{"id":5175,"date":"2026-07-23T14:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5175"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:08:49","slug":"officials-from-nolan-wells-hometown-rally-behind-sheriff-after-allegedly-failing-to-properly-handle-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5175","title":{"rendered":"Officials from Nolan Wells’ hometown rally behind sheriff after allegedly failing to properly handle case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MISSISSIPPI \u2013 Officials from Nolan Wells\u2019 hometown are rallying behind\u00a0their sheriff\u00a0after being accused of being \u201cderelict in their duties\u201d on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Read more United Cajun Navy sets the record straight on how Nolan Wells\u2019 body was found: \u2018Families deserve the truth\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

NAACP President Derrick Johnson accused\u00a0Mississippi officials\u00a0of failing to properly handle the case during the same news conference where attorney Ben Crump announced the independent autopsy results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not accusing anyone of anything other than the state of Mississippi and local officials. We\u2019re accusing them of being derelict in their duties,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cTo follow up and to ensure that regardless of what happened, that there was the proper investigation so that this family and that community could be assured that if anyone was involved, they would be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wells, 18,\u00a0disappeared July 4\u00a0after he went with friends on a boat trip to Horn Island, which is a barrier island off Mississippi\u2019s Gulf Coast. <\/p>\n

Officials and search crews searched for two days before a National Park Service ranger located his remains on July 6 while on the island\u2019s northwestern tip.<\/p>\n

Mississippi state Sen. Jeremy England, who represents a portion of Jackson County, where the incident took place, told Fox News Digital the accusation by Johnson was \u201ccompletely unfair.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sheriff and our district attorney here in Jackson County, our DPS commissioner over the state of Mississippi law enforcement, our crime lab, the offices they put together, I know many of them personally and professionally, and they have the utmost integrity and they want to get the facts correct and get out there. You know, they understand they\u2019re under a microscope at this point in time, but they\u2019re being unfairly attacked,\u201d England said. \u201cFor no reason other than people trying to make shocking claims and get people to think something nefarious has happened or is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut these are very good people, and it\u2019s really disheartening to see their name and their reputation being dragged through the mud,\u201d England said.<\/p>\n

The state senator said Mississippi investigators won\u2019t be swayed by public pressure, even as expectations build around the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not always someone to blame,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd here in Mississippi, we don\u2019t have and we don\u2019t follow what you see in some other states and some other communities where you have activist district attorneys and activist sheriffs, and they\u2019re listening to the public and they\u2019re wanting to respond to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hunter Biden bashes \u2018a\u2013hole\u2019 Jake Tapper on Don Lemon\u2019s podcast in foul-mouthed rant: \u2018Full of f\u2013king s\u2013t\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur leaders, the people in that office, they don\u2019t do that. They take their time, they make sure they get it right, and they\u2019re doing that out of respect for the family and for the entire community at this point,\u201d England said.<\/p>\n

Congressman Mike Ezell, R-Miss., told Fox News Digital he has complete confidence in the current Jackson County sheriff, John Ledbetter, who is\u00a0running the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have full confidence in Sheriff Ledbetter and all of\u00a0our law enforcement officials\u00a0as they are working hard to do a thorough investigation. As a former sheriff and police officer, I know firsthand the demands and pressure of their job, and I know they will handle this matter with integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Wednesday\u2019s news conference, Crump revealed that an area of \u201cred discoloration\u201d was found on Wells\u2019 head, but said\u00a0Dr. Roger Mitchell, who\u00a0performed the autopsy, couldn\u2019t come to a conclusion on a cause or manner of death \u201cpending further investigation.\u201d <\/p>\n

An official autopsy into Wells\u2019 death hasn\u2019t been completed.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the disappearance and death of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells: <\/h2>\n