(NewsNation) — The family of Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old Mississippi teenager found dead after a Fourth of July outing with friends, has hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Wells was discovered dead on Horn Island, a barrier island located about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast. The island is managed by the National Park Service and has no facilities, permanent staff or communications infrastructure. Visitors typically reach it by private boat.
Investigators said Wells was last seen around 3 p.m. on July 4 while on the beach. Authorities said he chose not to leave the island with the friends he had traveled with, and witnesses reportedly saw him say goodbye to the group.
His friends told investigators they believed Wells planned to return home by getting a ride with someone else.
Wells’ family reported him missing at about midnight that same night. His body was located July 6 on the beach along the northwest side of Horn Island.
Ashlee Cole, the mother of one of Wells’ friends, later wrote online about what happened that day. Cole said her son, Warren, last spoke with Wells around 3 p.m., when Wells said he intended to take a boat back with another group of friends. She also said her son had spoken with the sheriff’s department.
The search for Wells began July 5. The U.S. Coast Guard received a missing-person bulletin at 12:26 p.m. that day.
Multiple agencies assisted in the search, including the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Gulf Islands National Seashore, the U.S. Coast Guard and the United Cajun Navy. It remains unclear how much of Horn Island had been searched before Wells’ body was found.
Investigators are still working on determining what happened in the hours between when Wells’ friends left and when he died. Authorities are asking the public to come forward with any sightings of or interactions with Wells, unedited photos or video from the northwest tip of Horn Island on July 4, 2026, or any unusual activity or an argument in that area.
The final autopsy report on Wells’ cause of death has not been released, and a toxicology report is still pending. Crump said in a statement his office will conduct an independent review of the circumstances surrounding Wells’ death.
