Family of Mississippi teen reveals final text before drowning, grand jury finds no foul play
Attorney Ben Crump disclosed the last message sent by 18-year-old Nolan Wells before his body was recovered after a July 4 boating incident, while a grand jury concluded the death was consistent with drowning and found no criminal or racial motive.
Civil-rights lawyer Ben Crump said the final text Nolan Wells sent was a brief "Thank you" to his aunt around 8:30 p.m. on July 3, the night before he disappeared during a Independence Day boat party on Horn Island, Mississippi. Crump noted that Wells, an 18-year-old football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, typically communicated with friends via Snapchat, and investigators recovered 282 pages of those messages after examining his phone.
Wells was reported missing after the boat trip and his body was found face-down in the water two days later. A 23-member grand jury reviewed autopsy reports from the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist, concluding that the position, condition, time of discovery and location of the body were consistent with drowning. The jury found no evidence of a fatal injury, organic disease, criminal act or racially motivated intent.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said in a video message that "there is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s death and disappearance were racially motivated." A witness testified that he saw Wells slip off the side of a boat but did not observe a head injury, and noted that Wells continued socializing afterward.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wells Wonsley, expressed grief and said the family does not accept the conclusion that the death was accidental, pledging to continue seeking what they consider justice. The grand jury report also described online speculation and harassment directed at Wells’ friends as "malicious" and unfounded.