HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Saturday, June 15, will mark three years since then five-year-old Summer Wells disappeared from her Tennessee home.

Authorities reported Summer was last seen walking from her home on Ben Hill Road in the Beech Creek Community of Hawkins County in 2021. Hours later, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued an Endangered Child Alert for her that would turn into an AMBER Alert the following day.

“We know that she was taken off our property. We know that she was taken away in a vehicle or they would’ve found her in the area if she was somewhere in the area,” said Summer’s father, Don Wells. “But who’s responsible for her? I don’t – We don’t know.”

To this day, law enforcement still has not located Summer and has not revealed any new leads that would indicate they are closer to finding her.

NewsNation affiliate WJHL has pushed investigators for months to learn about new details or updates in the case. On Saturday, WJHL spoke with Don and Candus Wells, Summer’s parents, who said it’s been some time since they spoke with law enforcement.

“It’s been a while, over a year, I think. I haven’t talked to any law enforcement at all. I tried to talk to that FBI agent about it, but that didn’t go anywhere,” said Wells. “It’s probably a good thing not to hear from Hawkins County in my opinion.”

When WJHL asked Wells why that was his opinion, he answered with the following: “It seems like it’s always negative towards us.”

WJHL reached out to the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office for any statement or interview regarding the Wells family and Summer’s disappearance. The sheriff’s office has not offered any response.

Summer’s parents spoke to WJHL at Borden Park in Kingsport on Saturday, June 8, a spot they said has deep meaning to them this time of year.

The park is bustling with families enjoying the recent warm weather, but three years ago it was filled almost weekly with people praying for Summer Wells.

“I see all these families with all their kids and how much they enjoy them and stuff, and we were stripped away from all our kids,” said Wells. “All our kids have been kidnapped from us by [Department of Children’s Services] and we’re not sure about Summer, but we know about where our boys are at.”

Wells said that shortly after Summer’s disappearance, DCS advised that their sons should be away from all the chaos.

“Which I agreed to,” he said. “They said, ‘You know, we’re just going to keep them until everything cools down.’ But that’s never happened.”

According to Wells, he and Candus no longer have any rights to their sons.

“They made it clear that they would make our lives completely miserable,” Wells said. “They’d drag us into court and charge us for court costs, child support and anything else they could do legally if we didn’t sign over our rights.”

While the prayer vigils are few and far between now, the Wells haven’t stopped praying that their daughter will be found.

“We have hope… always. But, there’s not much hope in this world,” Wells said. “We have to trust God that there’s hope in eternal life in heaven.”

Don Wells said he feels that he and his wife were targeted by the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office.

“They intimidated us, they belittled us and done everything they could amidst all the chaos and then [Child Protective Services] was there doing the same thing,” Wells said.

When asked about what he thinks about Summer’s disappearance three years later, Don spoke about a Department of Children’s Services investigation.

“[Child Protective Services] said somebody had called and said we were giving our kids loaded guns to play with. So they closed the case on June 14, which is something CPS does not do. They don’t just close cases,” Wells said. “So, it’s really odd and mystifying why they closed the case June 14, and then 24 hours later, Summer’s gone.”

Candus sat in for part of WJHL’s interview but got up after a few questions.

“She was going to try, but her emotions were just too much,” said Don.

The last update in the Summer Wells case from law enforcement was an age-progressed photo in June of last year. It was released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Anyone who has any credible information about the whereabouts of Summer Wells should contact 1-800-TBI-FIND.