Rogersville, Tenn. (WJHL) – Missing children advocates and content creators from all over gathered at Rogersville City Park on Friday to remember Summer Wells and spread awareness about her disappearance.
Bureda Phillips, known as “Chewy” from Bean Station, helped organize the event. She runs a YouTube Channel called “Sharing & Caring with Ms. Chewy,” where she discusses true crime, domestic violence and missing children.
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“We’re trying to make a statement for Summer, and what we wanted to do was actually see that the law enforcement here in the county know that we’re still standing strong for Summer, that we want to be her voice,” Phillips said.
Evelyn Jenkins, who runs a YouTube channel called “Jenkies Rumor Has It!” was also at the park supporting Summer Wells. She creates content about true crime, missing kids, and much more. She believes it’s important to still advocate for Wells, even three years after her disappearance.
“Because if we don’t, who is,” Jenkins said. “These kids become cold cases, and you know, if there’s nobody keeping their name out there and putting their picture out there and putting their flier out there, who is?”
Jenkins also creates events to spread awareness for missing and exploited kids, including putting Christmas trees up every year with their photos on them.
“Last year, we put up the Christmas tree at the Fort Henry Mall, and we put over 200 kids’ pictures on that,” Jenkins said. “Yeah. Missing and exploited kids in Tennessee.”
Jenkins said they also added Layla Santanello and Hollynn Snapp, two missing women from Kingsport, on the tree.
Flyers for Santanello, Snapp, and Sebastian Rogers from Hendersonville were also distributed at the park on Friday.
“It’s not just for summer,” Phillips said. “Summer is our inspiration. She has inspired a lot of us, a lot of YouTube creators to stand up and be a voice for them.”
Content creators from as far as England came to the Stand for Summer Wells gathering.
Tammy Hernandez is not a content creator but an Illinois-based missing children advocate. Whenever she travels, she hangs flyers about Wells and other missing kids. She even puts rubber ducks out and writes “Find Summer Wells” on the bottom of them.
Phillips appreciates all this support from far and wide.
“We need everybody, anybody,” Phillips said. “I mean, people can stand up and speak for Summer, but just the average person can take flyers and distribute flyers or just saying Summer’s name to somebody and letting them know that she’s been gone for three years. We’re not giving up hope. We don’t think she’s deceased. We don’t. We’re hoping and praying every day that she’ll come home.”
“Summer doesn’t have a voice. We have to be her voice. And if we don’t do it, nobody’s going to do it.”
These advocates and content creators, along with many more, will gather at the Third annual Summer’s Day Vigil on June 15 at Warriors Path State Park at 4 p.m. at Pavilion #5.
The event commemorates the anniversary of her disappearance. A butterfly release will take place at 7 p.m.
Jenkins said people can paint ornaments for the missing and exploited kids Christmas trees at this event.
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