Beyond the Mystery: Here’s why Nolan Wells’ death is becoming far more than just an unexplained tragedy
As Nolan Wells’ family tearfully said goodbye to the beloved teen at his funeral Monday, they did so without knowing why his young life was cut so tragically short.
It’s been 16 days since Wells, 18, and his friends went on a Fourth of July boat trip to Horn Island — a popular destination for holiday revelers off the Mississippi coast with no shelters, no facilities and no communications.
His friends made it back home. Wells, a student and wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College, did not. His body was found two days later, on July 6, facedown in the water off the shoreline of Horn Island by a National Park Service agent.
While his loved ones mourn, some of Wells’ friends who were on the trip have received death threats. Photos from the excursion show Wells hanging out with what seem to be all-White friends, leading some to evoke harsh feelings about Mississippi’s fraught racial history and speculate about whether race played a role in his death.
Others say the currents near Horn Island can be notoriously rough, with the local coroner saying his office has received numerous drowning victims from Mississippi’s barrier islands in recent years.
Here’s what we know and don’t know about the case that has spurred national attention:
What was the cause of death?
Two concurrent autopsy investigations are underway to determine Wells’ cause and manner of death.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting the official
investigation, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd said.
There were no immediate, obvious signs of foul play or trauma on Wells’ body, Lynd told CNN. But due to the uncertain circumstances, “we asked for an autopsy (at) the state medical examiner’s office so that they could do the full autopsy and be able to tell if there was any foul play or trauma,” he said.
The state medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy on July 7 and has been waiting for results from toxicology tests, Lynd said. It can take weeks to receive results from toxicology tests, which are standard in death investigations.
Separately, Wells’ parents sent their son’s body out of state for an independent autopsy, family attorney Ben Crump said.
“We had his body flown from Mississippi to Washington, DC, because his family wanted to make sure that they had a doctor who had no ties to Mississippi law enforcement to do an independent examination of their son’s body,” Crump said.
Results from the independent autopsy are still pending, Crump said.
What was Wells doing when a friend last saw him?
Tracestin Shepherd, who was on the trip, described Wells as one of his best friends. He told ABC’s “Good Morning America” he took a boat back from Horn Island in the late afternoon of July 4, but Wells stayed behind with a girl he had met.
“They met that day, and it was kind of – it’s kind of one of those things. … he really did like her, but that was the only time they ever hung out was at Horn Island on July 4,” Shepherd told GMA.
Shepherd said he has spoken to investigators and Wells’ friends from the trip have been cooperating with authorities.
But Jayvon Williams, another friend who also saw Wells on July 4, said it’s not like Wells to separate from the group he came with.
“I don’t think that Nolan would say, ‘Bro, I’m staying with this girl on the island. Y’all go ahead and go back,’” Williams told CNN’s Laura Coates.
“I’ve never known Nolan to stay back, watch friends leave. He’s always been a guy where, if he rode with you, he’s gonna come back with you,” Williams said.
Williams was supposed to be on the same boat as Wells when they headed out to Horn Island, but that boat filled up, Williams told the Sun Herald. So he hopped on another boat.
“As soon as we got out there, (Wells) told me that he loved me,” Williams told the newspaper. He said he saw his best friend for the last time late that afternoon.
Was Nolan’s voice recorded during an argument captured on cellphone video?
Audio from a widely shared cellphone video led to speculation Wells’ voice might have been heard in a heated argument demanding his cellphone back.
But the person shouting in the video is actually Shepherd, he told GMA.
“That’s me yelling,” Shepherd said, explaining how he was involved in an altercation and needed to be restrained.
Williams also said he believes it was Shepherd’s voice – not Wells’ – in the video.
“We were calming Tracestin down in that video where he said, ‘Give me my f-ing phone back.’ It sounds like him,” Williams told CNN.
What did Wells’ phone data show that concerned parents?
Wells’ mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, said the family compared the location history between the Snapchat and Life360 apps tracking her son’s phone – but the data didn’t match.
Williams’ mother, Tashema Hands, said she helped Wells’ mother track down her son’s phone.
“For Christine, it said one place, but for them on Snapchat, it showed another place. So that’s the place we went to, and it showed that everybody was in the house. It was like a lot of people there,” Hands said about the home where she found the phone.
What have investigators said?
On July 6, the day Wells’ body was found, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told CNN his detectives were interviewing people who had “firsthand interactions with Nolan on the day he went missing” and “no foul play has been identified at this time.”
Since then, investigators have interviewed about 60 witnesses, Ledbetter said, according to the Sun Herald in Mississippi. And the FBI is helping examine digital evidence collected, the sheriff said.
The three friends who traveled with Wells on the boat to Horn Island have been interviewed in depth, the sheriff told the Sun Herald.
CNN has reached out to the FBI and the sheriff’s department for additional details.
Will charges be filed?
After the investigation is finished, Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath will let a grand jury decide whether any potential charges are warranted, she told the Sun Herald.
“This case is being treated as a priority,” the district attorney said. “Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the findings will go before a grand jury, which is our standard operating procedure for deaths that are not natural deaths.”
CNN has reached out to McIlrath for additional information.
Did race play a role in Wells’ death or the investigation?
Until the results of the autopsies are released and investigators say what they believe caused Wells’ death, anyone jumping to conclusions would be doing “a disservice to the family,” CNN law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey said.
Ramsey, who is Black, said he understands why some Mississippians might be concerned about whether race played a role in Wells’ death or the investigation.
But so far, there is nothing surprising about the timeline of the investigation and how it’s proceeding, said Ramsey, a former commissioner of the Philadelphia and Washington, DC police departments.
It’s quite common for law enforcement officers to take more than a week to gather all the necessary evidence and interviews to determine what caused a death, he said.
“It’s not unusual. What’s unusual is the degree of media attention,” Ramsey said. “The only reason we’re having this conversation (is) it happened in Mississippi. He’s a Black kid, and he went out there with friends who happen to be White.”
What’s happened to Wells’ friends from the trip?
Shepherd said he and his friends have received death threats, according to GMA.
“We did no wrong here, and we don’t understand how we’re getting so much hate behind us,” he said. “We all cared (for) and loved Nolan, and nobody wanted to see Nolan die. Nobody wanted to see his life be taken so short.”
Ashlee Cole, the mother of another friend who was on the trip, said she also wants to know what happened to Wells.
“We will do everything within our power to assist Nolan’s family in their quest for answers,” Cole posted on Facebook.
But while Cole waits to learn more, her family has also received death threats.
“We realize that the truth will not stop the calls for the death of our small children,” she wrote.
How are mourners honoring Wells?
A diverse group of mourners gathered for Wells’ funeral Monday at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where the teen’s family lives.
“One of the things that I’m glad to see is that there are people of all races at this funeral,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said during his eulogy for Wells. “All Whites are not racist, and all Blacks are not angry.”
Wells’ mother tearfully described the impact her son had on those around him.
“He was both protective and nurturing. He often told us that one day, he wanted to have three daughters that he would name Sophia, Charlotte and Olivia,” she said.
“We will miss everything about him, from his quiet nature to the corny jokes.”
But “as much as our hearts are broken,” she said, “we find peace in knowing that our son is resting in the arms of the Lord.”
