In The Summer Of 2007, This Ohio Teen Left Her Uncle’s Pool Party And Vanished While Walking To Her Aunt’s Home
Ashley Nicole Summers grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, with much of her extended family. Being that she was the eldest sibling, she took on a caretaker role and looked after her younger siblings while her mother, Jennifer Summers, went to work.
Ashley’s loved ones recalled how, as a child, she enjoyed acting a bit silly and making people laugh. She was also known to be outgoing and a scary movie enthusiast.
Since Ashley’s biological father was not a part of her life, she primarily grew up surrounded by her mom’s large extended family.
Just before her 14th birthday, though, her family members noticed a pretty significant change in her personality. Ashley went from being a fun-loving kid to acting oppositional. This was especially true toward her mom, Jennifer, and Jennifer’s long-term boyfriend, who had helped raise Ashley.
And around the same time, Ashley also entered a relationship with a 16-year-old boy named Gene. Gene lived close to Ashley’s home, so while Ashley watched her younger siblings, she would often invite her boyfriend over without telling her mom.
This went on for a while, and Jennifer only found out about her daughter’s secret after one of Ashley’s brothers informed her. At that point, Jennifer was furious to learn what had been going on behind her back and decided to prohibit Gene from visiting their home.
But, the punishment just pushed tensions to increase. Then, the situation finally came to a head after Jennifer learned that her daughter had taken money from her purse in order to get a tattoo of Gene’s name.
At that point, Jennifer took action in hopes of diffusing tensions and mitigating conflict in her relationship with Ashley. More specifically, Ashley’s grandmother– who only lived about four miles away– was asked to take her in for the summer.
Jennifer believed this new arrangement would keep Ashley on her best behavior. Plus, she hoped that getting some space from each other would salvage their strained relationship.
FBI – pictured above is Ashley
So, Ashley wound up primarily staying at her grandmother’s home. And when her grandmother went to work during the day, she would hang out at other family members’ homes in the area.
That’s why, in the days leading up to Ashley’s disappearance, she had been staying at her uncle Kevin’s home– where many of her cousins frequently hung out.
On July 9, 2007, her uncle even hosted a pool party at his home– which was located near the 2100 block of West 96 Street.
Ashley attended that party, too, and reportedly arrived in more of a somber mood. After she started speaking to her relatives and hopped in the pool, though, attendees recalled how her mood brightened.
Still, Ashley wound up leaving the party early at approximately 6:00 p.m. At that point, she hugged her relatives goodbye and detailed how she planned to walk to her aunt’s home and stay the evening.
Afterward, she left with all of her clothes– but not her cell phone– and started on the 10-minute walk to her aunt’s house.
Now, Ashley did have a cell phone. However, she had gotten into an argument earlier in the day with another one of her uncles. This uncle claimed that he had overheard Ashely gossiping about their family on the phone. So this sparked an argument, and this uncle wound up smashing her cell phone.
This incident, and her broken device, might have explained why Ashley appeared to be in a bad mood at the start of the pool party.
Regardless, she left the residence without any means of communication along her walk to her aunt’s house. And tragically, she never arrived there.
At the time, though, Ashley was reportedly known to go to different family members’ homes to stay the night. That’s why it took two days for Jennifer to realize something was wrong after she had not heard from her daughter.
This prompted her to reach out to Ashley’s uncle Kevin, who revealed how he had not seen the teen since prior to the pool party. Jennifer also knew Ashley was not at her grandmother’s home, which pushed her to start contacting the rest of their relatives.
After these efforts yielded no answers, Jennifer was forced to reach out to local authorities. The police did not take the missing person report seriously, though, and believed Ashley had just voluntarily run away. So, in spite of Jennifer’s pleas, the police wound up designating Ashley’s case as an “endangered runaway.”
Jennifer was not satisfied with this response from investigators, though, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She and the rest of Ashley’s family started posting missing-person flyers around town and organizing search parties.
Strangely, the flyers were all ripped down within just one day. But a few tips had been submitted before then.
This led to confusion regarding the last known sighting of Ashley, with reports ranging from July 4 to July 9, 2017. However, the FBI now believes that Ashley was last near West 44 Street and Towbridge Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 8, 2007.
One month after Ashley disappeared, her mother then received a phone call at work. The caller had dialed from a blocked number and reportedly said, “Mom, it’s me. I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
Jennifer recalled how the caller had sounded like her daughter. However, she could not be completely sure.
And by May 2008, the FBI finally got involved in Ashley’s investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children brought her case to their attention. At that point, the FBI Cleveland Division began to suspect that Ashley’s disappearance might have been connected to other missing girls in the Cleveland area.
Amanda Berry, for instance, was a 16-year-old who had disappeared on April 21, 2003, while walking home after finishing a shift at Burger King. Georgina DeJesus, a 14-year-old, also vanished while walking home from school in April 2004.
On May 6, 2013, both of these girls– along with Michelle Knight– were discovered after Amanda escaped the home of Ariel Castro. This discovery marked the end of the girls’ nearly 10-year captivity.
That’s why rumors began to swirl that perhaps Ashley had also been in the same house at one point. However, authorities were never able to find any evidence of this.
As for Ashley’s boyfriend, Gene, he had an alibi at the time of her disappearance since he was at a family reunion out of town. Still, investigators interviewed him various times, and his story always stayed consistent. This pushed authorities to never declare him a person of interest.
Ashley’s own family was also interrogated and underwent polygraph tests– although the results were never made public.
Investigators were especially interested in some of Ashley’s older male family members– such as her uncle, who had gotten into an argument with her on the day she went missing. However, he also has never been officially named a suspect in Ashley’s case, and the investigation has stagnated.
The most recent development in her investigation occurred on April 13, 2021, when the FBI decided to dig up land that was connected to her disappearance. The dig region was in the West 43 Street and Train Avenue area.
The investigators only discovered animal bones, though, and there have been no other confirmed sightings of Ashley since July 9, 2007.
At the time of her disappearance, Ashley was five foot five, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown hair. She was 14-years-old at the time she went missing and would be 29 today.
If you have any information regarding Ashley’s case, you are urged to contact the Cleveland Police Department at (216) 623–5005.
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