New findings from Nolan Wells’ cellphone and autopsy are raising additional questions about the 18-year-old’s death, just two days after a Mississippi grand jury declined to bring criminal charges in the case.
Attorney Ben Crump and forensic investigator Andrew Garrett presented the findings Thursday, with Garrett saying his independent forensic team recovered more than 1 million digital artifacts from Wells’ cellphone.
The data included Snapchat and Instagram records, GPS information, phone records and Apple Health data. Garrett also said the examination uncovered messages that appeared to have been deleted or unsent.
The presentation came after a Jackson County grand jury concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges in Wells’ death. The grand jury reviewed evidence from 43 witnesses and issued 132 subpoenas during its investigation.
According to the family’s legal team, Garrett submitted a preliminary forensic report to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 28, followed by three final reports on Sept. 14. Those reports were provided to prosecutors before the grand jury reviewed the case.
The grand jury report said investigators found no evidence that Wells’ cellphone had been tampered with. That finding is now being discussed alongside Garrett’s claim that his team recovered evidence of deleted or unsent communications.
Crump’s team also presented findings from the state medical examiner’s autopsy. According to the legal team, the examination found no water in Wells’ lungs or throat. The findings also indicated no water in his stomach, according to reporting on Thursday’s presentation.
The autopsy documented contusions on the back of Wells’ head. Crump’s team said those injuries lacked surrounding white blood cells, which it interpreted as indicating they occurred shortly before Wells died.
However, the findings do not establish how Wells died. Both the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist retained by the family classified the cause and manner of death as undetermined.
That distinction is important because the grand jury found the circumstances surrounding Wells’ body were consistent with drowning, while also declining to indict anyone. The jury found no credible evidence of criminal conduct related to the people who traveled to Horn Island with Wells.
Wells disappeared during a July 4 trip to Horn Island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. His body was found two days later.
The grand jury’s decision did not end the family’s search for answers. Crump has continued to question the circumstances surrounding Wells’ death, while the newly presented cellphone and autopsy findings have become part of the family’s effort to understand what happened before he died.
The case can potentially be revisited if credible new evidence emerges. Mississippi has no statute of limitations for murder charges, according to the grand jury report.
For now, the legal findings point in different directions: the grand jury found insufficient evidence for criminal charges and circumstances consistent with drowning, while the family’s forensic review has identified unanswered questions involving Wells’ injuries and cellphone data.
And those questions remain at the center of the family’s push for answers.
