Donald Wells, the 61-year-old father of the missing Summer Wells, has been arrested again on a domestic assault charge in Tennessee, as indicated by court records. According to the Hawkins County Jail, he was taken into custody early Tuesday morning and is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.
Details surrounding the arrest remain scarce at this point, and attempts to reach representatives from both the Wells family and the sheriff’s office have not been met with responses.
It’s worth noting that Wells has a history of arrests, including previous domestic assault and DUI charges, which are unrelated to the ongoing investigation into his daughter’s disappearance. Back in 2020, a civil order of protection was issued against him on behalf of his wife.
Summer Wells was just 5 years old when she disappeared from her home in rural Rogersville. Now, she would be 10, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has produced an age-progressed image showing what she might look like today.
Her mother, Candus Bly, reported last seeing Summer at their home on June 15, 2021. On that day, she described how her daughter had come inside after planting flowers with her grandmother.
The Wells family believes that someone may have entered their 11-acre property, lured Summer outside, and then abducted her. Investigators have been looking for information regarding a possible witness—a driver of a red pickup truck noticed in the area at the time.
When she was last seen, Summer was about 3 feet tall and weighed around 40 pounds. She was wearing gray pants, a pink shirt, and possibly was barefoot at the time. She has blonde hair.
Since Summer’s disappearance, her parents’ other children were taken from their home. While the Department of Child Services conducted an investigation that cleared the parents, they have not regained custody of their sons. Additionally, both parents have prior criminal records, and Summer’s aunt went missing in 2009 without resolution.
Authorities are continuing to seek any information about Summer’s whereabouts. Anyone with tips is encouraged to contact the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
