Images Courtesy of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Information Courtesy of The Charley Project

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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ABOUT ASHLEY

Ashley Nicole Summers was born on June 1, 1993. Aside from the fact that she came from a large, close-knit family, little is known about her early life. She was noted as being a “typical teenager” who began to have disagreements with her mom. According to her family, she began to rebel shortly before her 14th birthday. At the time, she was secretly dating a 16-year-old boy, even though her mom believed she was too young to date. As a result, she got a tattoo that read “Gene” (the name of her boyfriend at the time) with a heart around it, and she repeatedly stole money from her mom.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

By the summer of 2007, her mom sent her to live with her grandmother. Because of this, she spent a lot of time at the home of her great-uncle, hanging out with her cousins and other relatives. She often hung out with her extended relatives, and she would later disappear during one of these hangouts.

DISAPPEARANCE

Little is known about the circumstances surrounding Ashley’s disappearance. On that day, she hung out with her extended family. At some point, she and her great-uncle got into an argument, and in the heat of the moment, he broke her cell phone. Later in the day, she was seen leaving a pool party at another great-uncle’s house. She walked to her aunt’s home less than 10 minutes away, but she never arrived.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Two days passed before her family realized she was missing. Because she frequently stayed with other family members, her mother thought she was with her grandmother, her grandmother thought she was with her great-uncle, and her great-uncle thought she was with her grandmother. At some point, the police were contacted, and Ashley was reported as a missing person.

INVESTIGATION

When the authorities first received Ashley’s missing persons report, they assumed she had run away due to her recent acts of rebellion. Still, the family disagreed, stating that it was uncharacteristic of her to run away. A week after her disappearance, they formed a search party and searched the neighborhood and surrounding areas for her. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t find anything.

About a month after her disappearance, her mother received a call from a blocked number. The caller told her “It’s me, mom. I’m okay. Don’t worry,” and hung up soon after. Her mom thought the caller sounded like her daughter, but she wasn’t sure.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Four months later, in November 2007, Ashley’s step-grandmother reported a sighting of a young girl as she was driving on West 44th Street. It looked like Ashley, except her hair was cut short and dyed blond. Her step-grandmother couldn’t confirm this, as the girl disappeared before she turned the car around.

With little to go on, her case became cold, and her name faded from the headlines.

Years passed with no developments. Until one day, her story was brought back into the headlines by a shocking discovery.

ARIEL CASTRO KIDNAPPINGS

In May 2013, missing Cleveland women Amanda Berry, Georgina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were located safe after being missing for ten, nine, and eleven years, respectively. The women had been held captive in the home of Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old bus driver, but Amanda escaped and used a neighbor’s phone to call 911. All three women were rescued, and Ariel was promptly arrested.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Given that Ashley disappeared a few miles away from Ariel Castro’s house, the authorities began operating under the theory that she was one of his victims as well. There’s some speculation that the disappearances of Amanda, Georgina, and Ashley are linked, and it’s possible one or more of them may have been forced into exploitative circumstances. In fact, Michelle Knight, upon her release, recalled another girl at the house shortly after Ashley disappeared. However, the girl disappeared soon after. To this day, the girl remains unidentified, and it’s unknown if Ashley was one of Ariel Castro’s victims. Unfortunately, he died about a month into his sentence, taking any secrets to the grave with him.

2015 Sighting

Two years after Amanda, Georgina, and Michelle were rescued, there was a possible sighting. In January 2015, a woman was photographed at a bank ATM in Warwick, Rhode Island. The FBI released the image to the public, as she was wanted for check theft and identity fraud in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Ashley’s step-grandmother found the photo online, at which point she sent photos of her to the Warwick Police Department. They immediately believed that the unidentified woman was Ashley. They publicized the case locally, but they didn’t receive any leads. They also posted her face on billboards along the eastern seaboard, but as of this writing, no one has come forward.

Since then, Ashley’s case has continued to grow cold, and there haven’t been any leads in her case. Her family misses her dearly, and they long to bring her home. As of this writing, the case of Ashley Nicole Summers remains unsolved.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Ashley Nicole Summers is a perplexing mystery. A young girl walks to her aunt’s house after going to a pool party at her great-uncle’s house. It should’ve only taken ten minutes, but she was never seen again after that day.

Despite the lack of information, there are a couple of theories in her case:

1. Ashley ran away.
2. Ashley was the victim of Ariel Castro.

Let’s examine these one by one.

Theory 1: Runaway

First, we have the theory that Ashley ran away. At first, this makes sense. She was going through a rebellious phase, and she had been arguing with her mom and other family members in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. However, she didn’t have a known history of running away, and no one has seen or heard from her since. Not her mom, not her extended family, not even her boyfriend. Many times, if a child or teenager runs away, they’ll contact someone they trust, like a friend, family member, or boyfriend/girlfriend. At the very least, they’ll stay nearby, even if they don’t reach out to anyone. That doesn’t happen in her case. Thorough searches couldn’t find her, and no one has heard from her since that day.

While I acknowledge it’s possible she ran away, something could’ve happened to her afterwards. Otherwise, how could she have stayed off the grid all these years?

Because of this, I believe we can safely rule out the runaway theory.

Theory 2: Ariel Castro’s Potential Involvement

Our next theory is that Ashley was the victim of Ariel Castro. This theory seems viable; his house was a few miles from where she was last seen. After her release, Michelle Knight reported there was another girl in the house around the same time Ashley disappeared, but she disappeared soon after. Although we don’t have a description of this unknown girl, it could’ve been Ashley.

The only problem is that we don’t have any solid evidence that links her disappearance to those of Amanda, Georgina, and Michelle. In fact, the police have never found a connection between Ariel Castro and Ashley. We have Michelle’s eyewitness testimony, but we don’t have a description of this unknown girl. If we had a description, and it matched Ashley’s, I would be more inclined to believe it.

While this theory is compelling, we don’t have any evidence to back it up. And with Ariel Castro dead, I doubt we’re going to find a connection unless one of his associates comes forward. Without more information, we can’t rule it in or out.

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With every year that passes, Ashley’s family holds out hope that she will be found and brought home. Her disappearance has left a void in their hearts, as well as a never-ending pain. Though her disappearance has faded in and out of the headlines, her love and the impact she had on her family and friends has remained strong. And with every article shared and awareness post circulated, we can keep her name alive until she comes home.

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If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Ashley Summers, there’s honestly not a lot of information. The Charley Project provided most of my information; without them, this post would not have been possible. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• Daily Mail
• Slate
• The FBI
• The Charley Project
• Wikipedia
• NBC News
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

If you have any information about the disappearance of Asha Degree, please call the FBI Cleveland Office at 216-522-1400 or the Cleveland Police Department at 1-216-326-5005.. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.