In two days, Summer will have been missing for 9 months. LE has been back out to search for her several times since the initial massive search that ensued within hours of her disappearance. This is common and responsible on the part of LE/SAR, due to weather and changing environmental and topographical conditions.
This is not a case of a child being reported missing days or weeks or months after last being seen. Summer was last seen within 0-3 hrs of her disappearance, and she was last seen at her home in a rural area of East Tennessee.
We have been given little from LE to go on, minus a (still) unidentified red/maroon pick-up truck seen in the area, possibly at or around the day/time of Summer's disappearance. Reminder: this vehicle was witnessed by a trusted source to LE.
The three remaining children in the home have been placed in DSS custody, one parent is in jail for 6 months (charges unrelated to Summers' disappearance), and the other parent remains at the family home with some company from her own mother, who was also present at the time of Summer's disappearance. A mother who is also the parent of a missing (grown) daughter (unrelated to Summer's disappearance) and who is the sister of CW. Folks, this is one heck of a painful situation ALL AROUND.
Rather than try and dissect the enormously painful dissolution of a family, I'd rather take a second, third, fourth, twentieth look at the surrounding physical area- including extending out of the initial search grids.
What if this (unknown) vehicle is responsible for transporting Summer away from the area? What routes could it have traveled, how soon could it have hit interstates? How much time- in minutes- would it have been? Is it likely to be a vehicle driven by someone local to the area, or a transient? Do the ladder racks indicate a tradesperson, and if so, what kind and where? Beech Creek, Ben Hill, the holler, over the mountain? Is this sort of vehicle capable of off road travel? What is the cab like? Would a child be easily restrained in the cab?
Now back to the original search area, in the event Summer wandered from the home. What might SAR be missing when it comes to searching and re-searching areas of interest? The terrain is exceedingly difficult and Summer is a small child. Are there other/alternate tools or techniques that SAR could be utilizing to locate anything of interest? Let's brainstorm a bit, maybe even google. Share some ideas, think of this as a blank slate. Sometimes answers are right in front of us, we just need to clear the noise. Any interest in this approach appreciated. TIA, all.