Summer Wells: Letters from Don
Donald Wells, father of missing child Summer Wells, has issued several recent handwritten letters from the Hawkins County Correctional Center where he is currently serving time for a probation violation. The letters were uploaded to the Don Wells Family Official YouTube channel as well as the FindSummerWells.com website by the official Wells' media manager, Tim Mullen.
On June 17. 2022, one year and two days since Summer was reported missing (June 15, 2021), Tim posted an update to the Wells' YouTube channel stating:
"Mr. Don Wells has sent a letter to his daughter, Summer Moon-Utah Wells, as well as a letter to the persons who may have her. These letters have been held and scheduled to be posted in days to come. We ask the greatest respect be given these letters. Questions and answers from June 15, 2022 that apply now also. The Media Manager did not order these letters, but they were written by Mr. Wells on his own accord. These letters are not written to manipulate law enforcement or the American Courty System. Those individuals saying these statements and who chose to analyze these letters for nefarious reasons should, in the opinion of this editor, be avoided. There is a way to analyze that is humane. The letters will be displayed as recieved.
We all realize that in 30 to 90 days, Mr. Wells will have completed his commitment to the Hawkins County court system. In less than 30 days, Judge Ross will look at the sentence and guide it accordingly. Anything currently posted on social media discussions about Mr. Wells and these days before early August and/or early October 2022 - or immediately after - is speculation and rumor. Please settle in your hearts to let these letters speak for themselves. May we all allow what is written to nestle in our hearts and our compassion as fellow human beings be our lighthouse."
The request from Tim Mullen for the public to NOT devour Don's letters with the intent to find fault comes as no surprise. He has advocated for the family from the beginning of his involvement, mainly, he claims, as a reaction to the way YouTubers and many on social media were quick to convict the couple in the court of public opinion. Many, many thousands of hours of YouTube content has been generated with the assumption that Don and/or Candus were in some way involved with Summer's disappearance because of the questionable stories they related about June 15, 2021 (the day they reported Summer missing), as well as accounts from friends and neighbors describing the Wells' as partiers and unsafe parents.
Without a doubt, the YouTube true crime community has found a niche with Summer's case, with no apparent end to the colorful characters willing to come out publicly and share what they know or to use Summer's case to claim their fifteen minutes (or many hours worth, in some cases) of internet fame. It seems that Tim held these letters so they could be shared with poignance and grace, and not instantly devoured as part of the ever-grinding mill of YouTube information and misinformation. As there are many people who afford no respect to Donald Wells, I admire the restraint and dignity with which these letters have been prepared and presented to the public.
The first released letter written by Don addressed the unknown "person" who kidnapped Summer:
"To the person, or persons responsible for kidnapping Summer, not only have you broken Summer's heart and taken her away from her mother and father whom love her very much but you've ruined her chances to become educated, ruining her life! You have also broken the hearts of her father and mother and brothers, and in the midst of all the commotion, ruined our lives. You see the public blames us. I don't know if we'll ever find employment again - nobody will hire my wife and I've been fired from a job I've had for 13 years. We may end up loosing everything! When you took our little girl you took our very lives! Why don't you give our little girl back before God's wrath descends on you. You've broken many hearts and more especially an innocent 5 year old girl's heart. One day God will hold you accountable for this crime unless you do something to make this right! Please do the right thing and turn our daughter over to the authorities. We're begging you with all our hearts please do the right thing. - Summer's Father"
https://youtu.be/IcgMNKITBVU
Bear in mind, there is no proof whatsoever known to the public at this time that Summer was indeed kidnapped, but her parents have maintained from the first day that they believe someone took her. They have offered no other explanation, but insist that there is no other possibility based on the events of that day.
2. The second letter written by Don expressed his gratitude for the generous reward fund amassed to encourage anyone with information on Summer's whereabouts to come forward:
As a layperson, I decided to follow Tim Mullen's suggestion and set my mind to read Don's letters without judging them, simply considering them as heartfelt expressions of grief from a father who lost his baby girl suddenly and unexpectedly. From my heart, because I am a poet who writes and reads poetry every day of my life, Don's simple poem moved my heart greatly.
Maybe I ascribed feelings that aren't there, but poetry like this is hard to just create without feeling. I assert that Don's poem above came from a deep place of seeking comfort and guidance, comparing himself to Moses, whose story involves many years of leading people through trying times while begging God for direct guidance and assistance and receiving only enough aid to himself and his people to keep them alive in the wilderness, no direct rescue or answers. There were many years when Moses had little to give him hope, but God required him to go through the trails regardless.
For Don to compare himself to Moses in this way indicates (to me, at least) that Don acknowledges that he is in the midst of a great trial and wants God to rescue or help him directly, but also is accepting that help may not come in the form he may like to have it. The fact that he's locked in prison while his daughter is missing may be enough for him to feel abandoned by God. Sincerely, I hope Don is finding peace inside Hawkin's Country Correctional and that he is finding ways to settle the pain and regret in his spirit regarding other situations in his life so that when he is released next month, he can step into life a new, fuller, lighter way and continue to advocate for his missing daughter.
3. The third letter by Don is written directly to Summer, the excerpt has been copied from the findsummerwells.com website:
"Dear Summer,
I don't know if there's even the remotest chance of you ever seeing this letter but I'm going to write it hoping you will. First of all I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. I've never missed someone as much as I miss you. My heart aches constantly and then the thought of someone mistreating you puts so much anguish and fear for you that I can barely breath at times. I beg God for your life and break out in tears constantly. I'm very glad I got to spend 5 years with you but now my life always feels like snow, rain, and drizzle never ending. You are the highlight of my entire miserable existence on this earth. I love you Summer with every fiber of my being sweetheart! I love you and I will never give up on you and one day I will see you again.
Always & Forever Your earthly Dad. Father. "
https://youtu.be/JNSi20nVZ8Q
Until I read this letter, I truly believed that Don made up the kidnapping story just to mask whatever happened, with the assumption attached that he DOES know where Summer is. Coupled with the fact that he kept bringing up the resurrection shortly after she disappeared, I assumed that he knew she was never coming home. However, he's been in prison for six months. He's had plenty of time to think and come up with a story, if that was his angle. It's hard to look at this last letter as anything but the tortured thoughts of a helpless father who believes someone has his child as is possibly mistreating her. I can't help but think there is a small element in there of suggestion that Don knows who Summer's kidnapper could possibly be and that the situation isn't good, but he can't or won't give it away for some reason, but given what this letter contains, truly, wouldn't he do anything in his power to get her back? Yes, I think he would, but maybe power is something Don doesn't have in this case.
Naturally, not everyone took Tim Mullen's advice, particularly the law enforcement professionals who are directing a lot of attention to Summer's case. Ex-homicide detective, Chris McDonough, has had many guests on his YouTube channel, The Interview Room, over the last year to analyze and discuss Summer's case. I have discussed the opinions of Mr. McDonough and used his expertise as a point of reference many times on this site. This past week, Chris hosted "Forensic Psychology Handwriting Expert Dr. Mozelle Martin of Forensology.com, who analyzed the personality of Don Wells' reported letters that have been shared with the public." Chris, himself, has been very outspoken about the fact that he considers Donald Wells a major player in whatever happened to Summer and has had Don's step-sisters, Jeannie and Mary, on his channel several times over the past year to discuss a separate case out of Utah where they have pressed charges against Don for sexual assault that occurred in their family home while they were growing up. Without a doubt, the two cases have become conflated on social media, which was nothing short of intentional.
Chris has never offered direct proof that Don has guilt in relation to Summer's case, but he has been extremely forward over his belief that Don is a dangerous sexual predator who possibly used and/or invented the kidnapping narrative to cover up for his own crimes, suggesting that he was directly involved in what took place at 110 Ben Hill Road, Rogersville, TN on June 15, 2021. Dr. Martin's analysis, which I am not going to try and encapsulate, serves to confirm that assessment of Don's character that Chris has been maintaining since the beginning. Chris has taken the extra step of using his YouTube platform to "educate" the public of the dangers of Don (and Candus as well) and Dr. Martin supports the idea that Don is, in fact, capable, based on his handwriting (if he indeed DID handwrite these letters himself) of committing possible harm to his daughter. Some of the indicators Dr. Martin points out have to do with compulsive sexual thoughts, dangerous drive for sexual gratification, impulsive, erratic, and a tendency for violence.
Dr. Martin also offered her analysis of the note allegedly written by Candus Bly, mother of Summer the day Anslee Daniel, from WJHL, come the her property to interview her and her mother, Candus Harer, about the search for Summer. Candus refused to go on camera that day, however, she did write this note:
Check out the video if you want to hear the in-depth findings of the handwriting, but I'll share the spoiler that what Dr. Martin detected in Candus' letter indicates great possibility that she could have been responsible for what happened to Summer. The combined analysis of both parents, especially in the context of what the public already knows about them, such as long-term drug use, histories of sexual and domestic abuse, unstable personalities, and highly questionable activities and acquaintances, does not paint a good picture.
Dr. Martin's findings (unintentionally) feed into existing opinions about the fitness of Don and Candus as parents and suggests that all of the depravity's they have been accused of since Summer went missing are very real possibilities. The letter written by Candus, in particular, seems to have the most indication of a troubled personality that would make a very dangerous person to have in charge of a small child.
But the characterization of Don that emerged from Dr. Martin's reading is in direct conflict, or seems to be, with the opinions of the experts from The Behavior Panel, who by-and-large, report that they do not feel Don is being deceptive when he says he doesn't know what happened to Summer on June 15." Of course, it's possible for Don to have all of the characteristics Dr. Martin detected in his handwriting and still have no guilt in what happened with Summer, but what is the likliehood that someone could be consistently "evil," let's say, with all indicators pointing to his involvement, with a past that points to his capacity for violence, substance abuse, and sexual predation, yet winds up completely innocent of a crime that happened in his home with only two other suspects: his wife or his mother-in-law?
In their analysis of Don, which was first done based on the lengthy interview he volunteered to sit for with them in conjunction with his appearance on the Dr. Phil show last fall and news footage where Don was interviewed, the gentlemen from The Behavior Panel DO agree that there could be more than one reason for certain things Don says and for particular body clues, but they tend to gravitate towards the more non-nefarious meanings by default.
In the conclusion of their video, Mark Bowden says, in regard to the whole media circus surrounding Summer's case, that he would be looking in the direction of the people who are making a lot of noise about looking for Summer and generating drama on social media and YouTube, rather than looking at Don as a suspect (1:24:00 mark). Chase Hughes expressed how important it is to understand differences in micro-cultures where expressions and turns-of-phrase may have different meanings than what the general public may assume. He cautions against "painting the future" of someone with a "checkered past" like Don and says that he believes Don is "mostly honest and...that there is a tremendous amount of doubt or uncertainty, at a minimum, with Candus' story, her involvement, or her knowledge." Greg Hartley said "I don't believe he's involved in her disappearance. Could I be wrong? Sure, but based on everything I saw face to face, based on everything I heard and felt and learned and thought and listened, listening to his baseline, looking for deviation at the key moments, I don't think he's involved" (around the 1:26:00 mark in the video). Scott Rouse said immediately after, "I agree with you one hundred percent. I don't think he was involved at all. He didn't answer the questions correctly to be involved."
It's probably worth noting that Dr. Martin says she had never heard the words "Summer Wells" until a couple weeks ago when she was given Don's handwritten letters to analyze, whereas the members of the Panel had met Don in person and spent an entire afternoon with him, so their sense of him and his energy would be totally different than a handwriting expert who is only looking at things like word spacing and letter formation.
As with every new development in this case, expectations are high that the truth will emerge, but after reading Don's letters and listening to what these particular experts have to say about them, actual answers about what happened are still not forthcoming.
Summer has been missing since June 15, 2021, from the Beech Creek area of Hawkin's County, outside of Rogersville, Tennessee. There are no known clues as to her whereabouts. Summer is now six years old, has light blond hair and blue eyes.
Investigators on the case continue to report that there are no further developments and ask for anyone with information on Summer to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) at 1-800-TBI-FIND or email them at TipsToTBI@tn.gov.
My thoughts continue to be with investigators at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as they seek answers to the questions we all have, to the members of Summer's family who grieve her absence, and most of all, with little Summer, wherever she is.
Photo credit findsummerwells.com
Summer Moon-Utah Wells, may you feel the love that emanates from so many hearts in your name, may you know you will never be forgotten, that you now have ten thousand mothers and fathers who stand in the gap for you daily. May you be delivered into lasting safety.