A boat trip, the death of an 18-year-old, and many unanswered questions

Here's what it's all about

• After a boat trip with three white friends, Nolan Xavier Wells, a Black teenager, is left behind on an island.
• Nolan is found there after a search operation.
• Investigators are in the dark, and Nolan's parents have publicly expressed doubts about the theory that it was an accident.

Summary created with

Last weekend, 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells traveled with friends to an island off the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Together with his — white — friends, the Black teenager had planned to celebrate the U.S. Independence Day on July 4 there. But Wells never returned. His body was found two days later. But exactly what happened remains a mystery.

At a press conference on Friday in New York City, Christine and Elmore Wonsley called for a thorough and transparent investigation into their son’s death. They refuse to believe that Wells allegedly asked his friends to leave the island without him. They also rejected speculation that their highly athletic son had drowned.

Support for Civil Rights Activists

Several well-known Black civil rights activists stood by the family. Among them were attorney Ben Crump and Reverend Al Sharpton, who stood alongside Christine Wonsley as she said, “We just want to know what happened and why our child didn’t come home.”

Wells' body was found early Monday morning during a search around Horn Island, an uninhabited island about 11 kilometers off the coast of Mississippi. On July 4, about 200 people were there for the celebration, according to the family’s lawyers. And they hope that someone saw something and will come forward.

The case is marked by the deep mistrust that many Black people in the Deep South of the U.S. harbor toward the police. The family commissioned an independent autopsy by a medical examiner in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.—who has no ties to investigators in Mississippi—to determine the cause of death. An official autopsy has also already been performed. However, it is likely to take several weeks before the results are finalized. In addition, Wells’ parents plan to hire experts to recover messages that were apparently deleted from Wells’ cell phone, according to attorney Crump.

Police See No Grounds for Suspicion Against Friends

A photo posted online, believed to have been taken during the boat trip to the island, shows Wells with three white male friends. Sheriff John Ledbetter said Wells' friends were cooperating with investigators. There is no suspicion of a crime. Crump's own investigators have not yet been able to speak with them.

It wasn't just attorney Crump and Reverend Sharpton, who is set to lead the funeral service, who stood by the parents. Actor and producer Tyler Perry is contributing to the costs of Wells’ funeral, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is helping to fund the independent autopsy, and filmmaker Spike Lee appeared at the press conference to express his support for Wells’ family. Numerous speculations circulated online about what might have happened to Wells.

Lawyer Promises to Get to the Bottom of It

“The history of Mississippi is something they don’t just read about in books,” Crump said at the headquarters of Sharpton’s organization, the National Action Network, in Harlem. “For many Black Americans, it’s a lived experience that often, when our children are killed under highly questionable circumstances, the prevailing attitude is: ‘Oh, it was nothing, no crime—let’s just sweep it under the rug.’ Well, we refuse to sweep this under the rug.”

This is the second case Crump has taken on in Mississippi in recent months. He was also recently retained by the family of a one-year-old child who was killed when police fired at a moving car.

Cellphone Dispute Caught on Video

According to Sheriff Ledbetter, investigators suspect that Wells did not intend to return with his friends but with someone else, and that is why he stayed on the island. But Wells did not have his cell phone or his keys with him—his friends had them on the boat. “What teenager would leave his cell phone behind if he wanted to stay on that island?” Crump said. “It just doesn’t add up at all.”

Crump also said that a video taken by an eyewitness on the island showed a person arguing with someone and demanding the return of a cell phone. According to the lawyer, that person was Wells.

After his friends returned alone—and with Wells’ cell phone in their possession—his mother, Christine Wonsley, became extremely worried and reported him missing. The next morning, Sunday, his father, Elmore Wonsley, took a boat out to Horn Island to search for his son. It wasn’t until early Monday morning that the body was found during a large-scale search operation. “If he’s drowning, doesn’t anyone see him drowning? Doesn’t anyone offer help? Doesn’t anyone try to help? I mean, obviously he stands out,” said attorney Crump. “I think he’s the only Black person I saw when I watched the videos (from the island, ed.).”

Parents describe Wells as a peacemaker

Wells, who would have turned 19 in August, played wide receiver on the Southwest Mississippi Community College football team in Summit. His coach, Les George, told WAPT that Wells was “the kind of guy who never had a bad day. Never.” “He was very friendly to everyone; to him, there were no strangers,” George said.

Wells' parents said they had last seen him the evening before the boat trip. He came to their house, cooked them salmon for dinner, and hugged his mother goodbye. In all conflicts, he had always been a peacemaker.

In light of the protests following his death, Christine Wonsley urged the demonstrators to follow his example. “Please remain peaceful,” she said. “Nolan wasn’t the type to pick fights.”