Analysis of Nolan Wells’ Phone Reveals Messages May Have Been Deleted After His Last Activity

A forensic review of Nolan Wells‘ cellphone has raised another question for his family as they continue to look for desperate answers about what happened on Horn Island.

TMZ reported on Thursday, September 24, that digital forensic investigator Andrew Garrett, whose firm Wells’ family retained, said messages appeared to have been deleted after the college student last used his phone at 2:18 p.m. and before his family got access back.

Garrett said investigators cannot determine who deleted them or why.

Wells, 18, primarily communicated through Snapchat and Instagram, Garrett said.

The examination recovered more than 1 million digital artifacts, including social media data, GPS records, Apple Health information, and phone logs, according to the outlet.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said some recovered group-chat messages discussed other people who were reportedly on Horn Island that day.

Crump said one exchange referred to two “really sketchy-looking guys” in boats. Another reportedly discussed whether people encountered on the island could be racist.

Crump emphasized that the messages do not establish that the case was racially motivated.

The new findings surfaced days after a Jackson County grand jury declined to bring criminal charges. As Globe previously reported, the grand jury found the circumstances surrounding where Wells’ body was discovered were consistent with drowning and said it found no credible evidence of criminal conduct or a racial motive.

Both the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist listed his cause and manner of death as undetermined.

An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family documented blunt-force injuries to the back of his head and other areas of his back, as per the official press release by Crump.

Crump and Wells’ family are continuing to seek a federal review and want the investigation to remain open.

As Globe previously reported, Wells traveled to Horn Island with friends on July 4. He was last seen near the island that afternoon, and his body was found on July 6.

The friends who were with him have said Wells stayed behind with a woman they did not know when the group left for the mainland around 4:30 p.m.

His parents have challenged that version of events, saying it would have been out of character for their son to remain on the island with a stranger.

The friends who joined Wells on the trip later hired attorneys.

The case has also sparked debate over whether race affected how investigators handled the case.

Wells was Black, while the friends who accompanied him were white. Some people close to the case have raised concerns about racial bias, although authorities have not established race as a factor.