HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. — After more than 40 years of working on search and rescue operations, Jeff Wadley can count on one hand the number of searchers where rescuers have had to scale back with more questions than answers.
"Any time you have a child that’s missing, the adrenaline, the emotions—all of this—it’s just different," he said. "And as a search continues on, the length of a search for a child is a very emotional draining situation."
"We want to go out, no matter what the weather, no matter what the terrain, to bring the missing home," Wadley said.
Now, Wadley is adding missing 5-year-old Summer Wells to a somber mental list as authorities in Hawkins County announced Sunday they are "scaling back" large-scale efforts to find the little girl.
"When you’re in search and rescue, you know exactly how many you have to walk away from," he said.
His mental log of the missing is as certain as the fact that finding Summer likely won't bring closure.
"Several years ago I stopped using that word because I don’t actually feel like the searchers can bring closure, we can bring an answer. And then the answer enables the family to begin their own process of closure," Wadley said.
On Monday, authorities said they had received more than 500 tips in the search for Wells, who has been the subject of an almost two week long AMBER alert.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Saturday they were hoping to contact a possible witness who was driving a pickup truck in the area of Beeck Creek Road and Ben Hill Road in the late afternoon to early evening of June 14 or June 15, as they continue searching for 5-year-old Summer Wells.
They are stressing that the person is not a suspect but could be a potential witness who could have seen or heard something that would help in their search.
They said the pickup is possible a 1998-2000 maroon or red Toyota Tacoma, with a full bed ladder rack and white buckets in the truck bed.
The TBI is asking the driver to contact them at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Officials said they are hoping to confirm some information and ask what they may have seen or heard at the time.
A reward fund has also been established and will be maintained for six months, authorities announced.