The latest development in the Nolan Wells case is raising even more questions about what happened to the 18-year-old Black college student before his body was found on a Mississippi island, because apparently this investigation still has more plot twists than answers.
According to WESH, a digital forensic team has released preliminary findings from its examination of Wells’ cellphone, and the results are adding another layer to a case that has already left his family demanding transparency. Wells disappeared during a Fourth of July boat trip and was found dead two days later on Horn Island. As BOSSIP recently reported, a Mississippi grand jury declined to bring criminal charges, concluding that the circumstances surrounding his death were consistent with drowning.
But Wells’ family is not accepting that conclusion as the end of the story.
Attorney Ben Crump and forensic investigators with Garrett Discovery said they examined Wells’ cellphone almost immediately after obtaining it from his family. Investigators determined that Wells primarily communicated through Snapchat and Instagram rather than traditional text messages. Crump said the district attorney’s office possesses 282 pages of Snapchat messages involving Wells and his friends, and investigators used those conversations, along with GPS information, to construct a timeline of what happened.
According to the forensic team, Wells’ phone showed activity after it left his possession. Investigators also found that Snapchat messages had been deleted from the device. Garrett Discovery’s Andrew Garrett said deleting that material would have required someone to take action on the phone. The investigators were also able to track the cellphone as it traveled by car and boat after Wells’ death.
That information is particularly significant because Wells’ family has repeatedly questioned why he would remain on Horn Island without his cellphone. Crump emphasized that Wells was known to carry his phone with him.
The family is also challenging aspects of the drowning theory. WESH reports that one autopsy reviewed by the family’s attorneys indicated there was no water in Wells’ stomach or lungs. His cause and manner of death have remained undetermined by medical examiners, despite the grand jury’s conclusion that the circumstances were consistent with drowning.
Crump says the full autopsy report will be made public, with another news conference potentially coming next week.
So while the grand jury may have closed one chapter, Wells’ family clearly believes there are still plenty of pages left to turn.
