Nolan Wells UPDATE: Parent Was on the Boat With Teens? Best Friend Shares New Details\

Nolan Wells UPDATE: Parent Was on the Boat With Teens? Best Friend Shares New Details

So, if you’ve been following the heartbreaking case of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, then you already know this story has taken a dramatic turn. What initially appeared to be a tragic disappearance after a Fourth of July trip to Mississippi’s Horn Island has now become the center of mounting public scrutiny with the Wells family demanding answers.

 Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joining the case, and an independent autopsy underway. For those who have not been following every development of this case, here’s a quick recap. Nolan Wells, a football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, traveled to Horn Island on July 4th with a group of quote friends. According to authorities, the group later left the island without him, believing he intended to stay behind and catch another ride back.

 When Nolan never came home, his family reported him missing. days later, his body was found in the water near Horn Island. Officials have not yet released a final cause of death, and investigators have said that the case remains active. They have also said that they have not announced evidence of foul play at this stage.

 Since then, however, the family’s concerns have grown and so have the number of unanswered questions. Now, one of the biggest developments is that nationally known civil rights attorney Ben Crump is now representing Nolan’s family. Crump says the family believes the investigation needs to be fully transparent and that every piece of evidence should be examined before anyone reaches conclusions about what happened.

 During a press conference, he emphasized that the family isn’t asking for assumptions. They’re asking for answers backed by evidence. The family has also announced that they are pursuing an independent autopsy. And we received word yesterday that Colin Kaepernick is funding the independent autopsy. Now, when it came time for an independent autopsy, the Winsley family didn’t just hire any medical examiner, they turned to Dr. Roger A.

 Mitchell Jr., one of the most respected forensic pathologists in the country. As the chief medical examiner for Washington DC, Dr. Mitchell has conducted more than 1,400 autopsies and has been trusted to weigh in on some of the nation’s most high-profile death investigations. In other words, this isn’t just someone brought in to create controversy.

 This is someone brought in because of his reputation, experience, and expertise. Now, all eyes are on what his independent examination may reveal. According to reports, those findings are expected separately from the state’s examination and could help answer questions about the manner and cause of Nolan’s death.

 Now, there’s another detail that I recently came across that adds an entirely new layer to this case. According to Nolan’s father, Elmore Wsley, it wasn’t just Nolan and three teenage boys on that boat that day. He says that there was also an adult present, a parent of one of the boys. Now, if that account is accurate, it changes the conversation in a significant way.

 Up until now, much of the public’s discussion has centered on what the teenagers did or didn’t do. But according to Elmore, there was an adult on the boat who, in his view, shared a responsibility to ensure that everyone who left for Horn Island also made it safely back to the mainland. Take a listen at this. >> Nor was always taught to stay with the group.

 if you leave with me, you come back with me. So that I don’t understand. And with me being a parent, if I was in that situation, I would have told him, you’re going to get back on this boat with me because I don’t want to have to answer to your parents if something happened to you. >> So you’re going to get on the boat and if you still don’t want to get on the boat, someone give me a phone so I can make a phone call to get your parents on the phone so they can tell you to get on the boat.

 But at no no time will I leave someone else’s child on the especially on the island. >> So you think he got left behind then? >> Yes. I don’t believe he decided to stay on the island by yourself. That it just doesn’t that’s not his character. >> If you are my real friends and I’m giving you this this trust, you need to get it back to me by making me >> Yeah.

making me get on that boat. It’s three of them. One of and one of me. Yeah, we may tussle, but when we get back to the mainland, we going to tussle some more. We going to go party. So, and same with the adult. If that was your child and I was the one there, you would have wanted me to make your child get back on the boat.

So, it was a lot of bad decisions made. I I don’t think my son volunteered to stay on the island. I just I can’t believe that. >> Now Nolan is right here. You can see him at the end of the boat. Those are his blue shorts. They match. This right here is somebody’s bad built daddy because none of the boys that was with him look like that in the body.

 And I believe that’s Mr. Yellow Shorts and a hat up there in the front. So, everyone was wondering who is driving the boat if it’s just the four of them on it. Well, obviously we know it’s one of their parents. So that parent was not only okay with them drinking underage, but that parent was also okay with them leaving Nolan behind.

 And speaking of parents, Judge Ashley Cole, Warren’s stepmother, had this to say in her second announcement to the public. We have decided that we will not be speaking to the press at this time. The media is not the appropriate forum to further elaborate on the facts of July 4th, 2026. We realize that the truth will not stop the cause for the unaliving of our small children.

 We have not had the opportunity to speak to the Wells Winsley family or their attorney. However, we are willing to directly communicate with attorney Ben Crump and the Wells Winsley family. We will provide them with all of the information known to us so their family can rest and properly mourn.

 We also want to know what happened to Nolan. We will do everything within our power to assist Nolan’s family in their quest for answers. Now, perhaps the most talked about aspect of this case right now is Nolan’s cell phone. Nolan’s mother has publicly stated that she tracked his phone using Life 360. According to her account, the phone was no longer on Horn Island and had returned to the mainland.

>> I don’t know any 18year-old. if you go with their story that he said he was going to stay behind, I’m going to leave my cell phone behind. It’s not adding up. >> But we um we are grateful especially to our friend uh Toshima who actually was one of the people um who helped us that night.

 She went and picked up his cell phone from where it was and then provided that to us. Um, our friend actually we when I called her, Nolan is best friends with her two sons, Jaylen and Javon. When I called her, I said to Shima, “Have you seen Nolan? He’s missing. No one has seen him. No one has talked to him.” The boys were actually with her, her sons.

 So, they opened up their Snapchat because a lot of the kids do have their locations where they’re tracking one another. Um, so one of the boys says, “Well, it’s showing that I think I can’t exactly remember what his location was showing, but my Life 360 location was showing something completely different. It was actually showing that his phone was like he was on land and and so we ended up she received the phone from that parent and then we met up where his car was which was at a separate location.

 Um so like I said she went there and spoke with I cannot remember. I’m so sorry my brain is everywhere. Um but she went to the house and retrieved the phone. She said, “I have his phone.” The phone was okay as far as like appearance goes. It didn’t look damaged or anything. Um, and so then after that, we met with her at the other house where he had stayed the night, July the 3rd, where his car was.

Um, because it was important for us to try to retrieve everything of his that we could. Um, but it honestly for both instances, it was a runaround because I know she had issues getting his phone as well. Um, and she ended up calling me and I think I spoke with the mother. She put me on speaker phone and I was like, “Hey, you know, yes, I’m Christine.

 I’m Nolan’s mom. We need his phone. We’re trying to find him.” So, that immediately raises questions. If Nolan truly intended to remain on Horn Island, a remote barrier island with no hotels or places to stay overnight and he didn’t have a boat of his own to get back to the mainland, then why isn’t his cell phone with him? Most people, especially an 18-year-old, spending the day with friends, don’t voluntarily leave behind one of the most important belongings.

 And let’s just play devil’s advocate and say, “You know what? Nolan left his phone and he said, “I’ll get back up with you later. Why would you guys have a problem with giving the phone to his family when they asked for it back?” And clearly, you guys saw a video of Nolan on the boat so they weren’t just off the boat the whole time.

 Why did he not have any snaps? If his family says all Nolan really does snaps, why wasn’t there any Snapchat videos or anything saved? >> Figure that out. >> Backtrack on that. When we finally got his phone, me and my sister went through the phone. We went in his Snapchat. He had two accounts. Absolutely nothing. It was It wasn’t even 24 hours, which is how long videos and pictures stay in Snapchat.

 And I was just like, “That can’t be.” Like, I’ve seen Nolan whenever he snaps, like when he goes and he’s having fun, like he he does videos like there was absolutely nothing. No save videos. And even my sister was like, “Yeah, that’s that’s suspicious. >> Everyone is with the Ocean Springs is such a community and we don’t see color. There’s no racism here.

 Now you see exactly why Nolan’s family is having to get the big dogs to come down on you to find out exactly what happened to their son. Not only that, not only were they hiding the phone, they were trying to hide the keys. Take a listen to this. >> Okay, so the situation with the key. When we got to the house, um, a few of his friends, they were already there and they were at the door in the house, um, asking questions.

 So, when I walked up, they were getting, you know, things were getting kind of tense. So, I turned to them and told, I need you guys to calm down. I need I don’t do this to me right now. I need them to kind of trust me so I can they can give me something. So, I was able to calm him down. So, the guy that’s he’s in one of the pictures, but he came out of the room half sleep or whatever, half where uh I think jacks or whatever.

 And I said, “Look, I’m Nolan’s father. I’m here to get his keys um so I can get his car.” I said, “Uh,” he’s like, >> “His car was in the yard. >> His car is parked in the yard.” So, he was like, “Uh, I don’t know, man. N’s like my brother.” I said, “Well, if Nolan was like your brother, would you please go in your room and see if you can find my son’s keys so I can take his car home?” He walks off 2 or 3 minutes come back. I can’t find the keys.

 I said, “Okay.” So, at that point, I get the boys and I get move them out the house because I didn’t want them to go into the house and start tearing up these people houses cuz then that would be a whole another situation. So, walk outside by the car. One of the guys that was in the house with us, he was on the phone with a girl and the girl told him that Nolan’s keys were on top of this Jack’s guy’s Xbox in the house cuz apparently she was there with him earlier.

 So he goes back up to the door by himself and five minutes later the keys come out. So now I feel like you done lied to me. So now I’m really like in distress with you. I’ve been seeing Nolan Wells’s face all over social media and in the news, and I think that’s great. However, because these gentlemen deleted all their social media accounts before Nolan Wells’s body was even found, we haven’t really been able to see them in in the media.

 Um, these are the five men who are alleged to have been with Nolan on that island. These are their names. These are their faces, and we should know them and see who they are. So, Eli, Eric, Warren, Wyatt, Morgan. We should see their faces. We should know their names, too. >> Now, according to Nolan’s mother, Warren called her at 11 asking if she had seen Nolan.

>> Warren was the one who made the phone call, and he did contact the Coast Guard as well, which I know there’s some discrepancies now with that. Um, but he did contact them. >> My thing is this. How is Jax able to sleep in the bed with Nolan’s car parked outside of your home? Y’all supposedly left around 4:30 and by 11:30 you still haven’t heard from Nolan and you’re able to sleep at night already.

 I’ve said it once, I’m going to say it again. Something about this case just does not feel right. Now, according to Nolan’s parents, because they did not have access to a boat and didn’t know anyone who could get them a boat to the island that night, they were unable to immediately go to the island themselves after Nolan was reported missing.

 It wasn’t until the following day that Nolan’s football coach contacted his father and took the family to Horn Island to search. Now, Nolan’s father said they searched the island extensively. They were search crews, drones, helicopters, and according to the family, there were even people that were camping overnight on the island.

Yet, despite all of those eyes searching for Nolan, he wasn’t found that day. Then the following morning, Nolan’s body was discovered in the water near Horn Island. He docked the boat, got off the boat, walked on the island, walked a pretty nice stretch, came back, got back on the boat, went around the island, look, came back around, and where we went to the that’s where apparently they say that his body floated up.

I don’t know a lot about water currents over there, but I would have I would think that we would have saw >> his body >> and on the trip there, there was a a family that stayed a night on the island like actually tended out on the island. So if he was left, he would have saw dead family on the island and it was two of the boats docked.

 So he would have had help. So, I I just I I don’t know. I don’t know. I think we stayed there for like an hour, hour and a half. That’s when um Jackson County and the sheriff department uh showed up and they were going to do their rounds. And I had a classmate of mine, him and his two boys, they came out and they searched and then they got back and touched me and said the coach guard had finally showed up in airplane.

 So [snorts] that >> what is so critical what Elmo is saying is they went out on Sunday and the tide if it bought his body up he went missing on July 4th as they say his body should have been there on July 5th. Why would it not appear to July 6? And that’s one of those things that’s just not adding up.

 and and the fact that if he stayed behind on the island, there were boats there, there were people, somebody had to see something. That’s why it’s not adding up. >> It honestly feels as though Nolan’s body was moved and then placed back on the shore to be found later. Nolan’s best friend, Javon Williams, was there with him on the island.

 They did not come together nor did they leave together. But he gives more insight on the fight that happened there on the island. And surprisingly, he says that investigators have not contacted him at all to ask him any questions. >> Actually on Horn Island that day, saw Nolan that morning and saw him in the afternoon also.

 So, he’s joining us just to tell us what he knows about what went on on Horn Island. Uh Jayvon Williams, welcome to TMZ Live. May um can I clear up that first part? I didn’t see him in the morning. I seen him >> in the afternoon when you got out to the island. Okay. >> Yeah. >> All right. So, I know that you were not on that boat that went back, but you did know the friends on the boat.

 Um you knew uh Nolan obviously. I one of the things that I’ve wanted to know is what was the relationship like between Nolan and these other people that ended up on that boat? Were they friendly? Did they sometimes argue? Can you kind of give us a sense of that? >> Yeah. So, uh, Nolan hung out with them a lot.

 I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t ever hanging out with them because, you know, they’re older and they were like hanging out when they come back from like college and stuff like that. So, Nolan was with them. Nolan was with them a lot. I was never like with them. I knew them, but I was never hanging out with them.

 I know one of the boys he was with was a pretty good dude, but other than that, I don’t really know like as hell every time they hang out how it goes. Like I don’t I don’t really know that because I never hung out with them personally. >> Javon, were they um teammates of his? Did they play football also? Were they I know they’re a year ahead of you.

 Um but were they all teammates or was uh Nolan the only one who played football? >> Nolan was the only one that played football. >> Okay. So, did Nolan ever talk about them? Did he ever describe his relationship with them? Did he, you know, talk about how much fun they had, whether they got in arguments? Did he ever, did he ever talk to you about them? >> Never.

 He just told me like how they had like good times, you know, they’ll go like he’ll just let me know if they’re going out somewhere, they’re going to, you know, just hang out. He never really said anything bad about like them. >> Okay. Uh, take us to that day on July 4th. So roughly how many kids are out there for this party and describe your last your interaction with uh Nolan that day on the island.

>> Okay. Yeah. So it probably was around I want to say around like 100 people like everyone from Horn Island that everyone at Horn Island like that live on the coast were there pretty much. Obviously it was older people. There’s a lot of people there like honestly. But I seen Nolan whenever I had got out there around I got around out there around 11 o’clock.

 I had walked down to their boat. I had seen him and it was like a whole bunch of people. I didn’t expect it. So I seen Nolan. As soon as I seen Nolan, he’s like, “Hey, bro. What you doing?” Like, “I love you, dog. I love you.” And then we were just hanging out, you know, chilling, just having a good time.

 And then so around I want to say around 3:40 four o’clock an altercation like had happened between one of my other friends. I don’t want to say his name but he had got an altercation. So I went and checked on him for about 20 minutes 20 to 15 minutes. I came back Nolan’s boat and the people that he were with were gone.

 But the thing about the two boats that I said there were two boats tied up. So therefore, I didn’t know which vote Nolan exactly was on because they’re both tied up. >> Jayvon, have you seen the video that’s been going around social media where people think that they’re hearing an argument um between people and they’re wondering whether or not Nolan is one of the people in that argument.

 You just described that you had another friend, not Nolan, another friend who was in an got into a dispute. Is that video the other argument that you were talking about? >> Yes. >> So, but but is that Nolan in the video? >> I I can’t tell. It’s too far away. But in that video, I feel like it’s the voices are too clear like from the side.

It’s too clear for it to be that far away for it to be Nolan arguing. And then also that altercation, it sounds just like my other friend that got into an altercation on the boat. And they were trying to like as he was in the altercation that was calming him down. They were trying to get him out off the island.

 They were trying to get him back to land because he was just losing it. >> You’re talking to a bunch of people, I’m sure, you know, who knew Nolan and maybe who were on the island. What’s the buzz? What are people saying um with you and your friends? I mean, obviously, you know, it’s hard. Um, like I post my friend Nolan just to have like, you know, make like show everyone that like how good of a person he was and try to like bring closure to like whatever the hell happened.

 Like it like this hurts like like I’ve never lost someone this close to me and like for people like to say that I was the last to see him and keep twisting and turning my words and say that how did like his closest friend would have knew his password like so they’re trying to say that like paint me a picture to been like the reason this is happening.

 I like I could I promise you guys if I was the last person to see Nolan and I seen him by himself, he would have been home with us today. He would be with us today. I would still be able to talk to my friend every single freaking day. And so it really just it hurts me so much like hearing people say these things.

 But at the same time, people are just going off what they hear. So it’s it’s hard. He had his own people. I mean, he hangs out with these guys like almost all the time. So I’m I’m thinking he’s fine. You know, I’m not thinking nothing of it. And you you never heard of Nolan having any kind of an argument with these guys before? You’ve never you never heard anything like that? >> No, sir.

>> What are people saying? I mean, these guys some some of them have gotten lawyers. >> Well, I’m curious if the police have I I know they’re they said they’re still investigating. Have they Did any investigators ever speak to you about what you saw that that day? >> No, sir. >> That’s awesome. >> I don’t see why the cops I don’t see why the cops would have to talk to me.

 I mean obviously like you know like I had said my plea like cuz whenever I had talked to the people at Sunhur Sunh herd it was whenever you know the body was discovered and the autopsy people and the uh all those people were there. Well, I’ll tell you I’ll tell you why I’m surprised. Because you knew Nolan well, and you knew that he was friends with these guys who were the last ones to be around him before he his body was found.

 And I would think they would at least want to know, hey, just the things we’re asking, right? You know, did you ever hear of any of this stuff? It’s odd to me >> just to gather information. >> Yeah. That the cops wouldn’t have contacted you. Yeah. >> Yeah. And that’s fine. I’m I’m completely fine with that. I like I said I have nothing to hide like that’s my boy and I want him to find justice like that like this whole case thing like whatever like this whole situation none of this adds up to me.

 So like it’s really hard like for like people to just like keep on saying things or like none none of it adds up honestly. So, one of the things that I’m sure Jayvon, you’ve seen has been a big part of this uh of this story, people making the point that at least in the photos that we initially saw that uh Nolan was the only African-American uh kid who was out there, at least on that boat.

 Do you think having been there on the island with this large group of people that race plays a factor in whatever happened here? >> I don’t want to answer that. I don’t want to answer that question. I don’t I don’t I wouldn’t say like Yeah, I wouldn’t want to answer that question. I mean, obviously we go to Ocean Springs, we’re going to have white friends, so like that’s I mean, I guess it’s pretty normal down here, but >> Yeah.

 I mean, and and I hear you if that’s >> I guess you’re saying that it’s normal. It’s not >> out of place to be um a black teen in that area and that you have white friends, right? That’s not not uncommon is what you’re saying. >> I’m sure every black person has white friends somewhere, you know? So, I I wouldn’t say that it’s a whole race thing, but it’s just like obviously they’re going to paint it as that because none of this adds up.

 So, >> Got it. Okay. >> All right, Jayvon. Thank you so much. >> Very sorry for your loss, man. >> Yeah. Uh hang in there. I know this is going to be tough. >> Thank you. I am stunned that the police have not talked to to him because he is a close friend of his. He saw him on the island.

 He knows about his relationship with these guys. And if this is a serious investigation, why haven’t the cops talked to him, >> right? Uh and and there’s a lot of questions about the investigation. I I’m starting to understand why the parents are so are not really willing to trust the investigation at this point. >> I believe the boat needs to be investigated to see if the bouge pump even broke or if they tried to find a reason to come back real quick because something was done.

 All three boys and the parent that was on the boat needs to be investigated. Let’s track all of their phones to find out if they went back to the island at any point late at night to drop a body back off. Let’s find out why Nolan had no Snapchat videos on his phone. Do a iCloud sweep. Let’s find out where everything went. Things aren’t looking good.

 The current investigators handling the case are definitely not working for the family. And I understand why they went the route that they went and brought in reinforcement when it comes to getting justice for their son. We will continue to update you on this case as new developments come forward. What I need to do is hear from you.

 What do you think about everything currently going on in the Nolan Wells case? Leave a comment and you know how we do, we’ll talk about it down below. Talk to you guys later. Bye.