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Summer Wells: Missing girl’s aunt now revealed to have vanished

The young girl’s family will appear on Dr Phil this week

Helen Elfer
Thursday 11 November 2021 09:57 EST
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Summer Wells
Summer Wells (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

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The aunt of missing five-year-old Summer Wells has now also disappeared, it has emerged, and has not been seen since 2009.

Rose Marie Bly vanished from Wisconsin and her car was found in a parking lot 30 miles away from her home – an unsolved mystery that may or may not be related to her niece Summer’s disappearance earlier this year.

Summer went missing from her family’s Tennessee home on 15 June. An AMBER Alert was issued for Summer the following day, and while investigators have not publicly shared theories about what may have happened to her, her family say they believe she was abducted.

According to her father Donald Wells, Summer had been outside planting flowers with her mother and grandmother, but went back inside the family house unaccompanied to play with her toys. The basement door was left open.

“I went down in the basement, and she was gone, so she went out the basement door, which was unlocked, and we haven’t seen her since,” Mr Wells said, reports The Sun.

Summer’s mother Candus Bly told FOX8 she felt “in my heart that somebody has come up here and took her … has lured her away from here”.

“Whoever has my daughter, I pray they haven’t harmed her, they and bring her back to us safe and sound,” she said.

Last Thursday the FBI issued a statement via Twitter, which said they were “doing everything within our power to find her”.

The post read: “No one is more frustrated than us by the lack of answers at this stage. However, we haven’t given up, and we won’t. While we do not discuss specifics about evidence gathered in an ongoing investigation, we can tell you that numerous search warrants have been executed, and any potential digital evidence has been collected.”

Mr Wells was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in October, and has a criminal record, which includes other alcohol-related charges and domestic violence. In the past, Ms Bly filed for an order of protection against him, writing: “I am afraid for my children and myself”, but later asked for the order to be dismissed.

Summer’s three brothers were removed from the Wells family home six weeks after her disappearance and a judge issued a gag order on the child protective services case – officials have not commented on why it was issued.

Summer’s family will appear on Dr Phil on Thursday and Friday in their first national TV interview.

The family has also asked for anyone with information to contact them via their website findsummerwells.com.

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