{"id":5547,"date":"2026-07-28T08:07:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5547"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:07:39","slug":"nolan-wells-drank-heavily-chose-to-stay-on-remote-island-before-vanishing-on-july-4-trip-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5547","title":{"rendered":"Nolan Wells drank heavily, chose to stay on remote island before vanishing on July 4 trip: report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tragic Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells had been drinking heavily before vanishing on what became an ill-fated Fourth of July trip with friends \u2013 and chose to remain on the island with an \u201cunknown female\u201d when his pals left, according to witnesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The revelation appeared in a document sent by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources on July 5 \u2013 hours after Wells had gone missing on Horn Island \u2013 a remote island located around 10 miles off the coast of Mississippi, according to ABC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Witnesses seemed to fess up to investigators that Wells had been drinking alcohol \u2013 even though he was underage at 18.<\/p>\n

The document also contained details about the student-athlete\u2019s physical build to assist investigators in the search.<\/p>\n

Wells\u2019 friends also told investigators \u201cthat when they left he was in the company of an unknown female and that he chose to remain at the island,\u201d according to a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources police report obtained by ABC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They claimed they didn\u2019t abandon Wells on the island \u2013 but said they needed to return to shore after their boat experienced problems and was taking on water.<\/p>\n

Ocean Springs teen Wells was found dead by a National Park Service ranger on July 6 in an area the United Cajun Navy said was known for \u201cpowerful rip currents.\u201d He was found just wearing blue swim shorts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Investigators suspect Wells drowned and they do not believe there was any foul play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But his cause of death and date of death remains unknown as the Mississippi state autopsy results have not yet been released.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amid the uncertainty, his family and civil rights lawyer Ben Crump requested an independent autopsy \u2013 but the results came back inconclusive.<\/p>\n

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Roger Mitchell, the chair of pathology at Howard University College of Medicine who conducted the independent autopsy, said he couldn\u2019t rule out the possibility that Wells may have suffered a neck injury as his thyroid bone and trachea were not sent with the rest of the body, according to WKRG.<\/p>\n

Mitchell also spotted red discoloration at the back of Wells\u2019 head, which Crump said was \u201csomething of great concern\u201d for the pathologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Mitchell] could not directly view the stomach for contents or gastric gases,\u201d Crump read from the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could not see the condition of the body when it was pulled from the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crump also said Mitchell didn\u2019t know if Wells was conscious when he went into the water, or whether he was forced into the sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll that information is very important in determining the cause and manner of death,\u201d the civil rights lawyer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening non-accidental factors caused or led to the death of Nolan Wells. So he cannot rule out foul play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investigators had warned Wells\u2019 family state autopsy results could take weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

His parents Christine and Elmore Wonsley told ABC News they wanted a \u201cthorough investigation\u201d into their son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

They were baffled as to why he was still on Horn Island while his friends had returned to the mainland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always told him, if you go with a group, you stay with a group,\u201d Elmore Wonsley said.<\/p>\n

Christine said she and her husband \u201ccouldn\u2019t answer\u201d the question as to why Wells would stay on the island.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just, I can\u2019t \u2014 I can\u2019t fathom why he would,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tragic Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells had been drinking heavily before vanishing on what became an ill-fated Fourth of July trip with friends \u2013 and chose to remain on the island with an “unknown female” when his pals left, according to witnesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNolan Wells drank heavily, chose to stay on remote island before vanishing on July 4 trip: report - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5547\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nolan Wells drank heavily, chose to stay on remote island before vanishing on July 4 trip: report - 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