Loved ones of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells are set to come together Monday for his funeral, even as investigators continue working to piece together what happened before his death.
Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to deliver the eulogy during the service at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Wells’ hometown.
Wells, 18, disappeared on the Fourth of July after joining high school friends for a boating trip to Horn Island, a popular undeveloped barrier island located just south of Ocean Springs, according to officials and family attorney Ben Crump.
“[The friends] left [Horn Island] and went back without Nolan,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there.”
Officials said Wells’ body was found two days after he was reported missing.
Investigators have said they believe the college football player drowned and do not suspect foul play, though the sheriff’s office emphasized that it is “working diligently to determine exactly what occurred.”
Crump said Wells’ family remains desperate for answers and had his body sent to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy.
Ledbetter told ABC News that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office welcomes the family’s decision to pursue its own investigation.
“By all means, that’s more information looking into the death of Nolan that will be made available and another set of eyes looking at it,” he said.
“We’re working towards the same goal as the family — we want a thorough investigation,” the sheriff said.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, told ABC News her son was a “bright light,” recalling that “his smile, his energy was just, just so infectious.”
“He was just a genuinely a good person,” she said
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