According to a Jackson County judge whose son was among the group, Wells was left behind on Horn Island after the boat experienced a problem with its bilge pump.
Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old high school football standout, disappeared Saturday during a Fourth of July boating trip with friends. His body was recovered Monday morning.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said Wells was last seen around 3 p.m. Saturday at the north end of Horn Island, a popular barrier island roughly 10 miles off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, where he was reportedly “talking to a girl.”
Wells’ family has said there are “too many unanswered questions” surrounding the incident and has retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them.
Ashlee Cole, a judge in Jackson County, acknowledged in a public statement that her son was one of the young people who had been with Wells on the boat trip the day he went missing.
Cole addressed the matter on Facebook, pushing back against any claims that her family has attempted to “hamper” the Wells family’s “quest for answers.”
She said her son had spoken with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and had “cooperated fully” with investigators.
“He saw Nolan last at around 3 p.m. on July 4th,” Cole wrote.
“They left around 4:30 pm when the boat was taking on water and they had an issue with the bilge pump.
“Nolan made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends.”
Cole said that she had graduated high school with Wells’ mom Christine Wells-Wonsley and that her family’s “thoughts and prayers are with Nolan’s family”.
Police are also reportedly investigating a video which allegedly shows a heated argument before Wells went missing.
The viral clip circulated online appears to capture an “intense” argument near the shoreline, but authorities have not confirmed if it is authentic or whether any of the people in it were with Wells.
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Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter appealed in a statement Tuesday for anyone who “observed or heard an argument, disturbance, or other unusual activity while on the island that day” to come forward.
Meanwhile, Jackson County coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. told The Post that the medical examiner’s office had been able to identify Wells’ body Tuesday based on dental records.
“A post-mortem was carried out Tuesday but we don’t have any results from the medical examiner’s office on that as of yet,” Lynd Jr. told The Post.
“It could be a few weeks because they’re doing toxicology and all of those things.”
Announcing he had been retained by Wells’ family Tuesday afternoon, attorney Crump said the wide receiver for Southwest Mississippi Community College would have turned 19 next month.
“His family deserves answers,” Crump wrote on X. “They deserve the truth.
“We will not rest until every fact about what happened to Nolan on Horn Island is brought into the light, and we call on investigators to pursue this case with the urgency and transparency this family deserves.”
Photos of the 6-foot-1,180-pound teen showed him shirtless while sporting blue swim trunks, sunglasses and grinning alongside his friends before he went missing.
The United Cajun Navy rescue organization launched aerial reconnaissance during the search to scour the waters between Horn Island and Ship Island, stretching south to the Chandelier Islands.
The Coast Guard, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the frantic search before Wells’ body was found.
