Domestic Assault Arrest in Missing Summer Wells Case

Donald Wells, the father of missing Summer Wells, was booked into the Hawkins County Jail on a domestic assault charge at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to jail records. The 61-year-old was scheduled to appear for arraignment at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The charge adds to a series of arrests involving Wells, while his daughter’s disappearance remains unsolved.

The Arrest and Earlier Charges

Court records identify the new charge as domestic assault. Additional details weren't immediately available. A spokesperson for the Wells family and the sheriff's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wells has previously faced domestic assault, DUI and firearms charges. Those earlier charges weren't related to Summer’s disappearance. In 2020, officials served Wells with a civil order of protection on behalf of his wife.

The available records establish the arrest, booking time and scheduled arraignment, but the article gives no further details about the incident behind the new charge. It also reports no response from the family or sheriff's office. The account includes no information about a plea or the outcome of the scheduled arraignment.

Summer’s Disappearance

Summer Wells was 5 when she vanished from her family’s home in rural Rogersville. Her mother, Candus Bly, told police she last saw Summer at the home on Ben Hill Road on June 15, 2021, after the girl came inside from planting flowers with her grandmother. According to the supplied date calculation, five years have elapsed since Summer was last seen.

Summer would now be 10. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed image showing what she might have looked like as a 9-year-old. When she was last seen, she stood about 3 feet tall and weighed around 40 pounds. She had blonde hair and wore gray pants and a pink shirt; she may have been barefoot.

Summer’s parents have maintained that someone entered their 11-acre property, lured her outside and took her. No suspects have been publicly identified. Investigators sought a potential witness who drove a red pickup truck with full-sized ladder racks and white buckets in the bed.

Family and Investigation

After Summer vanished, authorities took the couple’s other children from their home. The family’s website says a Department of Child Services investigation cleared the parents, but they haven't regained custody of their sons. The account gives no further details about the investigation or custody decision.

Both parents have criminal records, according to the article. The report identifies Donald Wells’ previous arrests and the 2020 civil protection order, but offers no further details about the records. Summer’s disappearance remains unsolved, and the article names no publicly identified suspect.

Bly’s sister, Rose Marie Bly, was reported missing from Wisconsin in 2009; her case also remains unsolved. The Hawkins County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are listed as contacts for information about Summer’s whereabouts. Tips can be sent to [email protected], or callers can contact the sheriff's office at 423-272-7121 and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.