Nolan Wells’ Family Pushes Back on Claims They’re Being Uncooperative in Death Investigation

The family of Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old who mysteriously disappeared during a trip to Mississippi’s Horn Island and later turned up dead, have refuted claims they’re being uncooperative in the ongoing investigation.

NBC affiliate ​​WLBT reported on Friday, August 14, that the Jackson County district attorney’s office sent Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, a letter on August 12 asking for Wells’ phone to be delivered to DA Angel Myers McIlrath‘s office by 9 a.m. on August 14.

However, the couple was apparently outside Mississippi when that letter was sent and couldn’t deliver the phone in less than 48 hours.

According to WLBT, at a July 15 meeting, Wells’ parents and the DA agreed to a jointly coordinated forensic examination of the phone. The examination would reportedly use the Digital Forensics Lab at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, with possible FBI involvement.

The family’s legal team, led by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, confirmed in correspondence sent to the DA on August 13 that they remain willing to facilitate a forensic examination of the phone.

“Nolan’s family has not refused to cooperate, and the correspondence with the District Attorney’s Office is proof of that,” the legal team said, per WLBT. “We agreed on July 15 to examine this phone together, with their experts, our experts, and possibly the FBI. We have continued to expect that the forensic examination of Nolan’s phone would happen exactly as agreed on July 15.”

“In order to preserve the evidence, we asked for a protocol, a chain of custody, and an agreement on what happens to the data,” the statement continued. “We have yet to receive these details. Setting a 48-hour deadline while this family was out of state is not a good-faith path to answers, and it weakens our confidence in the process.”

“Nolan’s parents will not be pulled into a fight over deadlines and logistics,” the statement added. “Even in their grief and heartbreak, they are still trying to work with the DA, but they want to be able to trust that this is a fair and impartial investigation and that the agreements made will be honored.”

As Globe reported, Wells traveled to Horn Island with friends on the morning of July 4. He was last seen near the island around 3 p.m., and he was found dead on July 6.

Wells’ friends have maintained that the Mississippi college football player opted to stay on Horn Island with an unknown female despite the others getting on a boat to head back to the mainland at around 4:30 p.m.

However, Wells’ parents have pushed back, saying that it would be unlike their son to do so. Wells’ family is expected to take legal action, and the friends who accompanied him to Horn Island have retained legal representation.

The official autopsy for Wells has been completed, but it has not yet been released to the public.