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The grand jury reviewing the case of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead after going missing following an outing with friends on Mississippi’s Horn Island on the Fourth of July, has determined there was no criminal wrongdoing in the teen’s death.
Wells’ death sparked a considerable amount of speculation across social media, much of which was rebuked by the grand jury.
“The Grand Jury finds no credible evidence to support the public allegations that any persons who rode to or from Horn Island on July 4, 2026, on the Triton, the Palm Beach, or the Tideline engaged in any criminal conduct related to the death of Mr. Wells,” the report states. “The allegations against the occupants of the Triton, the Palm Beach, and the Tideline [boats that traveled to the island] are not based in truth, and are solely the result of public clamor and private malice.”
“In addition to bringing prosecutions against the guilty, the grand jury must also exonerate those who have been falsely accused,” Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said in a video statement.
“There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s disappearance and death were racially motivated,” she said. “Nolan’s friends loved Nolan, and Nolan loved them.”
Wells had traveled to Horn Island with his friends to celebrate the Fourth of July, but didn’t return to the mainland with them that afternoon, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said at the time.
He was last seen on the island at 3 p.m., according to attorney Ben Crump’s office. His mother reported him missing later that night. His body was found Monday, July 6, off the coast of the island, which is about 10 miles south of the Mississippi mainland.
An independent autopsy commissioned by the family could not determine Wells’ cause of death, Crump said in late July.
According to the report, the grand jury concluded the “position of, condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning.”
Wells’ friends have told authorities that he chose to stay behind on the island to speak with a girl, telling them he would come back to the mainland later.
Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, previously told “CBS Mornings” they didn’t believe their son would have stayed behind by choice.
“No, he wouldn’t. Nolan always stays with the group,” Elmore Wonsley, Nolan’s father, told “CBS Mornings.” “If you be with me, you come back with me. So that I don’t understand, and with me being a parent, if I was in that situation, I would have told them, ‘You’re going to get back on this boat with me because I don’t want to answer to your parents if something happens to you.'”
Crump, who is representing the family, told “CBS Mornings,” “There are so many glaring contradictions, that’s why so many people all across America are chiming in, saying this is not adding up. I mean, you have [his friends] say he was talking to a young lady, and she said that he said, ‘I’m going to get back on the boat with the boys.’ The boys say, ‘He said that, ‘No, I’m going to stay with her.’ I mean, which is it?”
In a statement released Monday evening, Crump called on the district attorney to keep the investigation into Wells’ death open and active.
“We don’t know how Nolan died, and neither does the State of Mississippi. Mississippi must keep investigating, and if it will not pursue this to the end, the Department of Justice should,” Crump said. “This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers. Nolan’s family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we.”
The grand jury, which consisted of 23 people who represented a “cross section of citizens” from Jackson County, said in its report released Monday: “the individuals who traveled to or from Horn Island on the Triton, the Palm Beach, and Tideline cooperated fully with this investigation, including offering marine GPS devices, surveillance footage, cell phones, and statements to law enforcement officers and Mr. Wells’ family during this investigation.”
It also concluded that Wells “chose to remain on Horn Island after the boat he arrived on departed, which is common for visitors to Horn Island on holidays and other crowded days.”
