The United Cajun Navy has clarified a key detail in the case of Nolan Wells, confirming that the missing teenager was not fully clothed when his body was discovered in the water off Mississippi.
At a Wednesday news conference where preliminary autopsy findings were discussed, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump told national reporters that the young football player’s body had been found “fully clothed” on Horn Island. That description conflicted with earlier accounts that Wells had been seen that day wearing only swim trunks.
The confusion appears to have stemmed from a Monday interview on the “Nancy Grace Show,” where host Nancy Grace spoke with Todd Terrell, the founder and president of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer disaster relief organization involved in the search.
Here’s the latest on the disappearance and death of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells:
“As I recall, Todd Terrell, Nolan was face down, still fully clothed, on the beach. Is that correct?” Grace asked during the broadcast.
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“Yes, that is correct. He was face down,” Terrell replied. He later added, “When we say he was found fully clothed on the beach, it was in the same vicinity of where he possibly drowned.”
Terrell has since acknowledged that he should have corrected Grace’s “fully clothed” wording at the time. He said he was caught off guard after answering the phone just three minutes before the show went live.
“I just agreed with her because the body was clothed. Maybe I should have corrected her,” Terrell told the Sun Herald.
According to Terrell, a United Cajun Navy pilot spotted Wells’ body from the air and observed that he was wearing swim trunks, similar to what most other males on the island had been wearing.
“He was clothed, meaning he had his shorts on, from what we could see,” Terrell said, adding that Wells was wearing blue swim trunks, the same that he was pictured wearing earlier in the day.
Representatives for Benjamin Crump did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
