Church Hill Rescue Squad officials filed a court petition on June 30 asking to halt donations to an ongoing reward fund for tips into the ongoing search for missing Hawkins County six-year-old Summer Wells.

The CHRS also asked the Hawkins County Chancery Court to take over the future of the reward fund after issues arose about a portion of the money donated. The petition said that in October and November of 2021, a woman named Qiana Carlock deposited over $32 thousand into the account via wire transfer.

Shortly after the donation, the CHRS got an email from a woman known as Fiona O’Conner, who said she was an “independent investigator” that took issue with the donation. O’Conner said in the email that the money may have been raised through an illegal fundraiser through YouTube.

“The true identity of both Defendants Fiona O’Conner and Qiana Carlock [are] questionable,” the petition states. “Defendant Fiona O’Conner shows an address [in the] United Kingdom: however, an internet search reveals numerous persons having the same name in multiple countries of the UK. As to Defendant Qiana Carlock, a search reveals an address [in] Las Vegas, NV; however, such an internet search also reveals multiple similar names all outside of Tennessee.”

While the fund was accepting donations, people could give money through Civis Bank, however the petition said the bank did not make any record of deposits into the account. CHRS officials said the total for the reward fund was $73,705.90.

Story courtesy of WVLT