Sports jerseys are framed during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
- The reports mark a significant step as the investigation into the death of the 18-year-old continues.
Multiple sources have confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the initial autopsy performed on Nolan Wells by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner as well as the toxicology report ordered by that office has been completed, with the results sent to the Jackson County District Attorney.
This is a significant step as the investigation into the death of the 18-year-old continues.
The teen was reported missing July 4 after he did not return from an outing with friends where they were celebrating the holiday on Horn Island off of the Mississippi Coast.
The friends have publicly said that Wells chose to stay on the island and not return with them. The boat the group used to make the trip to the island reportedly began taking on water and the teens headed back to shore earlier than expected, even calling for assistance as they made their way back to land.
When Wells did not return later that evening, the friends and his parents began searching for the teen.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department took to the water to try and locate the teen with the assistance of the United Cajun Navy, the Department of Marine Resources, and the Coast Guard. Friends of Wells and those wanting to help from the community also joined the search.
Wells’ body was found the morning of July 6 on the shoreline of the island.
Since that time, the Sheriff’s Department has been working with other agencies, including the FBI, to conduct an investigation into Wells’ death. Sheriff John Ledbetter has said there was no initial signs of foul play but that the investigation remains open as they conduct a complete investigation into what occurred that day. His office has openly sought first-source photos, video and audio from the public at large, and has interviewed dozens of people who have either come forward or who investigators sought to speak with concerning the events of that day.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath has publicly said her office will present the findings of the investigation to a grand jury once their work is complete. McIlrath has asked the public to be patient as such thorough investigative work takes time.
“Every death in the county, except those of natural causes and non-criminal car wrecks, are presented to a grand jury,” McIlrath said. “Many people don’t know that.”
However, rampant social media speculation as to the cause of the death took hold almost immediately after Wells went missing, not just in South Mississippi, but across the nation.
Accusations of the death being the result of a racially motivated act has stirred despite no evidence to back up such claims. Photos of Wells, a black teen, with his friends, who were mostly white, have been spread around by social media influencers and even celebrities making racially charged claims against the white teens, their families, and the Mississippi community at large. Death threats and other messages have been sent to the friends and their parents.
At least one friend of Wells, along with his parents, are seeking legal action against those claiming he was involved in the death.
The mother of another of Wells’ friends, Chancery Judge Ashlee Cole, has received death threats which, according to court documents, has resulted in the arrest of California man. The FBI has been involved in that matter. The federal charges against Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of Sacramento include interstate transmission of a threatening communication.
Wells’ parents started a GoFundMe page in the days after his death. They hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump who brought in Rev. Al Sharpton, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Colin Kaepernick and others to raise the profile of the case.
Crump and Sharpton’s entry into the case further raised the racial tenor, with Crump, who Sharpton referred to as “the Attorney General for Black America,” using his platform at the conferences of the NAACP and the National Urban League, traditional black organizations, to further a racial narrative with no evidence yet to back up those talking points.
Crump has driven persistent speculation of potential foul play and the role Wells’ friends played on the day of his disappearance.
Crump and his legal team commissioned a second, independent autopsy of Wells’ body conducted by Dr. Roger Mitchell, a forensic pathologist. Crump presented those findings at the NAACP conference in Chicago, noting the findings showed that the cause and manner of death was “undetermined pending further investigation.”
On the day of Wells’ funeral, attorneys for his parents sent notices to his friends and their families of intention to sue them. Such spoliation letters as sent to Wells’ friends and their parents typically serve as the first step in an anticipated civil lawsuit.
“You are hereby placed on notice that litigation concerning the death of Nolan Wells is reasonably anticipated. Accordingly, you have an immediate legal duty to preserve all materials of all kinds within your possession, custody, or control that may be relevant in any way to the claims or defenses,” the letters read. “This duty includes not only to you, but also your family members. It also extends to any person or entity providing services to you, acting on your behalf, or who is subject to your control.”
This week, Crump’s legal team told reporters at the National Urban League conference that they would be working the District Attorney to review recordings obtained in the case as well as review oceanic tides with ocean engineering experts.
