The parents of missing 5-year-old Summer Wells were not given time on Dr. Phils stage, in person, during the first of two episodes the television show has titled The Disappearance of Summer Wells.

Airing Thursday, the first hour-long episode only showed Summers parents, Don Wells and Candus Bly, in pre-recorded videos. The shows host, Phil McGraw, Ph.D, instead spoke onstage with two men he described as body language or human behavior analysts.

Near the opening of the show, some video footage showed Don Wells driving through what appeared to be the Beech Creek community of Hawkins County, near the Sullivan County line in the Lone Star Road area.

As Wells spoke about June 15, the day Summer was reported missing by her parents, he pulled into an grassy area near Ben Hill Road, site of the familys home and where Summer was reported last seen by family members.

Wells said hed hurried home after Bly phoned him at work to say she couldnt find Summer, and arrived to see family and neighbors searching the area.

My heart sunk because I knew she was abducted, Wells said into the camera. I knew she was gone.

McGraw said Summers parents, like many people today who want to spread word quickly, turned to social media soon after their daughter was reported missing and while finding some support, also became targets of bullying, accusations, and threats.

The couple agreed to meet with body language analysts in what was presented to them as a way to help prove those online naysayers wrong, McGraw said.

The Dr. Phil Show website describes the two men as interrogators who have worked with the FBI, law enforcement and the military and have been referred to as a human lie detector.

The bulk of Thursdays show was devoted to clips from that meeting, which was videotaped near the familys home, and some blow-by-blow breakdowns of how McGraw and the two analysts interpreted the couples answers and physical reactions.

At one point a clip showed Wells answering the analysts questions about what he thinks happened to Summer, saying She was kidnapped.

McGraw red-flagged that, saying it was a departure from the earlier-used abducted. One of the analysts said kidnapping infers a transactional event.

Early in the show a clip was shown of Bly breaking down during the interview, crying and complaining that she felt interrogated and wanted to stop. She was shown removing the microphone attached to her clothing and leaving the room.

The three also weighed in on a clip edited down to Summers mothers answering no to three quickly-fired questions: Did she hurt Summer; does she know what happened to Summer; and does she know who took her daughter.

McGraw and the analysts, who agree they could easily be mistaken for law enforcement officers, drew attention to and replayed the portion of the tape of Bly saying no three times, once for each question. The three men specifically noted the third no was said in a lower voice after a slight side-to-side headshake.

Asked later what she thinks should happen to the person who took Summer, Bly paused before saying they should be put away for life. McGraw and the analysts said the pause raised questions for them.

Then it was pointed out she raised one eyebrow while thinking about her answer, which the analysts interpreted as her not being sure what she should say.

Later, McGraw and the analysts went back to the taped scene where Bly broke down crying and left, to reveal what shed been asked just before she lost her composure.

The two analysts had asked the couple if they thought the Cornbread Mafia could be involved in Summers disappearance.

Summers father said hed heard of something called the hillbilly mafia, but he and his family had tried to stay clear of them.

McGraw explained to his shows viewers that Cornbread Mafia is a colloquialism used to describe a grass-roots crime syndicate in Tennessee.

McGraw and the analysts replayed the video clip and said the mention of the Cornbread Mafia coincided with the beginning of Bly frowning, then beginning to cry, and said it showed she having a strong emotional reaction which could be anything from fear to guilt to pain. Her actions, they said, were signs of insulating and running.

After Bly said she felt like she was being interrogated and wanted not to continue the interview, Wells tied to calm her, saying the men were asking the questions to try and help find Summer.

Its not helping me, she said.

Before the final commercial break, about 50 minutes into the one-hour show, McGraw told viewers that the parents in-person appearance was next up. When the break was over, McGraw told the audience were out of time and said to tune in tomorrow to see whether the couple show up and if they do, whether Summers mother will stay onstage throughout McGraws questioning or leave the room.The show will air locally at 4 p.m. today on WJHL, showed Bly on the Dr. Phil set being asked about what happened to Summer.

I have no idea what happened, Bly said.

McGraw said he doesnt believe Bly began looking for Summer or called Wells as quickly as the two-to-three minutes Wells said that she said, calling it inconsistent with everything hes seen.

I do not have a hyper-vigilant mom here, McGraw said.

McGraw said he wasnt accusing Bly of wrong-doing, but it doesnt add up and when things dont add up he has questions.

The show was taped weeks ago. Summers parents have been contractually bound not to talk about their appearance prior to the shows airdates.

The rest is here:
The 'Cornbread Mafia': Day one of the Summer Wells case on Dr. Phil - Johnson City Press (subscription)