The father of Summer Wells, a Tennessee girl who vanished from her family home more than five years ago, has been arrested following an alleged domestic violence incident involving his wife. Wells was taken into custody on October 12 after deputies responded to a domestic disturbance at a property on Ben Hill Road in Hawkins County, according to the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office. The arrest comes as investigators continue searching for his daughter, who was 5 years old when she disappeared in June 2021, in a case that has attracted national attention and generated thousands of tips.
Authorities have not announced any connection between the latest arrest and Summer's disappearance. Newsweek has contacted the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for comment. Deputies were called to the 100 block of Ben Hill Road in the Beech Creek area shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, according to local television station WJHL, citing the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said deputies found Wells outside the property with scratches on his chest and abdomen, while his wife, Candus Bly Wells, was found inside the property with visible injuries and told deputies her husband had assaulted her. Wells was arrested and charged with domestic assault before being taken to Hawkins County Jail. The circumstances surrounding the alleged altercation have not been fully disclosed, and the allegations have not been proved in court.
It was not immediately clear whether Wells had entered a plea or retained an attorney. The latest arrest is not Wells' first encounter with law enforcement. In February 2022, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence following an October 2021 arrest.
He was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail after the offense violated an earlier probation order. Court records also show that his wife had sought an order of protection against him before Summer disappeared. In that filing, Bly Wells alleged that her husband had been physically and mentally abusive, and she expressed concerns for her family's safety.
The order was subsequently dismissed at her request, while earlier domestic assault and weapons charges were dismissed in April 2021. Those previous allegations are separate from the latest criminal charge and do not establish that Wells committed domestic violence. Summer Moon-Utah Wells disappeared from her family's home in the Beech Creek community near Rogersville, Tennessee, on June 15, 2021.
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