The cause and manner of 18-year-old Nolan Wells’ death was ruled “undetermined” pending further investigation in an independent autopsy commissioned by his family.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Wells family, announced the preliminary findings Wednesday at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago.
Reading from a report prepared by forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Mitchell, Crump said the autopsy showed no evidence of fractures or bruising, but also did not rule out the possibility of foul play.
The board-certified pathologist found “red discoloration” in the soft tissue in the back of Wells’ head, but no underlying skull fractures or lacerations to the skin around the area, Crump said. He noted that the decomposition of the body, along with other limiting factors, had made it impossible to make a determination.
Without further information, the pathologist wrote he “cannot rule out if any intervening nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” according to the attorney.
The autopsy is part of an independent investigation led by Crump into the circumstances of the teenager’s disappearance, which followed a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off the coast of Mississippi. Wells did not return to the mainland with his friends. His body was found floating off the island’s coast two days later.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted its own autopsy but has yet to release the results.
The second autopsy was arranged by the family and Crump, and paid for by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. It did not include a toxicology report.
“This is only another part of the puzzle, and even though it tells us significant information, we still have more questions than we have answers at this time,” Crump said of the results.
The still-unknown circumstances around Wells’ death have touched off rampant online speculation and prompted calls from Black leaders for transparency from local authorities. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white.
A reward of $125,000 — jointly funded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, actor and producer Tyler Perry and former NFL player Terrell Owens — is now being offered in exchange for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with the death.
The autopsy announcement comes two days after Wells was laid to rest in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
In his eulogy, Sharpton lamented the “inconsistencies and unanswered questions” that had placed a dark cloud over the grieving family.
He questioned why Wells’ friends had left him behind, taken his phone and keys and failed to report him missing. And he suggested local investigators had spoken prematurely in statements to the news media indicating no crime was suspected.
“The reason that a lot of people across the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is because we’re looking at the history in Mississippi,” Sharpton added. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.”
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said initial interviews suggested Wells chose to stay on the island and that his friends believed he would get a ride with someone else. He has said the friends were cooperating with the investigation, which remains ongoing.
“We are trying to be respectful and collaborative as much as we can,” Crump said. “But it’s always troublesome to all of us when these investigations just take forever.”
