Summer Wells Case: Father Arrested on Assault Charge

Donald Wells, the father of missing Summer Wells, was arrested in Tennessee on a domestic assault charge, according to court records. Hawkins County Jail records say he was booked at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday and scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Details about the arrest weren't immediately available.

Neither a Wells family spokesperson nor the sheriff's office responded immediately to requests for comment. The records list the charge and scheduled court appearance, but offer no further account of the incident.

Arrest and prior records

Donald Wells, 61, has faced earlier arrests on domestic assault, DUI and firearms charges unrelated to his daughter's disappearance. In 2020, authorities served him with a civil order of protection on behalf of his wife. The new arrest also has no connection to the unsolved case involving Summer, according to available information.

Summer was 5 when she vanished from her family's home in rural Rogersville. Her mother, Candus Bly, told police she last saw the girl at the home on Ben Hill Road on June 15, 2021. Bly said Summer came inside after planting flowers with her grandmother.

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 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.

The disappearance remains unsolved

Summer's parents say they believe 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.

The case hasn't led to the return of the couple's other children to their home. Authorities took the children from the home after Summer vanished. The family's website says a Department of Child Services investigation cleared the parents, but they haven't regained custody of their sons.

Both of Summer's parents have criminal records. Donald Wells' earlier arrests include domestic assault, DUI and firearms charges, which authorities describe as unrelated to Summer's disappearance. Available information doesn't identify a suspect or connect the new assault charge to the missing-child investigation.

Bly's sister, Rose Marie Bly, was reported missing from Wisconsin in 2009. Her case remains unsolved. The arrest of Summer's father doesn't change the reported status of either missing-person case.

Anyone with information about Summer's whereabouts was asked to contact the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office at 423-272-7121 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Tips can also be emailed to [email protected].