Witnesses advised investigators that 18-year-old Nolan Wells had been ingesting closely with associates on Horn Island in Mississippi, in accordance with a doc with preliminary info from the Mississippi Division of Marine Sources.
The doc — an outline despatched on July 5 by the Marine patrol as a part of makes an attempt to search out Wells after he went lacking — was an e mail that listed fundamental info for Wells, together with his bodily description, as searchers scanned the island for indicators of him after he went lacking on July 4.
Wells was discovered lifeless on July 6 and his reason for dying shouldn’t be identified.
The official post-mortem report from the state Medical Examiner’s Workplace and the toxicology assessments are nonetheless pending. A private autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family preliminarily dominated his trigger and method of dying as “undetermined pending investigation.”
Authorities mentioned they think Wells drowned.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter mentioned there was no preliminary indication of a criminal offense, however he pressured that investigators had been “working diligently to find out precisely what occurred.”
Ledbetter additionally mentioned the sheriff’s workplace welcomed the household’s unbiased investigation.
A photograph of Nolan Wells is displayed on stage the place Ben Crump, a lawyer for the household of Nolan Wells proclaims the outcomes of an unbiased post-mortem as they examine the dying of Wells, July 22, 2026 in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty Photos
One other doc ABC Information obtained bolstered what associates advised investigators about why Wells was not on the return journey on July 4 within the boat he took to Horn Island together with his associates.
A police report from the Mississippi Division of Marine Sources mentioned, “a number of associates that traveled to the island on the vessel with Nolan” advised authorities “that after they left he was within the firm of an unknown feminine and that he selected to stay on the island.”
Mates have mentioned they didn’t abandon Wells however wanted to return to shore as a result of their boat was taking up water.
ABC Information obtained GPS knowledge from the boat Wells rode to Horn Island, which confirmed the boat set off for the island at 9:56 a.m. on July 4 and arrived at 11:14 a.m. The info confirmed the boat was “stationary” from that time till 4:30 p.m.
At 4:31 p.m., the boat left Horn Island, shifting slowly at not more than 4.2 knots for almost 3 miles. At 5:25 p.m., the boat “regains regular operation” with a velocity of 30 to 35 knots and arrived on shore about 20 minutes later, in accordance with the information.
