Don & Candus CLEARED ahead of Summer Wells heartbreaking milestone. Cops refuse to comment 
we’re talking about the Summer Wells case. In particular, we’re talking about two things:

How Don and Candace Wells, Summer Wells’ parents, have been cleared of all allegations of child abuse and neglect against Summer’s three brothers.

An update from Don Wells, given to local news channel WJHL.

You’re going to be infuriated by this one. Let’s go.

Okay, so this is from the Find Summer Facebook group, posted 7 hours ago:

“Our DCS case has been dismissed. All opinions of abuse and neglect are dropped and unsubstantiated by judge order. According to Tennessee DCS (Department of Children’s Services), we have not abused or neglected our three sons. This is the legal final say.
It means, in part, that if Summer is found today, she can come home.”

This was received April 21st.

So, we have Don Wells (appellant) and Candace Bly (appellant). The text is the same for both of them. I’ll read this one because it’s a bit clearer:

“Comes now Respondent, State of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Department’), by and through counsel, to file this Notice of Withdrawal and Motion to Dismiss the underlying case and the pending appeal filed before the court.
As a basis for this motion, the Department has withdrawn the substantiation of child abuse and/or child neglect against appellant. As appellant is no longer classified as a perpetrator of child abuse and/or child neglect, the appeal of substantiation is moot and shall be dismissed.
Upon receipt of an order granting this motion, all policies and procedures relating to a dismissal in such a matter shall be followed by the Department.”

What do you think about that?

First, it confirms there was a case of child abuse and neglect against Don and Candace — but it’s been dropped.

We’ve got some more text here, so let’s keep going:

“An appeal was filed on February 13, 2025, with the Administrative Procedures Division of the Department of Children’s Services, in which appellant requested an administrative hearing concerning its substantiation of child abuse and/or child neglect regarding investigation number [REDACTED].
An acknowledgement letter was issued on February 25, 2025. The hearing was scheduled to begin on May 13, 2025.
On April 21, 2025, the Department filed a Notice of Withdrawal and a Motion to Dismiss.
As the substantiation appealed by appellant has been withdrawn, the appeal of substantiation is moot.
Therefore, the appeal of substantiation against appellant is dismissed.
Based on the above findings, and the applicable state statutes and Department of Children’s Services policies, the classification established by the Child Protective Services Division of the Department of Children’s Services — that the appellant is the substantiated perpetrator in a validated case of child abuse or neglect — is withdrawn.
The Department is directed to change the classification of this referral to ‘Not Substantiated.’
Further, the Department is directed to take immediate and appropriate action to notify all parties previously notified of this investigation that they are no longer required to assure non-access to children by Don Wells.
DCS shall make this notification immediately upon receipt of this order.
Assurance that this notification is properly and timely made is the responsibility of the Director of Due Process, Dana Scott. A copy of this notification must be forwarded to the DCS Administrative Procedures Division for inclusion within the hearing file.”

So, that gives you the background.

And here is Don talking about this very thing:

“Hello everyone. This is Don Wells.
We’re here to report to you that we’ve got official letters from the heads of DCS that we are cleared from any abuse or neglect on our parts towards our children.
Thank you very much. Have a great day.”

Then, 10 hours ago:

“I will be sharing the main story update here tonight or tomorrow.”

We’ve also got something from WJHL:

“Thank you Ansley, Kristen, Anna, and other media that contributed to share Summer updates and our family to the world.
We all love you so much, Summer.”

So, if Summer was found alive today, she could technically go home.

What does this mean for Summer’s eldest brother, who is currently on an adoption website? I’m not sharing that update here. I’ve never shared pictures or names of Summer’s brothers on this channel — it’s just something I’ve decided not to do.
The names are out there, and the eldest boy is on an adoption website, TN Kids.

What does that mean for him?
Don and Candace apparently relinquished all rights to their children, didn’t they? That came out a while ago. So… does it mean they could adopt their own child? I don’t know about the other two. I don’t know whether they’ve already been adopted — I do not know.

But we’re going to read this article here:

“Summer’s Father Speaks Nearly Four Years Following Her Disappearance”
This weekend marks four years. In three days’ time, Summer Wells will have been missing for four years. She was five years old. She is now nine.
Almost half of her life — if she’s alive today — she has been missing. Let that sink in.

This weekend marks four years since the Hawkins County girl was last seen. Five-year-old Summer Wells was reported missing from her home on Ben Hill Road in the Beech Creek community on June 15th, 2021.
There’s been an active Amber Alert for her ever since.

“It’s four years too long,” her father Don Wells said, standing in the yard — one of the last places his daughter was known to be.
“My thoughts or feelings haven’t changed. I mean, it’s been heartbreak — continual heartbreak — for the past four years.”

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl was only 3 ft tall at the time. She was reportedly wearing gray pants and a pink shirt with no shoes.

“We love and miss her so very much and wish she could come home very much, because she was kind of the bossy boss around here,” Don said.
“We just miss our children, man. We had four children running around here.”

Crews searched the Beech Creek community for weeks. Law enforcement has received numerous tips — none of them panned out.

“We haven’t talked to law enforcement in a long time.
We let Chris and Trudy, the PIs, deal with TBI and Hawkins County. It’s just better that they do that.”

The last major update from law enforcement was two years ago, when the TBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed photo of what Summer Wells could look like.
The National Center updates these images every two years. So this one is almost two years old. Will they release a new one soon? I don’t know.

Summer’s mother, Candace, has only spoken on camera with News Channel 11 once. She declined to be interviewed right before this began.

Don explains:

“She wanted to, but all that fear started creeping up, you know?
Of what happened in the beginning — with social media and everything, hunting us down everywhere we go and trying to basically ruin us everywhere we go.
She’s just having nightmares. It’s very bad.
And when you add the social media pressure — all of them saying we’re suspects or whatever — that just adds to it.
It’s kind of like living a nightmare.”

After Summer’s disappearance, the Wells’ three oldest boys were placed into Department of Children’s Services custody.

“We haven’t received any updates from them. No contact.
In fact, they deleted our phone number or blocked my phone as soon as we got done with that case and signed our children over.”

So, did DCS block his phone? Or did the place where the boys were staying — or the boys themselves — block his phone? I’m not clear what he means by that.

News Channel 11 inquired about the status of the Wells case with DCS. Their response:

“Pursuant to state and federal law, DCS investigations are strictly confidential and we are unable to provide information related to your request.”

Well, I just read you the latest from the DCS case — and you heard it from Don.

The case against Don and Candace has been dropped.

The TBI declined to comment about the ongoing search for Summer, and the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests.

That’s terrible.
Anyone who has credible information about the whereabouts of Summer Wells should contact 1-800-TBI-FIND.

It’s terrible that law enforcement isn’t even giving a comment.
I hope they will on the 15th. It’ll probably just be the same generic, pointless stuff… but still.