Still missing: It’s been 15 years since Ashley Summers disappeared in Cleveland
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Ashley Summers has made national headlines, local news stories and even an episode of our true crime podcast, Dark Side of the Land.
Ashley was just a teenager when she disappeared in the summer of 2007. Her family is asking Clevelanders to attend a vigil this weekend in her memory.
The event will be held on Sunday, July 31, at 6:00 p.m. at the Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults, located 2937 West 25th St. in Cleveland.
The media and public are welcome and encouraged to attend, and the vigil is expected to last about 30 minutes.
This week, ahead of the event, we sat down with a family member to talk about what she remembers about the summer Ashley went missing.
Linda Summers was married to Ashley’s grandfather at the time. She’s been described as a bit rebellious.
“Right before she went missing, middle school hit, all the change into teenagerhood, She started to become rebellious, missed school,” Linda Summers said.
At 14 years old, Ashley had just gotten the name of her boyfriend, Gene, tattooed on her arm.
Linda said the money she’d spent on it caused an argument between Ashley and her mom.
So, Ashley went to stay with her great uncle, Kevin Donathan.
After releasing an episode about Ashley’s case in our 19 News true crime podcast this spring, listeners zeroed in on Donathan.
He’s now in prison, on unrelated charges. Listeners wanted to know more about his relationship with Ashley.
RELATED: FBI continues search for missing woman going on 14 years; uncle now in prison on unrelated charges
Linda Summers told us, “He was like the popular uncle. He would take the kids to the lake, riding bikes, buy them stuff. He was like Mr. Uncle.”
But, Summers said Donathan told the family he’d gotten into a fight with Ashely and broke her phone before she went missing.
“I didn’t trust him,” she said. “My children were never aloud to stay in the house by themselves. He made me very uncomfortable, yes.”
Donathan pleaded guilty to unrelated rape charges in 2020. His victims, according to court documents, were underaged girls.
“I wasn’t shocked, but I know it tore the family apart,” Summers said.
Again, to be clear, Donathan does not face any charges related to Ashley’s disappearance right now.
But, the FBI says no one has been ruled out as a suspect in Ashley’s case, because it isn’t solved.
We’ve interviewed Linda several times over the years, when the family thought they were close to answers. But, they haven’t come yet.
RELATED: Non-human remains discovered in Cleveland as search continues for Ashley Summers, FBI says
“It’s sad that we don’t know,” Linda said. “I’m also very determined, like I want to make sure we find out what happened to her. A lot of people think she’s not alive, and that she was killed a long time ago.”
Linda said the hardest part, is not knowing. That, and thinking of all the milestones Ashley’s missed in the last 15 years.
“She’s missed her personal milestones. She’s missed her sister getting married. She’s missed her mom getting married. She’s missed my daughter getting married,” Linda Summers said. “You have to keep the story out in the public eye so people can remember and hopefully find a clue.”
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