‘Nowhere in sight’ : Mother of missing 5-year-old Summer Wells speaks

HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The mother of missing 5-year-old Summer Wells spoke on camera for the first time Monday night during an exclusive interview with News Channel 11.

Nearly two weeks have passed since Summer was last seen on June 15, and now, Candus Bly speaks out about the night of her daughter’s disappearance.

“Me and my mother and her were planting flowers, and we went in after we got done washing our hands, and [Summer] got a piece of candy from grandma,” Bly said. “And [Summer] wanted to go back over and see her brothers, and I said, ‘OK,’ and I walked her all the way over to the porch, and I watched her walking into the kitchen where the boys were watching TV. I told the boys, I said, ‘Watch Summer; I’ll be back.’ And within two minutes, I came back, and I asked the boys where their sister was, and they said, ‘She went downstairs, Mom, to play with her toys in the playroom.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And I yelled downstairs for her a couple times, and I didn’t get no answer, which was unusual because usually she always answers me. And so, I went down there to check, and she was nowhere in sight.”

Bly said she believes Summer was abducted.

“I feel in my heart that somebody has came up here and took her … has lured her away from here,” Bly said.

Well, whoever has my daughter, I pray they haven’t harmed her they and bring her back to us safe and sound.
Candus Bly, mother of missing 5-year-old Summer Wells

Both Bly and Summer’s father, Don Wells, described Summer as a tomboy. They explained the reasons behind the 5-year-old’s shaved head.

“[Summer] was a tomboy,” Bly said. “I shaved my head; she wanted to shave her head like me and the boys did.”

Wells added on that Summer tried to shave her head herself.

“[Summer] tried to shave her head,” Wells said. “I think you can see it in some of the pictures, and it was getting out of control, and we decided to shave her head off and let it grow back long. And [Bly] shaved her head to — so [Summer] wouldn’t feel bad. And…but…it didn’t bother her.”

As for the social media rumors floating on various platforms, Wells said the following:

“There’s always going to be haters, you know, and they are always going to be that way in this world. We’ll just want to focus on the good friends and Christian people that are trying to help us and praying for us and praying for Summer. And we thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and that’s the kind of people we try to relate with and socialize with. So, we don’t know anything about, you know, no red truck, or we hardly know many of our neighbors. I mean, because we just try to be around good people. I mean, we do have good people in this area; we found out since this has all happened. I got some real good neighbors and good folks everywhere.”

And Bly said Summer

Bly revealed what led to a Tik-Tok video that shows Summer swimming in water — it was allegedly a video that was taken hours before the 5-year-old went missing.

Over the weekend, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reached out to the public in search of a potential witness.

Bly said she doesn’t know anyone who drives a red Toyota.

“It’s really strange that I’ve never seen this truck,” she said. “And I’ve never heard of it until just recently, but I wish they would come forward and explain themselves. If you’re not a suspect, at least come forward and say what you’ve seen.”

The TBI AMBER Alert reports Summer’s appearance as follows: