As Nolan Wells’ household prepares to put the 18-year-old to relaxation on Monday, they are going to accomplish that with out realizing why his younger life was minimize so tragically brief.
It’s been 16 days since Wells and his associates went on a Fourth of July boat journey to Horn Island — a preferred vacation spot for vacation revelers off the Mississippi coast with no shelters, no facilities and no communications.
His associates made it again residence. Wells, a scholar and extensive receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College, didn’t. His physique was discovered two days later, on July 6, facedown within the water off the shoreline of Horn Island by a National Park Service agent.
While his family members mourn, a few of Wells’ associates who had been on the journey have acquired dying threats. Photos from the tour present Wells hanging out with what appear to be all-White associates, main some to evoke harsh emotions about Mississippi’s fraught racial historical past and speculate about whether or not race performed a job in his dying.
Others say the currents close to Horn Island could be notoriously tough, with the native coroner saying his workplace has acquired quite a few drowning victims from Mississippi’s barrier islands in recent times.
Here’s what we all know and don’t know concerning the case that has spurred nationwide consideration:
Two concurrent post-mortem investigations are underway to find out Wells’ trigger and method of dying.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting the official post-mortem investigation, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd mentioned.
There had been no rapid, apparent indicators of foul play or trauma on Wells’ physique, Lynd advised NCS. But as a result of unsure 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 mentioned.
The state health worker’s workplace carried out an post-mortem on July 7 and has been ready for outcomes from toxicology checks, Lynd mentioned. It can take weeks to obtain outcomes from toxicology checks, that are normal in dying investigations.
Separately, Wells’ mother and father despatched their son’s physique out of state for an unbiased post-mortem, household lawyer Ben Crump mentioned.
“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 mentioned.
Results from the unbiased post-mortem are nonetheless pending, Crump mentioned.
(*2*)
Tracestin Shepherd, who was on the journey, described Wells as one among his greatest associates. He advised ABC’s “Good Morning America” he took a ship again from Horn Island within the late afternoon of July 4, however Wells stayed behind with a woman 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 advised GMA.
Shepherd mentioned he has spoken to investigators and Wells’ associates from the journey have been cooperating with authorities.
But Jayvon Williams, one other pal who additionally noticed Wells on July 4, mentioned it’s not like Wells to separate from the group he got here 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 advised NCS’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 mentioned.
Williams was alleged to be on the identical boat as Wells after they headed out to Horn Island, however that boat crammed up, Williams advised the Sun Herald. So he hopped on one other boat.
“As soon as we got out there, (Wells) told me that he loved me,” Williams advised the newspaper. He mentioned he noticed his greatest pal for the final time late that afternoon.
Audio from a broadly shared cellphone video led to hypothesis Wells’ voice may need been heard in a heated argument demanding his cellphone again.
But the individual shouting within the video is definitely Shepherd, he advised GMA.
“That’s me yelling,” Shepherd mentioned, explaining how he was concerned in an altercation and wanted to be restrained.
Williams additionally mentioned he believes it was Shepherd’s voice – not Wells’ – within 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 advised NCS.
Wells’ mom, Christine Wells-Wonsley, mentioned the household in contrast the situation historical past between the Snapchat and Life360 apps monitoring her son’s telephone – however the knowledge didn’t match.
Williams’ mom, Tashema Hands, mentioned she helped Wells’ mom monitor down her son’s telephone.
“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 mentioned concerning the residence the place she discovered the telephone.
On July 6, the day Wells’ physique was discovered, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter advised NCS his detectives had been interviewing individuals 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 mentioned, in response to the Sun Herald in Mississippi. And the FBI helps study digital proof collected, the sheriff mentioned.
The three associates who traveled with Wells on the boat to Horn Island have been interviewed in depth, the sheriff advised the Sun Herald.
NCS has reached out to the FBI and the sheriff’s division for added particulars.
After the investigation is completed, Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath will let a grand jury determine whether or not any potential costs are warranted, she advised the Sun Herald.
“This case is being treated as a priority,” the district lawyer mentioned. “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.”
NCS has reached out to McIlrath for added info.
Until the outcomes of the autopsies are launched and investigators say what they consider precipitated Wells’ dying, anybody leaping to conclusions can be doing “a disservice to the family,” NCS legislation enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey mentioned.
Ramsey, who’s Black, mentioned he understands why some Mississippians is likely to be involved about whether or not race performed a job in Wells’ dying or the investigation.
But to date, there may be nothing stunning concerning the timeline of the investigation and the way it’s continuing, mentioned Ramsey, a former commissioner of the Philadelphia and Washington, DC police departments.
It’s fairly frequent for legislation enforcement officers to take greater than per week to collect all the required proof and interviews to find out what precipitated a dying, he mentioned.
“It’s not unusual. What’s unusual is the degree of media attention,” Ramsey mentioned. “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.”
Shepherd mentioned he and his associates have acquired dying threats, in response to GMA.
“We did no wrong here, and we don’t understand how we’re getting so much hate behind us,” he mentioned. “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 mom of one other pal who was on the journey, mentioned she additionally needs to know what occurred to Wells.
“We will do everything within our power to assist Nolan’s family in their quest for answers,” Cole posted on Facebook.
But whereas she waits to be taught extra, her household has additionally acquired dying threats.
“We realize that the truth will not stop the calls for the death of our small children,” Cole wrote.
A visitation will happen from 9 to 11 a.m. native time at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
The funeral will comply with, with the Rev. Al Sharpton delivering the eulogy.
Afterward, a celebration of life will happen on the Jackson County Fairgrounds.
“He would not want us to be sitting around crying and eating,” his mom mentioned. “So what we are going to do is kind of have a party to celebrate him.”
NCS’s Devon M. Sayers, Ryan Young, Jason Morris and Alta Spells contributed to this report.