What to Know
Summer Wells disappeared from her family’s home in Tennessee in June 2021. The 5-year-old allegedly left her mom’s side while planting flowers to go inside and play. No one ever saw Summer again. The incident sparked an AMBER Alert, but police have never had any solid leads in the case. Despite her seemingly disappearing, her family continues to search and believes Summer will come home. Her father, Don Wells, firmly believes someone abducted his daughter.
Strangely, Summer’s disappearance came more than a decade after her aunt, Rose Marie Bly, disappeared in Wisconsin. She, too, was never found. But the family won’t give up hope of finding them both.
Bly reportedly disappeared on the way to meet her cousin.
According to the Charley Project, Bly, the sister of Summer’s mother, Candus Wells, told her husband she was meeting her cousin at a bar a few miles from their home in Cushing on August 21, 2009. She intended to be back by midnight, but no one ever saw her again. Investigators located her 2001 Pontiac Grand AM several days after her disappearance at a lot in Grantsburg, where semi-truck drivers park about 15 miles from her home.
Detectives found no signs of foul play. The young mother of two didn’t have any credit or debit cards and appeared to vanish into thin air.
Bly and her husband allegedly had marital issues.
The Charly Project reported that Bly and her unnamed husband married in February 2009, and he filed for divorce just three months after she disappeared. He petitioned the court for a restraining order barring Bly from returning and taking her two young daughters. Despite a history of domestic violence, Bly’s husband passed a polygraph test and is not considered a suspect in her death.
Her mother reportedly claimed Bly hit her head after falling off a horse a short time before her disappearance. She worried her Bly might have been disoriented that August night, but investigators don’t believe there is a correlation between the two events.
The family isn’t giving up on finding either relative.
It doesn’t appear that Bly and Summer’s disappearances are related. They’ve left both families heartbroken and hoping that one day they will see them again. Just days before the five-year anniversary of Summer’s disappearance, her father shared a heart-wrenching post on Facebook.
“This is a tender and quiet week for us. Candus and I would like to thank each person who cares about our daughter Summer. Your kindness and prayers mean a lot. We know that only God can restore our Family. We love you Summer, Waylon, Wyatt, and Josey. God always wins. God bless you all,” he wrote.
Others shared messages of hope with the Wells family.
“Prayers for you and your family. I can’t imagine what you have gone though. May God bring Summer home soon. God bless you all,” someone wrote.
This person agreed and believes they will find Summer soon. “Summer will be found, we just have to wait a little longer. We have never forgotten Summer. God Bless,” they wrote.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its search for Summer Wells and is promises to follow up on all credible leads.
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