Nolan Wells‘ parents spent Thursday morning remembering their son before turning their attention to the questions that still linger over a month after his disappearance and death.
Christine and Elmore Wonsley joined civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair in Atlanta. During a panel moderated by Tiffany D. Cross, they shared personal memories of their son, describing the hours before he left for a Fourth of July boating trip with friends and the search that followed his disappearance.
As Blavity reported, Wells was reported missing on the night of July 4 after he did not return from the boating trip. A friend informed his family that Wells had remained on the island with a girl he met that day, while the others returned to the mainland. The Wonsleys contacted local authorities, prompting a search. Wells’ body was found in the water on the northeast side of the barrier island on the morning of July 6.
Calls for federal review grow
At a press conference, the Wonsleys, Crump, Sharpton, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Representative Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), called for an independent federal review of the investigation into Wells’ disappearance and death.
“We’re demanding a full investigation as to what has actually happened to Nolan Wells,” McBath said. “All of our children’s and our families’ lives matter, and we must fight back.”
McBath lost her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, in 2012 when he was shot to death by Michael Dunn, who is white, at a Florida gas station over playing loud music.
She stated that Wells’ family deserves the same pursuit of justice she sought after her son’s death.
On Wednesday, U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, requesting a review of Wells’ case to determine whether “there is a basis for a federal investigation, including under applicable federal civil rights laws.”
McBath said they have given the federal government seven days to respond.
What happened the night Nolan Wells disappeared?
Wells’ parents described the last time they saw their son and the events that followed his disappearance after the Fourth of July boat trip to Horn Island.
Christine said Wells shared his plans with them, explaining he would go to the island and stay at his friend Jax’s house the night before. She described Jax as a friend they saw “in passing.”
Christine said she spent July 4 with her sister, but it wasn’t until that night when they realized they hadn’t heard from Wells. She said she called him multiple times, but there was no answer.
She said that around 11:07 p.m., she received a call from a number she didn’t recognize. The number called again, and it was Wells’ friend Warren, who was with him that day, asking if she had seen or heard from Wells. Christine told him no and said, “he should be with you guys.”
Warren told her Wells had decided to stay behind on the island to talk to a girl he had met, named Katie.
“I said what? Because we know our child… Nolan isn’t one to throw caution to the wind and stay behind with a girl he just met,” Christine said.
Christine said she checked Life360 for location updates, and it showed Wells was on land. She said that, according to Warren, he had Wells’ phone.
“At that point, you’re telling me don’t worry about it, we’re going to find him, it’s going to be okay. Don’t tell me not to worry,” Christine said. “This is my child, my flesh and blood that I brought into this world. Don’t tell me not to worry. Absolutely not.”
Christine said Warren told her that he knew some people at the Coast Guard, and that he would call them for help.
Christine said she then called the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR), which told her they weren’t sure the missing persons case would fall under their jurisdiction. MDMR said they spoke to the Coast Guard, but that she should call the Ocean Springs Police Department (OSPD).
Christine said she then called OSPD, which said she had to come to the station to make a report. Before visiting OSPD, Christine said she stopped at the hospital to check whether Nolan was there.
OSPD then told her that the case wouldn’t be in their jurisdiction either.
“At that point, I’m like, ‘oh my God, who am I supposed to talk to? Who is supposed to help me with this?'” Christine said.
She said OSPD told her to call MDMR, and she informed them that she already had. Christine then called the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), which decided to take the case.
The Wonsleys met with an officer at a McDonald’s parking lot to provide some information about their son.
“He was just like, ‘Okay thanks.’ I was like, ‘Where is the urgency?'” Christine said.
Wells’ parents went to Horn Island the following morning with his football coach. Despite earlier reports of poor cell phone reception, both Christine and Elmore confirmed they had normal cell service with no issues.
Elmore said Wells’ friends shared several inconsistencies about his whereabouts and what happened.
“First inconsistency is you call me and tell me my son stayed on the island to talk to a girl. That’s not in his character. I didn’t raise any of my kids to do that,” Elmore said. “The second thing is you say he doesn’t have his phone. He never leaves his phone… To me, that’s two lies you done told me.”
Elmore also shared how difficult it was to retrieve Wells’ phone and keys from his friends. According to Christine, both items were at the same location: Jax’s house.
Questions remain about Wells’ death
The investigation into Wells’ death remains ongoing, with the family and Crump’s legal team continuing to seek answers about what happened after he disappeared. Crump said his team has been working with the local district attorney to pursue what he described as a “thorough, fair, full, impartial investigation.”
“The story is what happened to Nolan Wells. Somebody knows something. Somebody saw something,” Crump said at the press conference.
He said the family’s concerns have remained the same since the beginning of the investigation: determining what happened to Wells and whether they will receive a fair and impartial examination of his death.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family and performed by Dr. Robert Mitchell, president of the National Medical Association and former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., did not determine a cause or manner of death.
The July 10 examination found red discoloration in the deep tissue in the back of Wells’ head, but there were no cuts to the skin or fractures to the underlying skull. Mitchell’s report also said he could not rule out whether non-accidental factors contributed to or caused Wells’ death, per Blavity.
Crump said Mitchell has made himself available to conduct additional work if the district attorney’s office and medical examiner allow him to do so.
“He’s ready, willing, and able to go do it,” he said.
On July 23, the office of District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath confirmed that the autopsy report in Nolan Wells’ death will be withheld until a grand jury can review it, according to WWNYTV.
The family’s attorneys also raised concerns about the handling of Wells’ cellphone, saying they are waiting for the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office to follow through on an agreement to jointly examine the device with their forensic team.
“Jackson County’s DA’s office, as well as our forensic team and possibly the FBI, download and examine the phone,” attorney Liza A. Park said. “We are waiting for the DA to determine the time, the place, the date. Let us know, and we are going to be there with our forensics team and anybody else. But it’s done one time, one examination. We’re ready for it to happen.”
When asked what they believed federal investigators could uncover that local and state authorities had not, Crump said American taxpayers have a right to these resources.
“What anybody will hope [for] is the federal investigation,” he told Blavity. “We are taxpayers too. It’s the federal resources that can offer resources to help investigate the matter,” Crump said. “As American citizens, we have the absolute right to say our federal government should extend resources for our children like they will extend to everybody else.”
The Wonsley family has faced criticism in their fight for answers about their son’s disappearance and death. Christine, in particular, was targeted in her profession as a nurse, with one-star reviews about her that led to an investigation into professional misconduct. Those claims had no evidence. Despite all of that, Christine said she is unbreakable.
“These attacks are not going to… it’s not gonna break me. We have to find out what happened to Nolan. That is the only question we’ve ever asked. We’ve never blamed anyone. We’ve never smeared anyone…”
Remembering Nolan: ‘He was just a bright light’
Amid their continued calls for answers, Nolan’s family also took time to remember who he was beyond the circumstances surrounding his death. Christine described her son as someone who brought joy to those around him and cared deeply about the people in his life.
“Nolan was an incredible, I mean, just incredible soul. He was the person who, no matter where you were in life or what was going on, he was going to be your biggest cheerleader,” Christine said.
Christine also described Nolan as deeply faithful and someone who naturally made others feel welcome.
“He was God-fearing, God-loving. That boy had faith beyond measure. He was just a bright light, and he was our bright light,” she said.
With Wells’ 19th birthday approaching on Aug. 19, his family is now preparing to mark the milestone without him, turning what should have been a celebration into a painful reminder of his loss.
“With this birthday coming up, like my wife said, we have to deal with a new normal,” Elmore said. “Who knows what these years are going to bring, but we know that this year on August 19 is gonna bring a lot of hurt, some laughter as we think about memories. But as far as our family, a very big piece will no longer be there.”
Watch the full press conference below: