A new report suggests Ashley Summers may have been spotted in Rhode Island after being missing for eight years. The young woman was 14-years-old when she went missing from Cleveland in 2007. CBS News reports that an ATM surveillance photo is being examined by FBI investigators who say the woman strongly resembles the girl who disappeared as a teenager.
According to the Cleveland Division of the FBI, the woman in the picture is suspected of committing a series of identity thefts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson says a billboard campaign is running on social media so more people will see the photo and possibly align it with Summers if they so happen to recognize her in public.
The woman whom experts think is Ashley Summers is suspected to have teamed up with a man to steal wallets and purses from gyms around Warwick, Rhode Island, last October. The pair committed identity theft of the victims and used ATM cards to withdraw money from their accounts.
Summers would be 21-years-old now with brown hair. She’s described as being five-foot-five and 130 pounds. She has a tattoo on her upper right arm that reads “Gene” in black ink over a red heart.
“I think if we can find that man, we can find out for sure if it’s Ashley or not,” Linda Summers, Ashley’s grandmother, told Action 19 News .
The report adds that Ashley’s family believes the woman in the ATM surveillance images could be her. There were two other images taken from ATM machines in November as well.
People in the community haven’t forgotten about the missing girl. Neighbor Karen Custer remembers the posters that used to be all over town.
“There use to be a picture of her where she was very young. They showed her before and an after picture of what she would of looked like but you can’t find any posters here anymore.”
Anyone who believes they’ve spotted Ashley Summers or the man she’s believed to be with are urged to call the FBI at 1-880-225-5324.
Additionally, it’s revealed that when Ashley went missing , she disappeared from Cleveland’s west side, which is where the three young women that Ariel Castro held captive for a decade went missing from. Authorities reportedly asked Castro about Summers, but he wasn’t connected to her disappearance.
The young woman’s family will be relieved if Ashley Summers is spotted for certain.
[Photo Credit: FBI via Action 19 News ]
