FBI seeks information in missing 14-year-old girl

Ashley Summers was a typical teenager in 2007: fighting with her mother over a tattoo and often staying with her extended family west of Cleveland, Ohio.

“[Ashley] “Ashley began to disagree with her mother on several issues,” FBI Special Agent in Cleveland Cristin McCaskill said in a message posted on the FBI website. “One of the points of contention was when Ashley got a tattoo that said ‘Gene,’ her then-boyfriend’s name, with a heart around it.”

Summers was 14 when she was last seen in Cleveland 17 years ago. According to the FBI, she was last seen around July 7 or 8, 2007, and her family reported her missing to Cleveland police on July 11.

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Police initially treated Summers as a runaway because of recent fights with her mother, but her large, close-knit family never believed she had disappeared on her own.

“At times, daily life could get chaotic, but nonetheless, everyone seemed to care a lot about each other and stayed in touch,” McCaskill said.

The FBI joined the investigation in 2008, when authorities were investigating the disappearance of Gina DeJesus, another young woman from Cleveland's west side who was about the same age as Summers. It turns out that DeJesus was one of three women held hostage by Ariel Castro. Investigators initially thought that Summers might have been one of Castro's victims, but there is no evidence to support that theory.

Summers' boyfriend Gene has cooperated with investigators and police do not believe there was any foul play on his part.

“I can't think of any agent on our team or any analyst who wasn't involved in this investigation,” McCaskill said.

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In 2018, the investigation into Summers' disappearance led to the indictment of her great-uncle Kevin Donathan. Donathan pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape, attempted rape, and sexual imposition. He was sentenced in 2020 to 35 years in prison.

Help me find Ashley Summers

According to the FBI, Ashley was 5'4″ and weighed 125 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She had brown hair, blue eyes and a tattoo on her right arm with the name “Gene” in black ink over a red heart. She would be 31 years old today.

“Ashley is deeply missed and dear to us,” Ashley’s mother Jennifer Summers said in a statement to the FBI. “We are clinging to the hope of her safe return. We ask anyone with information to come forward and contact the FBI in Cleveland.”

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“The investigation is still ongoing,” McCaskill said. “We’re still hoping to bring some closure to Ashley’s family. And I think the only way to do that at this point is to gather information, and the only way to gather information is to get Ashley’s story out to the public. I’m sure there are people we haven’t spoken to yet. If anyone thinks they’ve seen Ashley or knows where she is, we welcome any information.”