420: What Really Happened to 18-Year-Old Nolan Wells & Who is Lying?!

Deep questions persist in the death of Nolan Welles. El's body was found after a fourth of July boat trip with friends to Horn Island and Mississippi. People are taking our dissituation as a joke. You just want to know what happened to our son. One of them is telling the truth. One of them is not. Hey true friend besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, your host Annie Elise. I hope you're all having a great start to your week so far. And I'm sure you're probably asking yourself, Hey Annie, what's going on? You normally release episodes on Mondays and Thursdays. What's up with the Tuesday upload? Well, I've joked with you about it in the past about how I feel like I need to have a daily show because there's unfortunately no shortage of true crime cases. And I just feel like so many of them need awareness and I feel compelled to highlight them. So there's just not enough days in the week unless again, I do turn this into a daily show. But for those of you who are unfamiliar with my podcast, let me just give you a little bit of a breakdown of how the releases work. Mondays I release a deep dive into a singular case. Fully researched all the lore, the social media history, the red flags, everything that you can figure out through FOIA requests, court records, police things, body cam footage, we'll go into theory speculations. I mean, whatever it is, just so that you have a full understanding of the case. Then on Thursdays, my episode is called headline highlights, where I cover everything that's happening in real time that week in true crime, whether it's brand new breaking cases, updates to cases, trial updates, whatever it may be. However, this week there is such an important case that I have been feverishly researching that I knew I needed to platform, I knew I needed to highlight this. And so in my mind, when I was trying to think through the logistics of how it was going to release because yesterday's episode is equally as important, I was like, I don't want to wait until next Monday to release this deep dive. But I don't want to you know, abbreviate the case and stuff it into headline highlights because there's so much information that I believe needs to be shared. So then I was like, okay, maybe I'll just replace headline highlights with another deep dive this week. But I also don't want to wait until Thursday to release it. So that brings us to today. I'm moving up headline highlights, we're repurposing it as a deep dive and it is releasing today, meaning you will not receive your normal headline highlights on Thursday. I'm sorry, but hopefully you're not too angry with me because it's being supplemented with a deep dive, which we are going into today. You may have already noticed in the title what this case is about and who the center of this case is about. But if you don't and you have not heard about this case and this young man, don't worry, I am going to give you all the details. As I said, I have been researching it like crazy this weekend. I have been reaching out to law enforcement to get court records to see whatever I it can find to just like have as accurate of an episode as I possibly can for you. But because this case is unfolding in real time, there's a very real chance that even within the next 24 hours of me that now publishing this episode, there might be updates. But if you're not, if so, I will absolutely circle back and I will do a follow up episode on this case. But sorry for the, you know, rant and ramble. If you're new here, I do that sometimes I go on little tangents now and then. But that is basically what's happening right now. And my goal in all of my case coverage is to really just break it down for you like a friend would somebody who has researched high and low and who knows the case backwards and forwards and just deliver it to you in less of a clinical type way like documentaries do, but more in a best friend kind of way telling you all the details everything you need to know. And so that's what we're going to get into today. And it is the case of Nolan Wells. Now, before I get into everything, I do want to warn you. This case is incredibly heated right now. Not only pretty controversial, there are a lot of opinions out there. There is a lot of speculation online right now and a lot of rumors, but it's a case that for me, it just really anger is me because it seems so senseless. It seems like there should have been clear follow-up. And there are a lot of things that just are not making sense to me at all. Not only with allegedly what happened in this situation, but also how things have been handled since this happened. So let me give you a little bit of a backstory and then we're going to get into all of the details. So 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells went to Horn Island Mississippi with a group of his friends on July 4th to go party, celebrate, hang out. However, when the boat that he was on that went to the island returned to the mainland that afternoon, Nolan was not on the boat. His phone was, his keys were, but Nolan was still somewhere on the island. Now according to the friends side of the story, Nolan had voluntarily decided to stay behind. They reportedly believed that he had planned to spend some more time with a young woman that he had been talking to. And I say young woman because I don't know her exact age. I don't want to say girl and make it sound like she's young. He's 18. I don't want to say I don't know that she's much older so I don't want to say like a woman. So we're just going to go with a young woman. But anyway, his friend said he decided to stay behind so that he could hang out more with this young woman that he was talking to. Then his plan was that he was going to catch a ride back with another group. However, Nolan's family has said that that explanation makes absolutely zero sense. Because why would Nolan willingly remain on this unhabited island without his phone, without his keys, and without a confirmed way to get home? Not to mention, what 18-year-old do you know that has a cell phone and is not glued to that cell phone, especially if they're active on social media, which Nolan, by the way, was very active on social media. And I'm going to get to all of that in a little bit here. But what 18-year-old does not have their phone glued to their side and just willingly leaves that in the keys behind. Especially if you possibly need to get another ride home or if you're going to be communicating and meeting up with somebody else or it just does not make a lot of sense. So that already kind of doesn't really sit right with me. Now, another detail that isn't sitting right with a lot of people is that according to the family's attorney Ben Crump, the young woman at the center of this explanation, she may have given a very different account. Not that Nolan stayed behind on the island to hang out with her, like the friends claimed, but according to him, this young woman said that Nolan actually got back on the boat with the boys. So, which is it? Did Nolan choose to remain on Horn Island and somehow then tragically ended up in the water after his friends left? Or did he get back onto that boat as this young woman reportedly claimed? And if he did board the boat, what happened next? Because two days after Nolan was last seen alive, his body was discovered in the water near the northwestern end of Horn Island. Authorities initially said that they did not see any obvious outward signs of trauma, and investigators reportedly suspected that Nolan may have drowned. However, as of right now, no official cause or manner of death has been publicly released. Meaning, manner of death means accidental, homicide, self-harm, cause of death is, you know, the actual cause of death, whether it's drowning, accidental drowning, whatever it may be. And at the time of this recording, none of that has been publicly released. But Nolan's parents are adamant that what they have been told simply does not add up. They say that Nolan, first of all, was a very strong swimmer. He was an athlete. He played football. He was, you know, strong. He was an 18-year-old boy, a young man. I mean, he had, what do you call it? I'm not, not cardio. He had whatever, I don't know. I'm losing the word, but you got, I mean, he's an 18-year-old man who, young man who is an athlete, he's strong, he is a good swimmer. He's not just going to drown accidentally. They also say that he was not confrontational, and he was not someone who typically separated from the people that he arrived somewhere with. His family says that they had always taught him that when you leave with a group of people, you return with that same group. Yet somehow, Nolan's friends made it back from the island. His phone made it back. His keys made it back, but Nolan didn't. There is also alleged video from the island that the family's attorney, Ben Crump, says appears to show Nolan involved in a heated exchange, where he's demanding that someone give back his phone. Now that footage, I want to be clear, has not been publicly authenticated by law enforcement. which it does not by itself prove that Nolan was physically attacked or that anyone was responsible for his death. But it does raise a pretty obvious question, right? Was there a confrontation? Why was somebody else holding his phone? If Nolan had supposedly made a casual and voluntary decision to stay behind, why was he arguing with somebody about getting his phone back before the boat left? And then there's also the phone itself. Nolan's mother Christine says that she ended up using the life 360 app to locate his phone after learning that her son had not returned from the island. That phone, as I mentioned, was already back on the mainland. And it was at a location connected with the group that Nolan had traveled with. So when this device, this phone was recovered, his mom Christine says that Nolan's two Snapchat accounts appeared to be empty. Even though he regularly used Snapchat to document his life. Again, as most typical teenagers and 18-year-olds and young adults do, their Snapchat and everything, their sending messages back and forth, their texting, their chatting, they're doing all of these things, yet his was wiped clean, both accounts, which the family believes that that information may have been deleted. However, that too has not been confirmed through a publicly released forensic examination. And just to give you a little bit of backstory on Snapchat, if you are of the older generation and you aren't really familiar with how it deletes things and auto deletes, Snapchat content can disappear automatically depending on what the account settings are. So at this point, it's not known whether or not anything was deliberately erased, or who may have erased it, or whether the material was ever even saved to begin with. But like I said, there are a lot of rumors online circulating about this case. There are accusations that Nolan was attacked, that he was beaten, that his friends covered up what happened, and even more than that, that influential family members may have interfered with the investigation. As of right now though, none of those claims have been proven. No one has been arrested, no one has been charged, at the time of this recording. Authorities also, as I mentioned, have not classified Noah's death as a homicide, but in accidental drowning, has also not been officially established either. And between the conflicting accounts, the unexplained possession of Nolan's phone, and his keys, the alleged argument on the island, and the many hours of this timeline that remain completely unaccounted for, his parents believe that there is much more to this story. So what I want to do with you today is carefully walk through everything that is currently known about Nolan, and those final days and hours. I'm going to walk you through the friends that he traveled with, the young woman that he was reportedly spending time with, the disputed accounts of whether Nolan remained on the island, or got back onto the boat, and of course, the search that followed, and the moment that his body was tragically eventually discovered. I'm also going to get into what Nolan's parents have now said publicly, and why they ended up bringing in a civil rights attorney, the family attorney, Ben Crump, to activate this, to take charge of this. And we also will talk to you about the response from the mother of one of Nolan's friends, and the independent investigation that the family is now pursuing. Which I want to just say this to throughout this episode, I want to be very clear about what has actually been confirmed, and what is only alleged and remains speculation or rumor. Because even though there are a lot of unanswered questions here, Nolan was not just the subject of a developing investigation. He was an 18 year old kid, and I get it technically an adult, but an 18 year old kid, a college football player who had plans for a future, he had a family who adored him, he had a birthday coming up, the following month. Those closest to Nolan describe him as social, hard working, just extremely kindhearted. His college football coach said that Nolan never even seemed to have a bad day. He would regularly stop by the coach's office just to talk, and people say that he had the ability to connect and socialize with practically anyone. His former high school coach described him as the kind of son, teammate, friend, and student that every coach hopes to have. He said that Nolan carried himself with humility and treated others with respect and led by example. Nolan's parents also described their son as a natural peacemaker, which I think is very important when we get into the allegations of the argument and the confrontation before the boat left the island. They said that he disliked confrontation and that he was not somebody who wanted to fight or even argue. His mother has also been very clear that she does not want people threatening, harassing or attacking anyone connected to this case because, as she said, that's not who Nolan was. So let's talk about the night before this all went down. July 3rd, the night before the 4th of July Independence Day, the day that so many people here in the United States just party and celebrate and go out and, you know, lots of debauchery usually ensues after it. So the night before the trip, Nolan went to his parents' home and cooked salmon for the family. His mother said that everything seemed completely normal. There was nothing about Nolan's demeanor that suggested that he was afraid, upset or expecting any kind of trouble. Before leaving, Nolan hugged his mom goodbye. Neither one of them knowing that this would be the final time that his parents would see him alive. So as I said, Nolan's parents said that the last time that they saw him alive was the night before the Horn Island trip. Nolan went to their home, cooked salmon for the family, and then hugged his mother goodbye before leaving. Nolan apparently spent the night at or near the home that was connected to the friends that he had planned to travel with. His father later said that when he went to retrieve Nolan's keys and figure out what was going on, Nolan's vehicle was still in fact parked in the yard of the home where Nolan had stayed with the group before the trip. So that brings us to the day of the trip, the boat trip to Horn Island, July 4th. On the morning of July 4th, Nolan traveled with his group of friends to Horn Island to celebrate the holiday. The boat reportedly departed from a private dock in the Ocean Springs area. And let me just tell you about Horn Island a little bit because I think that the logistics of it and the state of the island itself are really important details that give context to this entire situation. Because it's an uninhabited barrier island located roughly seven miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is approximately 11 miles long and it can only be reached by boat. Now attorneys from Nolan's family have said that there may have been approximately 200 people on or around the island that day. I don't know much about Horn Island, but from what I've been able to gather and what I've seen on social media, it does seem like it's a hot spot to travel to by boat. Where you pull up, people get on the, I don't know if you've got whatever shoreline, you people drink, they party, they hang, they play football, whatever it is you want to do, but you don't really ever go into the island. Because apparently there's like cactus, heavy terrain, lots of stuff, but it is something where like when you're out on the boat, you'll stop and party, which for me, I don't remember what the name of the island was. Or if it even is not technically an island, but in California, we would always go to Havasu, Lake Havasu, and there are certain parts by, you know, the London bridge and different areas where everybody goes and gathers and that's where everybody parties, they're doing the boat hopping, beer bonging, going on to this shoreline, whatever it is you're doing. So it seems like according to the attorney that this was kind of a hot spot for the 4th of July, up to 200 people either on the island or around the island that day. A photograph also has circulated publicly that shows Nolan on the boat with his arms around three of his friends, three of his white friends, which I'm saying that because it becomes a point of conversation in all of this. And as if he's having a good time authorities have said that the friends who traveled with him were cooperating with the investigation, although family attorney Ben Crump later said that the friends had retained attorneys. Now one of those friends has been publicly connected to Jackson County judge Ashley Cole Ashley has said that her son was friends with Nolan and more than that, he was part of the group that traveled to the island. Some online reporting has identified her son as Warren, but authorities have not publicly released a complete verified list of every single person who traveled in that original boating group. However, I have found that online out there, but the fact that Judge Ashley holds a position in the same county where the investigation is taking place, I mean that is naturally fueled a lot of public concern about a possible conflict of interest. It kind of brings me back to the Murdoch family in a weird way where when you have people in positions of power and influence and you have children possibly acting poorly, and I'm not saying that her son was we don't know yet what really happened. But it just allows for more room of like the gray area, the cover up corruption, and so a lot of people are calling this out as a conflict of interest, and I have to say I don't love it either. It's fueled a lot of public concern as a matter of fact. However, like I said, there's no verified evidence that she has influenced or participated in the investigation. Ashley has also said that her son has fully cooperated with law enforcement. So let's talk about what happened on the island when the boat reached it, when they were out and about. Publicly available photographs and witness descriptions indicate that Nolan was socializing, swimming, and spending time with other people on the island. His family has emphasized, as I said, that he was a strong athlete. He was a capable swimmer, which is one main reason that they are skeptical of the preliminary suggestion that he simply drowned accidentally. Now, being a strong swimmer, of course, it doesn't automatically rule out accidental drowning, particularly if alcohol, injury, or a medical event was involved in any way, even if you are a strong swimmer, if you have a seizure, or if you are under the influence, or if you get a leg cramper, anything like that, of course, then there is still the possibility of accidental drowning. But none of those possibilities have yet been confirmed. So Nolan was reportedly seen talking to a young woman on the island. Early information circulated that he may have wanted to stay behind because he was interested in her, or was, quote unquote, "hooking up with her." Now, that description has been heavily repeated on social media, but no official source has publicly confirmed the exact nature of their relationship, or whether they had any sort of previous romantic or sexual involvement with one another. So, I mean, to be very clear, it is fair to say that Nolan was reportedly talking to or spending time with a young woman on the island. Yes, but it is not currently confirmed that she was either his girlfriend, that they were formally dating, or that they were sexually involved. And the detail that circulated in two of them, like, "hooking up," and that characterization, it appears to come largely from online discussion groups and second-hand accounts, rather than an official investigative finding. Also, it comes from loosely the friend group when they said, "Oh, yeah, he wanted to stay back, hang with this girl," but the vocabulary of, like, "hooking up," and that isn't outright stated. Although, I'm just gonna play Double's advocate here for a moment. I think it's fair that that could be implied. Young kids, on a boat, partying, possibly drinking, you meet someone, typically nine times that 10, you are probably gonna hook up if you're hitting it off or you want to, or who knows? So, like, the idea that somebody could stay behind because they possibly see that path, it's not unheard of, okay? I think about it too, like, if you go to a bar, and so oftentimes we hear stories where the majority of the group leaves, but somebody is left behind 'cause they met someone at the bar, and they're interested in them, similar kind of situation to this. So, at approximately 3 p.m., it was the last confirmed sighting of Nolan. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said that he was last seen at approximately 3 p.m. on Horn Island. At the time, he was described as wearing blue swim trunks, sunglasses, and no shirt. He's approximately six feet one inch tall, and he weighed around 180 pounds. Now, Judge Ashley Cole also said that her son last saw Nolan at around 3 p.m. Her public account, again, though, was that Nolan had made a voluntary decision to remain on the island, and he planned to return to the mainland later with another group of friends. The sheriff initially relayed a similar understanding, saying that investigators believed that Nolan, quote, chose to stay on the island under the assumption that he would ride back with someone else. However, this is where the central contradiction in this case begins, because according to the family's attorney, Ben Crump, Nolan's original friends allegedly said that he had planned to remain with this young woman. However, he also said that this young woman provided a conflicting account, and she stated that Nolan actually got back on the boat with the group of boys. Now, that statement has been heavily reported by media. However, law enforcement has not publicly explained whose version it believes, and they also have not released the woman's complete interview. But I do find that interesting. If the attorney either has had access to this interview or has been told through repilized reports or anything like that, that she said, no, he didn't stay behind with me. He got back on the boat with the boys. That's not coming out of thin air, I don't think. And it's a very critical piece of information in this timeline. So at this stage, right now, again, at the time of this recording, there are two materially different versions of what happened. One version saying that Nolan voluntarily stayed behind with the intention of leaving on another boat, possibly with a young woman or another group, and then the other version via by his family attorney and statement by this young woman, indicating that Nolan boarded or attempted to board at the original boat with his friends. So with that, at this point, remember, we mentioned that footage of this alleged confrontation and argument as well before the boat took off and left. Well, the Ben Crump, the family attorney, said that a bystander video appears to show Nolan involved in a heated exchange in which he can be heard on this footage, demanding that someone give him back his phone. He said that he has used the alleged footage to challenge the suggestion that Nolan casually chose to stay behind and simply just forgot his phone on the boat. Rather, though, that somebody intentionally was holding his phone from him, not giving it back, not Nolan just staying behind and forgetting his phone willy-nilly on the boat. The alleged video has circulated in a lot of different forms online too. It's been difficult to independently verify the footage and authorities have not publicly confirmed its authenticity or the identities of everyone who's shown or went in the video or when it was recorded. So at this point, what they're saying is that the video should be treated as potentially important evidence, but not yet as established proof of a fight or an assault taking place and that it needs to be vetted and verified still. It also has not been confirmed that a physical fight occurred. Some online posts have claimed that Nolan was attacked, yes, that he was beaten or possibly even involved in a larger altercation. As of now, though, law enforcement has not substantiated any of those claims and no person has been charged with assaulting Nolan. What does, however, appear to be confirmed is that Nolan's phone did not remain with him. One of the friends who returned from the island on that boat and then back to the mainland, he had possession of it. And that device ended up being located at a place connected to the friends. And as we know, Nolan's parents also said that the same was true of his keys. Which Nolan's family finds this highly suspicious because in their view, it makes little sense that this 18-year-old would voluntarily not only remain alone on this uninhabited island without his phone, car keys, or guaranteed right home, but also just allow them to take it. It just doesn't really make sense and it doesn't add up. Now, that does not prove that someone forcibly took his items. It is possible that they were accidentally left on the boat or maybe handed to someone for safe keeping or separated from Nolan during a disagreement. But I mean, the circumstances surrounding the phone and the keys, it's a big deal in this case. And they have not been publicly resolved. A lot of people take issue with this and a lot of people think that this is a red flag. But is it a red flag? Or is it just a red herring? And I want to talk about what happened when the friends left the island. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Judge Ashley said that the boat carrying her son and the other group of boys and friends departed the island around 4.30 p.m. And the reason she says they left is because the boat had started having mechanical problems. According to her account though, at that point, even with the mechanical issues on the boat, Nolan had already decided that he was not gonna leave with them at that point. And there has been some confusion in reporting about whether the mechanical problem forced the group to leave and that's why they left Nolan behind. Or it simply motivated whoever was driving the boat to head back earlier than planned because of the mechanical issues. But the most direct public statement from Judge Ashley says that once again, Nolan made his own choice to stay and the boat left when it began having issues. However, once again, Nolan's parents do not believe that he would have voluntarily separated from the group. Mainly because his father said that Nolan has always been taught that when he went somewhere with a group, he was expected to return with the same group. In his words, "If you leave with five people, you come home with five people." So this is part of why the family does not find the friend's explanations believable. However, as we know, a family's understanding of someone's habits is not itself proof that Nolan could not have made a different decision that day. Kids will be kids. If there's hooking up involved, romantic feelings involved, possibly alcohol involved, it's not out of the realm of possibility that somebody may act out of character or make different choices than they normally would otherwise. I usually would never leave my group of friends either. And I think back to when I was in my early 20s, even, and now I would never leave my group of friends, I should say. But back in my early 20s, if we were all at a bar, and if a friend of mine was like, "Oh my God, I met this guy. "I'm gonna go hang out with him. "I'm gonna go back to his place." We wouldn't think twice about it, even if like we normally know. ever would split as a group. So my point is that, and I don't know if there was alcohol or if there were drugs involved, but even just the idea of hooking up or romantic feelings or anything like that, it's, sometimes it's enough to where it would sway your decision making from the decisions you would normally make. So even if a family is saying like they would never normally leave their group, they would always return, "Well, kids will be kids. You can't necessarily say that as like a rule of thumb all the time," or I mean, it could be. There's just, there's always exceptions, right? I guess that's my point. So investigators still need witness statements, phone data, video, and forensic evidence to really establish what actually happened, who was where, what time all of this went down, and build the timeline. What we do know is that Nolan did not return to the mainland with his original group. So what he did between approximately 3 p.m. on July 4th and the discovery of his body on the morning of July 6th, that remains the largest unknown in this case. One of the biggest questions is whether or not anyone on the island saw Nolan after the original friend's left. Authorities and Nolan's family have repeatedly asked people who were present to turn over photos, videos, eyewitness information, anything that was taken on their phone during that afternoon, or even later in that evening, because as we know, again, especially on 4th of July, and I don't know if there were fireworks in the area or not, everybody's got their phone out, right? Especially kids, especially young adults. They're Snapchatting, they're Instagramming, they're, what's the other thing? Tick-talking, they're doing their thing. So if there were in fact up to 200 people on that island, surely there is one sliver of digital evidence they could help build out this timeline, or show if there was intoxication, show if there was another girl next to Nolan, show if he's stepping on the edge of the boat back into the boat in the distance of a photograph, like in the background. So they're asking for anyone who was there to submit their information, submit their photos, their videos, so that they can comb through it and figure out what the truth is, what really happened. Now here's what's interesting though, okay? Online claims have suggested that Nolan may have reunited with friends later, that he may have even attended another gathering or remained with that young woman and hung out with her the rest of the night, but none of those claims have officially been confirmed. At the time of this recording, there is no verified public timeline that documents Nolan's movements after approximately 3pm. Then fast-forward several hours and at approximately 11pm, the first calls about Nolan went out. The US Coast Guard said that a friend of Nolan's contacted the agency at approximately 11pm. The Coast Guard would not provide the full contents of the call, but did say that it did not require Coast Guard assistance at that time. Now what that means? I don't exactly know. How do you receive a phone call, but not your under the impression that it doesn't require assistance. So that's going to be, in my opinion, a very interesting and key piece of the puzzle here. Separately, Nolan's mom said that a friend called her just after 11pm, and that's when she first became aware that Nolan had not returned and when she became seriously concerned. It's not completely clear from the public reporting whether that same friend made both calls, the call to the Coast Guard and the call to Nolan's mom, and we don't know what exactly the friend told Christine or why the Coast Guard initially determined that assistance wasn't required, but I do think that those details could become critical because they might reveal what the friends believed had happened to Nolan at that point. So without many answers at that point and hell of a lot of questions, Christine said that she used the life 360 location sharing app. She did that so she could locate Nolan and locate his phone. The phone though was not showing as being with Nolan on Horn Island where his friends said he still was, but it was showing a location back on the mainland. So after someone went to retrieve the phone from the location that was shown on the app, Christine, his mom said that she noticed that some information had appeared to me missing. She specifically said that that's when she noticed that his two Snapchat accounts had both appeared empty, empty of photos, empty of saved messages, empty of videos, everything. Yet, apparently according to her, he had a habit of documenting not only his social life and time out with his friends, but also family events. And I don't know how Snapchat works. I'm too old. I don't have Snapchat. I don't use it. I know that there are settings where it's like messages to lead after 60 seconds or photos disappear. And I don't know if that's how it still is, but I know when Snapchat was first on the scene, back in like gosh 2009, when I first to download it, it was like the app where you would send a nude. And it would be safe because it would disappear immediately. And I think now people use it more as a regular messaging tool and communication device. And I don't know if there's settings that you can use to immediately wipe everything. If he had those settings activated or if somebody manually went in and cleared everything since he clearly didn't have possession of his phone. But obviously the forensic analysis of that will be able to determine that quite quickly. And any of you who have Snapchat and know how that software works, feel free to sound off in the comments and let me know, you know, how that all works and what you think. So the family attorney and Nolan's parents have characterized this missing content as, of course, possible deletion or tampering. However, it has not yet been established through a forensic exam that another person intentionally deleted anything. So more to come on that. The family attorney said that the family plans to retain experts to attempt and recover the phone data before turning the device over to the authorities. And when I researched this and started looking into it, I found it really interesting because if they are retaining their own experts to go through and scrape this phone before they even pass it over to law enforcement. I mean, that decision to preserve and privately examine the phone, to me, that reflects the distrust of the local investigation. And I get that. I get wanting to know for yourself and hire your independent expert to look into it. And then you'll pass the phone over. I absolutely understand that. However, the problem with that then becomes chain of custody issues, different questions that will be raised that the investigators will eventually need to address and was it tampered with by the expert? What was on there? It just, unfortunately, I get the why behind it, but it does then end up creating a few more hurdles. So I don't know. So all of that's going on. And after trying to locate Nolan herself, Christine then contacted the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. This was around midnight. And it was to officially report him as missing. Nolan's parents said that there was initial confusion about which agency had jurisdiction because Horn Island falls within a very complicated area involving local authorities, federal parkland, waters around the island. So it could be a maritime thing. And Christine and Elmore, his father ultimately said that they had met an officer at a McDonald's parking lot during the reporting process to give their statement and figure out what to do and how to move forward. His father also, as I mentioned, went to the home where Nolan had stayed with those friends before the trip. That's when he retrieved his keys and that's when he saw that Nolan's car was still parked outside. So they report him missing the night passes and still no Nolan. So on Sunday, July 5th, the search begins. On the morning of July 5th, Nolan's father personally went out on a boat near Horn Island so that he could start searching for his son. At 12.26 p.m. Coast Guard sector mobile received a formal request from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office for Assistance locating a missing person near Horn Island. The Coast Guard also issued an urgent marine information broadcast and deployed a helicopter. So at this point, it's kind of an all hands-on deck situation. Lots of different search agencies were, lots of different agencies were assisting in the search. They were bringing out helicopters. They were looking everywhere on the island. They were trying to figure out anything that they could at that point. At approximately 12.31 p.m., the Sheriff's Office also released Nolan's description publicly. And they asked anyone who had seen or spoken to him on the island to come forward. Searchers explored the island, the surrounding water, and possible interior areas. A United Cajun Navy representative also noted though that the island's interior contained cactus and thick thorny brush, making it extremely unlikely that any person who was barefoot would have traveled comfortably into the middle of the island. And I talked about that a little bit earlier, right, with the 200 people potentially partying there. This wasn't the kind of island where you could walk into the middle of it and like set up shop and party and do all that. It was heavy terrain, thorny brush. So if you're just on the beach in your swim trunks and barefoot, you're not walking through all of that, right? It's not something that someone would normally do. So they searched her out the afternoon with no news. and by 5.54 p.m. authorities had established a command post at the Lake Mars boat launch in Ocean Springs. But unfortunately, no sightings of Nolan and no answers. That is until the following morning. United Cajun Navy Aircraft resumed searching shortly before 6 a.m. on July 6th. Additional boats were also deployed around 8 a.m. and at approximately 8.45 a.m. a U.S. Park Service Ranger discovered a body in the water. This body was just off the northwestern end of Horn Island. The location of Nolan's body also has become a pretty big point of concern for his family because they have questioned precisely when the body arrived at that portion of the shoreline and whether or not currents could have carried him there from another location. Those questions though have not been publicly answered through tied current or forensic drift analysis. So after this discovery Nolan's family was asked to come to the Lake Mars boat launch where they met with the sheriff and then shortly after 11 a.m. the family went to the coroner's office. Just before 1 p.m. his mom Christine confirmed publicly that the body belonged to her son. She described the family as devastated, distraught, and she thanked those who had helped search for him. Authorities initially said that they did not see any obvious outward signs of assault or trauma. And the sheriff said that the investigators did not immediately suspect foul play. However that was a preliminary assessment and it was not a final determination or cause or manner of death. Investigators reportedly suspected drowning but no official cause or manner of death has been released still at the time of this recording. However I do want to clarify that a suspected drowning is not the same as a confirmed accidental drowning. They are two very different things. It is also possible for a person to drown after an assault as I said if they're intoxicated if there is an accidental fall you name it. Therefore even if the autopsy ultimately confirms drowning as the physiological cause of death, investigators would still need to determine how and why Nolan entered the water. No evidence currently currently establishes any of those single scenarios. So the following day on Tuesday July 7th the coroner officially confirmed Nolan's identity through dental records. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner's office also performed the official autopsy at its lab. Official said that complete results including the Tox report could take several weeks which that's pretty common. They don't usually have a fast turnaround with Tox reports depending on the case you know the situation all those things. So at that point that is when the family had announced that they had retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump which Ben said that his team would independently examine Nolan's death and that he would seek the timely release of records witness statements phone evidence and autopsy findings. He framed it and framed the case as a case that requires immediate transparency particularly and I mentioned this a little bit earlier but particularly because Nolan was a black teenager who disappeared while on an island with white friends in Mississippi. The family said that the state's history of racial injustice informs its distrust but they have not claimed to possess definitive proof that Nolan was killed because of his race but this has been a big talking point and this is why there is a lot of division out there and a lot of controversy and big opinions because some people do think that this was potentially racially motivated while others are like oh not so quick to jump to that conclusion you know it may not have anything to do with that but the question and the argument has been brought up through the attorney and through other people who have now gotten involved on Nolan's family's behalf. For example Reverend Al Sharpton he later got involved and emphasized that people should not prematurely conclude that the case was racially motivated but that they should also not prematurely conclude that race played no part. So again it is a talking point within all of this. Now the biggest thing right now is that they're trying to build the timeline and also collect evidence. Jackson County Sheriff's Office asked the public to submit original photographs, videos, eyewitness accounts or any information about unusual activity on Horn Island from July 4th. Now the emphasis on original files is significant. The reason why is because metadata, timestamps, geolocation, all of that information can be lost whenever videos are repeatedly screen-recorded, edited, uploaded to social media, filtered, any sort of manipulation could change the original metadata where it's the raw file that would perhaps not only show an accurate timestamp but also an accurate depiction of what's being displayed because authorities also warned that manipulated or AI-generated material was in fact now circulating online. All the more reason why it is so critical and so important that they get their hands on the original files. Nolan's mother similarly had asked people not to spread fabricated footage or theories and had encouraged anyone with legitimate information to give it directly to investigators. But part of the reason why this case has received such significant attention and why it is so polarizing right now with a lot of people is because a lot of people are attacking the friends and they're speculating their involvement. Judge Ashley, the mother of one of the boys who was in that group posted publicly to address what she described as misinformation and threats against her family. She even said that she has temporarily deactivated Facebook because photographs of minor children were circulating and her family feared for their safety. She also said that she has known Nolan's mother since high school that she respected the family and was also grieving Nolan's death right alongside them. More importantly though she once again reinforced as fact from her family's perspective that Nolan made the decision to stay behind and that he planned to return inland with another group. She also said that her son fully cooperated with law enforcement. The sheriff also publicly stated that the friends were cooperating and that the investigators did not then suspect foul play. Nolan's family has later said that three of the friends have retained lawyers which I just want to say. Hiring attorneys does not imply guilt particularly in highly publicized death investigation cases where individuals and their families are receiving threats but as you can imagine these three young men hiring attorneys it has gotten it you know it has people talking it has people speculating. So last week the family attorney announced that Nolan's remains would be transported to Washington DC so that they could conduct an independent autopsy by a forensic pathologist who had no ties to Mississippi law enforcement just in case there was some type of corruption going on there or colluding former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick also reportedly helped finance the independent autopsy. Early reporting suggested that the independent findings could be available as of last Friday July 10th but as of now no complete independent autopsy report has been publicly released. So on Friday of last week on July 10th his parents appeared on Good Morning America with their attorney Ben Crump and they spoke in detail about their concerns. This was the very first time they spoke in this national interview. Nolan's father again reiterated that he did not believe that Nolan would have voluntarily separated from the people that he arrived with because they had a family rule that you return with the same group that you left with. His parents also said they cannot understand why Nolan would willingly stay without his phone or his keys and more than that why no one seemed able to provide a clear consistent account of his final hours. His mom Christine described learning that Nolan was missing after receiving that 11 p.m. late-night phone call and then using the life 360 app to locate his phone and she once again said that she became very alarmed when she discovered that his snapchat accounts had been wiped clean. The family wants that forensic expert to determine whether the material was deliberately deleted, automatically removed, or maybe never even saved in the first place. His dad discussed personally going out on the water that next morning to search for his son and also how he retrieved Nolan's keys while Nolan's car remained at that home connected to the original group of friends. Both parents emphasized that they were not claiming to know exactly what happened but their public position was that the explanations that they had received just simply did not make sense and they wanted the same level of urgency and scrutiny that they believed any other missing teenagers case deserved. Later that same day Nolan's parents appeared with their attorney and also Reverend L. Sharpton at the National Action Networks Headquarters in Harlem. Filmmaker Spike Lee also attended in support of the family. The Reverend opened by saying that what the family had been told did not make sense. The press conference focused on the conflicting stories about whether Nolan stayed voluntarily, the possession of his phone and keys, the alleged argument, the location of of his body and the family's lack of trust in Mississippi authorities. The attorney again said that the friends reported a count was that Nolan wanted to stay back on that island with that young woman, however, that same young woman maintained that Nolan had gotten back onto the boat with his guy friends, which once again, this remains the most critical piece of information as to what really transpired and I'm going to share what I think could be a possibility in just a moment here. They also cited the footage in which Nolan allegedly demanded the return of his phone. And again, this footage has not been officially authenticated or released in a complete unedited form by investigators. He further questioned how Nolan could have drowned in an area that was occupied by so many people without anyone seeing him enter the water, without anyone seeing him struggle, or seeing him ask for help. As a question from the family's attorney, though, it's not evidence that Nolan couldn't have drowned unnoticed. People are partying. It only takes a few minutes, you know, seconds to get held underwater, possibly accidentally. And I mean, held by like if your foot gets caught in something or whatever. But they're saying again, if this was daylight, right, I mean, the boat left at 4.30 pm. The sun isn't going down now until what, 7.30 or 8. If there were 200 people there on the island, how did nobody see something, unless it happened away after that? And I want to be clear, his parents are not publicly accusing a specific person of killing Nolan. They stated that their demand is for a full, transparent, and independent investigation. They simply do not accept the claim that Nolan just chose to stay behind without a guaranteed ride and left his phone in keys on the boat. They're also concerned that different people appear to have given conflicting accounts about whether he stayed on the island or got on the boat. They want to know who had Nolan's phone, which friend had it, why they had it, and when it was returned, whether data had been deleted off of it. So they want the complete original version of every video from the island, particularly the footage that allegedly captures Nolan in that altercation where he's demanding his phone. They also want forensic information showing where Nolan entered the water, how long he was in the water, whether he suffered any injury, and whether alcohol, drugs, or another medical factor contributed to his death. Those questions, though, depend heavily on the autopsy and the talks report findings, which, as I mentioned, remain pending. Despite their anger and grief, Nolan's mother has repeatedly urged supporters to remain peaceful and to stop harassing or threatening people. Now what the friends side is saying, through Judge Ashley Cole and her public statement, the friends side maintains that Nolan chose to stay behind, that he planned to return with that other group. The friends themselves have not given detailed public interviews and their full law enforcement statements have not yet been released. Therefore, most public understanding of their version comes through what Judge Ashley has said and what the sheriff has said and any sort of second-hand descriptions from the family attorney. That's for what's known about the alleged young woman that Nolan stayed behind with. She was reportedly with or near Nolan on Horn Island, and she may have actually been one of the last people seen speaking with him. Nolan's friends say that he was connected, possibly, with another group that was connected to her, and so that's the group that was going to give him the right home, and that's why he wanted to stay with her. But like I said, the family attorney says, well, no, she said she didn't stay behind with him. Her identity has not been officially released, but there's also no confirmed evidence that she harmed Nolan or knew that he was in any sort of danger or anything like that. There's also no confirmed evidence establishing that they were romantically involved beyond just speaking that day, flirting or socializing. So claims that they were hooking up with one another, those technically are unverified. The confirmed facts at this point are that Nolan went to Horn Island with his friends on July 4th. He was last officially seen around 3pm. He did not return with his original group. His phone and keys did, however, return with that original group. A friend contacted the Coast Guard at around 11pm that evening. Nolan's mom also was contacted around that same time, and then Nolan was reported around midnight. His body was then found at 8.45am on July 6th. Two autopsies have been conducted, one by the Mississippi Medical Examiner and one independently in Washington, DC, which it will be interesting to see if there's any discrepancies between the two. Right now, no cause of death or manner of death has been released. No arrests have been made, and no one has been charged, and authorities have not publicly declared his death as a homicide. So here's some of the rumor in the speculation. This is where I'm going to go into one of the things that I think could also potentially be true in all of this. Rumors out there right now are that Nolan was physically attacked by the three friends. That Nolan was beaten before then entering the water. That the alleged argument in that video shows a physical assault, allegations that judge Ashley Cole interfered with the investigation, allegations that the young woman was Nolan's girlfriend or that they were definitely hooking up. That this woman intentionally lied to police. Rumors that Nolan reunited with the friends later that evening. Rumors that Nolan attended another party after the original boat left. Rumors that the friends intentionally stole or destroyed data from Nolan's phone, and that the absence of the Snapchat messages definitively proves manual deletion and a cover-up. Rumors that the death was racially motivated. Rumors that Nolan drowned accidentally. Rumors that Nolan was murdered. Also rumors that his body was moved or placed at the location where it was found. Now, none of these theories have been established through publicly released forensic evidence or a final investigative finding, but those are the points in which everybody's talking about right now. And I think there could be a couple scenarios here. And you really just have to get down to the root of whether or not Nolan got on the boat or not. It's possible that there was an altercation. There wasn't assault. The boat left without him, and he was left in the water. There's a possibility that he did get back on the boat. That something happened on the boat. And then was moved via boat to another location and dumped. Those rumors out there remember that he was, that he returned to another party and returned with the group of friends at one point. So I think that phone data is critical because when was he last active on his phone? Was it prior to 430 when the boat left? Was it after? Was it on the boat when that phone activity took place? What's happening there? And I also think it's possible if he did stay behind to pursue this girl that he was flirting with, that maybe he was hooking up with or wanted to hook up with. And she was connected to another group there on the island that he thought he was going to get a ride home with. It is possible that those friends did something to Nolan. Maybe they didn't like that he was hooking up with her. Maybe she actually had a boyfriend or was seeing somebody and somebody got jealous. And now she's trying to protect her friends or somebody else and say that's why she's saying Nolan got back on that boat. There are a couple of different possibilities here. Someone is lying somewhere. Who is it? Who is not telling the truth? And we always say the digital footprint will tell us everything we need to know. And in this case, I couldn't believe that more. When were the last messages? What were the last photos? Who was last in contact with the group of friends? What was their search history like after 430 pm? What happened in that phone call to the Coast Guard? What was conveyed to them about Nolan and why did the Coast Guard dismiss it and not think that they needed to follow up on it? All of that information no doubt is going to come to light. We just have to be patient and wait for it. But I have a lot of questions. The biggest ones I have and I have right here on my notepad, my laundry list of questions. And so I'm going to rattle them off because you may have the same questions. Here is what I want to know. Did Nolan actually decide to stay behind or did he board or attempt to board the original boat? Who was the last verified person to see him alive? What exactly did this young woman tell the investigators? What do the complete videos show before, during, and after the alleged argument? Why did Nolan's friends have his phone and his keys? Does any phone data intentionally deleted and if so, by whom and at what time? Why did the Coast Guard determine at approximately 11 pm that that friend's initial call did not require assistance? When did the friends realize that Nolan had not returned with anyone else? Did anyone see Nolan enter the water? Where did Nolan enter the water in relation to where his body was found? Did he suffer any sort of internal injury that would have been visible externally? Will the Tox report identify alcohol drugs or any other substances? Was drowning the cause of death? And if so? was the manner, accidental, homicidal, or undetermined. Why do the accounts attributed to the friends and this young woman appear to conflict so drastically? And perhaps my most important question is what happened during the hours between Nolan's last confirmed sighting and the discovery of his body? At the time of this recording, the official investigation remains active. Both autopsy processes are still developing and circumstances of Nolan Welles' death remain undetermined. At the end of the day, there are still far more questions here than there are answers. I mean, what really happened here? How did all of his stuff make it back without him? Who is lying about whether or not he got on or off the boat? What is really going on? And what will the official and independent autopsy ultimately reveal? Will they match? Will they differ? Does this go deeper? Is there colluding and corruption? What is going on here? Right now, all those questions remain unanswered. So at this point, no one has been arrested, no one has been charged, and authorities have not publicly ruled his death as a homicide. But at the same time, they have also not released an official cause or manner of death and everything remains active. So as more information becomes available, whether that's the autopsy findings, the talks reports, additional witness statements, videos, text messages, whatever it may be, I will continue covering this case and keeping you updated every step of the way. My heart breaks for Nolan's family. This is like your worst fear realized. His friends, everyone who loved him, it is just devastating and they're continuing to search for answers in what has to be, you know, an unimaginable time. So if you were on Horn Island on July 4th or if you have any original photos, videos, or any information that could help investigators piece together, Nolan's final hours, please, please, please, contact the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. Contact them directly rather than posting potential evidence online. Send them the original files, help them build a timeline. No detail is too small. You never know what is in the background of an image or a video or a voice or a this or that, that you may not even notice that they will send it all and just please help them, help them. Hopefully Nolan's family will soon get the clarity that they have been fighting for and whatever the truth is, they deserve to know exactly what happened to their son. I'm curious to know what you think happened. Do you think this was just a terrible and tragic accident and he was intoxicated and drowned on his own? What do you think the truth is here? There must be more because somebody is lying and I also want to know more about his phone and what they're going to find on that. So stay tuned, I will keep you updated. As a reminder, there will not be a Thursday episode since I bumped this one up. However, if you do need content to binge, there isn't brand new episode that I also released today on my second true crime podcast feed 10, 2 life, 10, 2 life. And it is about the shadiest of parents who their daughter went missing. They didn't report her as missing for literally weeks and weeks and weeks until they were forced to by like the truancy department. There's allegations of smuggling her to another country. The mom got rid of her whole room, burned her belongings, really shady stuff and they still don't know where this little girl is. But there's a lot of red flags along the way. So again, that episode outlining all of the twists, the turns, the red flags, that is out right now on the second feed 10, 2 life. So you can go listen now. And of course, I released an episode yesterday on this feed, on the serialistly feed. So just scroll down one with a deep dive into the case that's breaking out of Ohio right now, the house of horrors where the 16 kids were rescued. New photos that have been obtained, details about the births of the children, what they allegedly were feeding them, lots of harrowing details. So all those episodes are available for you right now. Thank you so much for tuning in with me today. I appreciate it. Let's hope for answers for Nolan's family very soon. And let me know what you think about this case. And if you're a local there, what are you hearing? Let us know in the comments. All right, thank you so much. Don't forget, subscribe if you're watching this on YouTube. Press follow if you are listening on the podcast. And I will be back with you very, very soon. Until the next one. Be nice. Don't kill people. Watch your back. And never leave your friends. Okay, bye. 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