The family of Nolan Xavier Wells is still grappling for answers about what exactly led to the 18-year-old elite athlete’s death during a July 4 boat trip with friends off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Though Wells traveled by boat with his friends to Horn Island, he didn’t return with the group that afternoon as planned. His body was found two days later off the island’s coast.
An independent autopsy commissioned by the family was inconclusive, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced Wednesday, and the Mississippi sheriff’s department investigating Wells’ death hasn’t made a public statement about the case in recent days.
Wells’ parents say the tragedy is riddled with conflicting stories and missing details. That distrust has been deepened by the state’s long legacy of racism. Wells was the only Black person in the group that day — everyone else on the outing was white.
Here’s a look at what’s known and what’s next in the search for answers.
Wells was reported missing within hours
Wells’ mother Christine Wonsley became concerned when one of his friends called around 11 p.m. on July 4. After trying to track her son down on her own, she reported him missing to police. One of Wells’ friends had also reported him missing to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Wells didn’t make it back to the mainland, but his phone and car keys did. Wonsley used an app to track Wells’ phone, and, after a friend went to where it was on land to pick it up, noticed that some of his messages appeared to be deleted. Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, went to retrieve his son’s keys from the boat, which was at the home where Wells had stayed with his friends the night before their trip. He said his son’s car was still parked in the yard.
The day after Wells’ body was found, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said Wells’ friends were cooperating with authorities and that investigators did not suspect foul play. Ledbetter said people interviewed by investigators said Wells chose to stay on the island with the assumption that he was going to ride back to the mainland with someone else.
Crump said bystander video from the island showed a person he said was Wells arguing with someone to give him his phone back. Crump said another witness reported Wells had planned to leave on the boat with his friends.
The independent autopsy found the cause of death is ‘undetermined’
The independent autopsy report showed no evidence of fractures or deep tissue injuries, and described a “red discoloration” on the back of Wells’ skull as “inconclusive” and meriting further investigation, Crump said.
Dr. Robert Mitchell, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, wrote in the report that he could not rule out the possibility that “non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death.” He listed the cause of death as “undetermined” pending further investigation.
The autopsy was complicated by a few factors. The body had decomposed and had already undergone one autopsy, which meant that the organs including the lungs and the neck structures were already removed. That’s not an unusual practice for autopsies, but makes it impossible to determine if Wells had a neck injury or if water had entered his lungs, according to Mitchell’s report.
Crump has called on state officials to provide that evidence for the family to review.
The results of toxicology and other tests are still unknown
The Mississippi medical examiner has not released the results of the state autopsy, and did not return messages left Wednesday asking for a timeline of when those results would be released.
Toxicology tests can often take weeks, and those results have also not yet been released.
Lawyers for the family said they spoke to the prosecuting attorney last week about procedural matters, but they said officials with the sheriff’s department have not shared any updates on the investigation’s findings in the days since Wells’ body was discovered.
Wells’ phone and witness accounts could still yield clues
Crump said he is working alongside the local prosecutor to inspect Wells’ phone. The prosecutor has agreed to present the results of the investigation to a grand jury once it is completed, according to Crump.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has been soliciting video, photos and firsthand accounts from people who were on the island. But the sheriff’s department has not made any public statements about the investigation in more than a week.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who gave the eulogy at Wells’ funeral, has promised a $100,000 reward for any new information about the circumstances around Wells’ death. Half the sum will be covered by the actor and producer Tyler Perry, who also paid for the funeral, Sharpton noted.
Wells’ death galvanized a community facing a legacy of racism
Wells’ death has led to rampant speculation and suspicion as people grapple with Mississippi’s history of racial tension and what it means to be a Black person in a majority white space.
Sharpton invoked Mississippi’s history of racist violence during his eulogy, including the lynching of Emmett Till and assassination of Medgar Evers. He told law enforcement authorities, “Before we can medicate and heal today, we’ve got to look at your history.”
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick paid for the independent autopsy. Other celebrities have provided support for Wells’ family, including filmmaker Spike Lee and former NFL player Terrell Owens, along with many prominent Black clergy members.
The independent autopsy findings were announced to a standing-room-only crowd at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago.
Many questions remain
Wells’ parents have described him as a peacemaker who shied away from confrontation, and his football coach at Southwest Mississippi Community College said the wide receiver was sociable and the type of person who never met a stranger.
Crump says too many things about the case don’t add up: Why would a teenager leave a phone behind if they plan to stay on an island? Why did nobody see Wells drown, or a person struggling in the water? Why did one witness report Wells planned to leave on the boat with his friends, while others apparently told the sheriff he had decided to stay behind?
Horn Island is uninhabited and accessible only by boat, an 11-mile (18-kilometer) spit of land near the Alabama state line. Crump said about 200 people were there on July 4. The family hopes witnesses will come forward to help fill in the blanks about what happened before Wells entered the water.
