5-year-old Summer Wells vanished 2 years ago. New photos released as search continues

Irene Wright
·4 min read
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Two years after 5-year-old Summer Wells disappeared from her home, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released new images that show what Summer would look like today.

“We won’t stop searching for Summer until we have answers,” the bureau said June 14 on Twitter.

The case of the missing girl, who would now be 7 years old, has stumped officials and true crime aficionados since she mysteriously disappeared from her home in Hawkins County on June 15, 2021.

Summer’s father, Donald Wells, told The Kingsport Times-News she was out planting flowers just feet from the family home with her mom and grandmother when she abruptly told her mother she wanted to go inside, McClatchy News previously reported.

Her brothers said she told them she was going to play with her toys in the basement, McClatchy News previously reported. But when her mom went into the house shortly after, Summer was gone.

Summer hasn’t been seen since.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued an endangered child alert the next day, later upgrading it to an Amber Alert, citing “growing concern about the well-being of Summer Wells,” in a tweet.

The 3-foot tall, 40-pound girl with blond hair and blue eyes was wearing gray pants and a pink shirt when she was last seen by her family, the bureau said.

What began next was a weeks-long manhunt and scouring of the rugged terrain of East Tennessee, with officials searching more than 2,400 acres in the first six days after Summer’s disappearance, McClatchy News previously reported.

A week after the search began, the TBI had received hundreds of tips pointing out places where a small child could be hiding, and local agencies set up roadblocks to ask drivers if they had seen anything unusual on the day she went missing, according to new releases.

The agency later said a truck was seen in the area of Summer’s house around the time of her disappearance. It was described as a 1998-2000 maroon or red Toyota Tacoma with a full-bed ladder rack and white buckets in the truck bed, according to news releases.

“I feel in my heart that somebody has came up here and took her … has lured her away from her,” Summer’s mother, Candus Bly, said in a June 28 interview with WJHL.

“It’s really strange that I’ve never seen this truck. And I’ve never heard of it until just recently, but I wish they would come forward and explain themselves. If you’re not a suspect, at least come forward and say what you’ve seen.”

The search for Summer slowed in the ensuing months, but the TBI warned against a wave of social media rumors that was clouding the investigation in September, McClatchy News reported.

“To date, we’ve received approximately 1,500 tips,” the bureau said. “While we do not discuss specifics about evidence gathered in an ongoing investigation, we are doing everything within our power to find summer.”

Summer has now been missing for two years, and officials have not publicly shared any leads.
Summer has now been missing for two years, and officials have not publicly shared any leads.

In the months and years that followed, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, in collaboration with local agencies, conducted regular searches of the areas around Summer’s home. In March, the bureau shared photos of some of the difficult terrain it continued to search and said it was returning to “previously identified areas of interest,” according to news releases.

On the first anniversary of Summer’s disappearance, the bureau said, “We know that this case has attracted the attention of many across the country who genuinely care about Summer and want nothing more than to help find answers, and we appreciate the interest. However, we are also aware that some individuals are using this case for their own personal gain by spreading false information on social media posed as facts.”

Now, on the second anniversary, Summer remains missing, and no more is known publicly about the circumstances of her disappearance.

The age-adjusted photo offers a glimpse of hope that Summer may still be out there, but the investigation continues.

Hawkins County is about 70 miles northeast of Knoxville.

The disappearance of Summer Wells: a timeline of events one month after she vanished

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What happened to Summer Wells? What we know about the missing 5-year-old in Tennessee

Rumors on social media are derailing search for missing Summer Wells, officials say