HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn — Tennessee investigators are continuing planned searches for missing 6-year-old Summer Wells in the Beech Creek area around her home of Hawkins County.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said its agents and Hawkins County Sheriff's Office deputies are back in the area, focusing on previously identified areas of interest in the search for Summer.
Summer has since turned six years old since her disappearance in June 2021.
Since autumn, investigators have been scouring the area in hopes of findings clues of her whereabouts before high grass and overgrowth returns.
On Tuesday, the TBI said it was impeded by the rugged terrain, saying the area where she disappeared was "extremely steep and dangerous." The TBI said it would require extra time to search thoroughly.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, officials said. They again urge anyone with credible information about Summer Wells to call 1-800-TBI-FIND. She was around 3' tall and weighed around 40 pounds at the time of her disappearance, according to officials.
As of January 17, the Church Hill Rescue Squad said the reward for information about Summer's disappearance had grown to nearly $74,000. The date to claim the reward has been extended until June 15, 2022, and the rescue squad said its board of directors would review whether to extend the deadline again or close the fund and provide the money to the Child Advocacy Center.