't for God and our Church and Pastor and friends, we wouldn't be here. God has remained faithful,' Don said. Asked what he would say to Summer if he could speak to her today, he replied: 'I would hug her so long and cry so long that words would not have to be said. I love her so much. I love my wife so much. I love my boys so much. This week is so hard.' Despite the emotional toll, Don says they've continued working with a private investigator who stays in touch with the TBI. 'Our PI is very helpful. We have to trust that TBI and FBI is using every resource and technology and AI tools they have,' he said. 'We report any thought we have to our PI and he communicates it with TBI. They know my thoughts.' 'The TBI says they have recent leads. That is all we know.' In 2023, authorities released an age-progressed photo of what Summer might look like at age 7. A $40,000 reward fund was later dissolved and redirected to a regional child advocacy group. And although countless tips have come in, none have led to a breakthrough. Don says public support has recently surged online. 'This year is different. There is a huge interest happening this year,' he said. 'Pictures we are posting are getting to over 350,000 views. Followers on the fbook page went from 9500 to over 13,000 these past few days. The volume of prayers, encouragements, and support is something we are not use to.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Summer Wells case: 4 years since Tennessee girl went missing
(NewsNation) — Sunday marks four years since five-year-old Summer Wells disappeared from her home in Tennessee. Wells was reported missing on June 15, 2021, and there has been an active Amber Alert ever since. Her parents said that she was helping her mother and grandmother plant flowers before she went inside to play with her toys. Then, she was never seen again. Body believed to be of missing 2-year-old found in NYC waters Wells' mother, Candus Wells, said, 'I yelled downstairs for her a couple of times, and I didn't get an answer. Which was unusual because usually she always answers me, so I went down there to check and she was nowhere inside, she was just gone.' Four years later, police are still searching for answers in Summer Wells' disappearance. Police had been told about a pickup truck that was reportedly seen in the area around when the five-year-old vanished. However, they only know that it is either a red or maroon Toyota truck with ladders on the back. Since there aren't many clues, if police do end up finding the truck, they still aren't sure if it is connected to her disappearance. But Wells' father said he won't stop praying that Summer Wells is found. Police also had a tip from a neighbor in 2021, who claimed she and her children heard a scream about one hour before Summer Wells vanished. The witness said, 'Wish every day that when I heard that scream, I didn't try to dismiss it.' Remains of Texas family missing in Alaska believed to be recovered Unfortunately, this tip didn't lead police any closer to finding the five-year-old. 'We have hope, always. But there's not much hope in this world. We have to trust God that there's hope in eternal life in heaven,' he said. Summer's parents were never named as suspects in the case, and they both passed a polygraph test. However, Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson had said that everyone was a person of interest. Wells' parents told NewsNation affiliate WJHL that they were frustrated with the investigation. Candus Wells and her husband, Don Wells, believe their daughter was kidnapped and didn't just walk away. 'We know that she was taken off our property. We know that she was taken away in a vehicle or they would've found her in the area if she was somewhere in the area,' Don Wells said. He also criticized the Department of Children's Services for taking Summer Wells' siblings away when she vanished. 'We were stripped away from all our kids. All our kids have been kidnapped from us by DCS, and we're not sure about Summer, but we know about where our boys are at,' her father said. No one has been arrested or named a person of interest in the five-year-old's disappearance. Her family has said they have dealt with harassment online. 'Before you know it, you're getting a mob going. My wife could go to the store, and somebody would scream at her, 'Baby killer,'' Don Wells explained. He claimed that the harassment was so bad that he had to leave the state in order to find work. Summer Wells lived with her parents before her disappearance in Rogersville, Tennessee, a small town in Hawkins County. She reportedly went missing after going inside her home to play with her toys. Her family thinks she could've been taken down the hill behind their home, possibly to a car. Don Wells spoke with NewsNation about his daughter's disappearance, saying, 'I know in my heart and in my mind she was abducted. Someone snuck up there… and we don't know if they came in the basement and grabbed her or if she stepped outside the basement and was walking to her swing…' At the time, police had issued an endangered child alert and searched the woods and other areas near their home. Police have received many tips since Summer Wells went missing, but none of them have led to any concrete answers. Investigators said the case is active, and they have completed many searches as well as created age-progression photos. But they haven't found any clues as to where she went. 'The case is one that we've just not been able to overcome. And it's troubling,' Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director Josh Melton said. 'We don't have the evidence in this case to know for sure whether or not Summer was abducted or whether or not she walked away from her home and became lost.' Police: Missing Denver hairstylist's body found in 'suspicious' alley death When she disappeared, she was described as three feet tall and around 40 pounds. She has blue eyes, blonde hair and was last seen wearing a pink shirt with gray pants. Anyone who has information on her case should contact TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
