New Clues Emerge in Nolan Wells' Mystery Island Death

A lot of new updates in the [music]

strange death of a teen on a boat trip

to celebrate July 4th. The mysterious

circumstances surrounding him being left

behind, [music] his body eventually

being found washed up on the shore of an

island. They're only getting muddled

right [music] now. So, we're going to

sift through all of it and bring you the

very latest. Welcome to Sidebar,

presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse

Weber.

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All right. So, we're coming back to a

story that has been haunting this

Mississippi community. This is a story

that has captivated the country right

now. We're talking about the death of

18-year-old Nolan Wells, a college

athlete, a beloved son. He was a young

man who police say just went out to

celebrate the 4th of July on a barrier

island with friends and never came home.

Now, we were on this when that

devastating news came in. You'll

remember earlier this week, we spoke

with a member of the United Cajun Navy,

someone who was actually a part of that

search for Nolan, in the air searching

when the news came in that a Park

Service Ranger

had discovered Nolan's body. And since

then, there have been some big updates

that we got to talk about. As a matter

of fact, the case has gotten so much

attention that even some notable names

are weighing in, calling this case a

tragedy, but praying for justice,

praying for transparency. And also, this

is interesting, too. There is a judge

with apparently a connection to this

case who's now spoken out, looking to

seemingly set the record straight on

these rumors surrounding her family's

connection or involvement. And now the

case is being attached to perhaps one of

the most recognizable civil rights

attorneys in the country. Ben Crump just

recently spoke to ABC News, raised some

serious questions about the handling of

this case, is now representing Nolan's

family. And all this while Nolan's body

is being flown out of state for an

independent autopsy, the results of

which are potentially, reportedly,

expected as soon as tomorrow. But I just

want to take a moment here because a lot

has hap- -pened, and I want to try to

get an understanding of it before we get

into the nitty-gritty details. So, this

all started with that trip to Horn

Island on the 4th of July. Now, if

you're not familiar, Horn Island is this

long, thin barrier island. It's about 10

mi off the coast of Mississippi. It's

part of the Gulf Islands National

Seashore, only accessible by boat. It's

known as a spot where people like to go

have some fun out on the water,

especially on a holiday like the 4th of

July. And that is exactly what

authorities say 18-year-old Nolan Wells

and a group of friends decided to do.

That they apparently took a private boat

out to the island for the day, and

something went wrong while he was out

there. According to police, Nolan was

last seen at around 3:00 p.m. on the

northwest tip of Horn Island. His

friends reportedly told searchers that

he wanted to stay behind to talk to a

girl, was planning to catch a ride back

with another group. They ended up

leaving, but when Nolan didn't return

home, his mother reported him missing,

setting off this massive search involved

multiple agencies, including the Jackson

County Sheriff's Office, the United

Cajun Navy. Now, we spoke with the vice

president of the United Cajun Navy,

Brian Trascher, in our previous episode

because he was part of the search. He

was actually searching in the air when

the news came in about Nolan's body.

>> I saw the body from about 300 ft in the

air, and I can tell you that it did not

it did not appear to be waterlogged. It

was only in the water for a couple days.

Um but nevertheless, the the Sheriff's

Office put out a statement saying that

they had no reason to believe it was not

Nolan's

>> Yeah, so a park ranger discovered this

body in the water off the northwest tip

of the island on July 7th. The family

confirmed it was Nolan, but this is

where things get complicated because

since that time the case has taken some

turns. The questions have only deepened,

and I want to talk about what is

happening right now. And now I want to

bring on somebody to help make sense of

everything that's happening. Joining me

now, civil rights attorney, friend of

the show, Joe Richardson. Joe, thank you

so much for coming on. Uh particularly,

I know you're at a conference, so you're

very generous with your time.

So Joe, thank you.

>> Always good to be here with you, Jesse.

Always.

>> Thank you. I feel the same. So I want to

start with the biggest development here,

right? Arguably the biggest development.

The family has hired Ben Crump, who is

now representing them. He has been

involved in some of the most

high-profile cases in the country in the

last few years if you think about it,

right? Representing the families

of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna

Taylor. And he put out a statement this

week that's getting, you know, a lot of

people's attention. I want to read part

of it. Quote, "We've been retained by

the family of Nolan Wells, a beloved

son, teammate, and friend who went out

to celebrate the 4th of July and never

came home. The wide receiver at

Southwest Mississippi Community College

was preparing to return for the upcoming

football season and would have turned 19

next month. His family deserves answers.

They deserve the truth. We will not rest

until every fact about what happened to

Nolan on Horn Island is brought into the

light, and we call on investigators to

pursue this case with the urgency and

transparency

this family deserves. Now, Crump also

spoke with ABC News and revealed that

Nolan's body is being flown to

Washington, D.C. for an independent

autopsy, saying the family has concerns

about the investigation being handled in

the state of Mississippi. Joe, before I

even go to the independent autopsy, why

hire a lawyer?

>> Because of all of the things that you

don't know.

Um

things happen very quickly as it

pertains to a death. Um and gosh forbid

there's something to hide. We're not

saying that that's the case, but if

there was something to hide, after an

autopsy and you put that body in the

ground, the body's not going to tell you

any tales. And so, we'll talk more about

the autopsy, but that's one of the

things that an attorney will do is get

you a private autopsy. In the case of

Ben Crump, he's also going to get you

the attention that's going to ask

questions that will put pressure on the

powers that be, as it were, the people

that are supposed to investigate

thoroughly, etc. Because there are

unanswered questions, you have to do the

best you can to get to a place where you

have every question answered that can be

answered. You're not there, but is every

question answered that can be answered?

If the answer is no, and you can find an

attorney that can draw attention as well

as investigate, direct traffic, point at

things, as well as uh address it with

the media, then that's what you do.

>> Does this signal to you that either the

family, the friends, they believe that

something's not right with this

investigation, or is it just to cover

your bases? They know it's getting a lot

of attention. This, like you said, Ben

Crump is a renowned figure in the legal

industry. You wonder if he has back

channels with law enforcement, his own

sources, if he can put pressure on law

enforcement or the prosecutor's office,

or who And I'm not saying that there's a

crime that has been committed, but is

this signaling to you that something is

not right, or the family believes

something is not right?

>> Yeah, I I think that that could very

well be the case. I mean, Ben Crump, you

know, he's nationally known. You know,

I've seen him in San Bernardino, down

the street from me. But, but where

people got to know him on a national

standpoint is uh in Florida. It's you

know, that's where he's from. But, he's

got connections to the South, of course,

deep connections to the South, went to

school in the South, um has handled

cases in Mississippi, etc. So, it would

make sense that uh Ben Crump, or

somebody like him, would be able to

press buttons right away and start to

ask the right questions, and to pull on

the right resources, make the right

calls in in terms of understanding

what's out of sorts about an

investigation. So, it's not only trying

to get at what we believe may be the

truth, or whatever we can know about it,

but is anything being done differently

than how it would normally be done? Um

so,

he brings to the table all of those

types of things.

>> Legally, can a lawyer file something

with the court, or file something to put

pressure on law enforcement, or to

direct law enforcement to release

information to the family?

>> I think that you have to look at whether

and to what extent the uh powers that be

here, I believe it's going to be the

state of Mississippi as of right now, is

not doing what it would normally do. If

there's something that's not being made

available as quickly as it would

normally be, the the key is entities get

in trouble for not following their own

rules, right? So, what's really

important is to make sure that they are

following their own rules, and to the

extent that you're asking for something

that maybe there's some gray area about,

release the tape. Release, you know, a

lot times we might might be talking

about body cam when it's talking about

police and things like that. We're far

enough along where there are often

specifics related to those rules, but if

there's gray area where there's no

specific prohibition on releasing

something, releasing some information,

doing X or Y or Z, and the police or the

investigators aren't doing it, then

maybe that's what the media attention

helps to do. Particularly if, you know,

the shoe's on the other foot now. Often

when people get pulled over or when

people deal with police, they say,

"Well, if you've got nothing to hide,

let me search the car." So, now here are

people saying, "Authorities, if you have

nothing to hide, be as transparent as

you can possibly be within the law to

let us know everything we can know about

what happened."

>> Is this also, and I'm not saying this is

a motivation for the family,

but is there also a potential that you

hire a firm like this to start to see

whether or not there are there is a

framework for potential lawsuit?

>> Absolutely. You know doubt about it

because

what Ben Crump and the Ben Crumps of the

world are going to do and what we all

do, try to do,

um is uh find out where the holes are.

Um here are here are the holes, here are

the things that we don't know that we

ought to. There might be some things

that we will never know because we

weren't there.

But what are some things that are out of

sorts that we can figure out and things

that we know we can't figure out, and

the question becomes, to the extent that

they can, why aren't the authorities,

the investigations, etc. etc. etc.

filling all of that in? Um not to get

ahead of ourselves, depending on what

you're going to be asking about, but

there's also the element that one of

these kids' mom is judge.

>> Yeah, I do want to talk about that.

>> Okay, yeah, so and she's put her toe in

the water, too. So, there's a lot of

powerful people dealing with it. That's

why as much attention that can be

brought to it is really important, but

you want to understand whether and to

what extent there may be legal rights

that were infringed on or some something

that might be actionable.

>> I want to ask about this independent

autopsy. Why conduct an independent

autopsy? Why order one? Why do it

outside of Mississippi? So,

this is a significant move. The state

medical examiner already reportedly

performed an autopsy on July 7th. Now,

officials say those results could take a

couple of weeks because they're doing

toxicology and other testing, but Crump

has indicated that the independent

autopsy results are expected as soon as

tomorrow. And in speaking with ABC News,

Crump said, "We're trying to be very

transparent because the family has some

concerns about the state of Mississippi

doing an investigation. We have

investigators talking to witnesses that

have no alignment or no allegiance to

the state, and that's important." What's

going on here, Joe?

>> I think they're looking both ways before

they cross the street. Um one of the

biggest piece of evidence

is the body. Not to sound morbid or

whatever, but there's a chance that if a

drowning is being alleged, and there's

trauma that's inconsistent with a

drowning,

um then we know that that raises more

questions, and that creates more

problems. There's also an argument that

um perhaps the state of Mississippi,

depending on what may have happened,

depending on what they suspect may have

happened that they can't necessarily

prove one way or the other, they may be

incentivized to close the book. I I've

dealt with cases where you're trying to

uncover information, and you're dealing

with a coroner, or you're dealing with

uh investigators, fire investigators,

etc. Fill in the blank. Um when

something fits a narrative and they put

it away, they they they do that. Um we

would love to say, "Oh, we'll leave no

stone unturned, etc. etc. etc." But

that's not always the case. So, what's

the best way to be sure that you've

uncovered all of the information you

possibly can? I think it's because you

do, and that's that's that's why you

need to do an independent autopsy, so

that I I you know, there is a scenario

under which and we're talking about the

deep south, we're talking about a very

charged political time, we're talking

about one black kid with several white

kids. There is a scenario under which

there could potentially be something to

hide, and someone may choose sides in

that regard. But the body itself,

theoretically, could at least allay some

concerns about how one may have died,

you know, etc. And it might be said that

you certainly get information quicker.

That question that might be consistent

with what

>> But that's a point, right? How can you

get information quicker if the state

examination is like, "We can't

definitively conclude what happened

until we do this additional testing."

That's why it's going to take some

weeks. Couldn't an argument be, "Well,

if you have an independent autopsy and

they're coming with results tomorrow,

it's not as thorough." Or am I looking

at it the wrong way?

>> I don't think you're looking at it the

wrong way. I think that there's an

argument for that, but I also think that

I also think that you get what you pay

for. Um um that independent autopsy is

not cheap. That's why most people don't

get it. There's a whole lot of people

that don't want to believe what the

coroner said about this or that thing. I

had a case recently where I've got the

coroner as it pertains to manner of

death that's going along with what

happened here out in the field and

deferring to what happened with the

investigators, what the investigators

said, including a person's past history.

So, a lot of things can figure in where

perhaps you get the same information,

but there are certain things that you

can get quicker. The independent autopsy

is not going to tell you everything

right away either. But, you might be

able to get some indications a bit

quicker than you would if you were going

the public route. So, here there's both

that are going on. People would, you

know, may argue, "Oh, if it's quicker,

then obviously it can't be good

information." But, on the other side,

there are those of us that may believe

in a worst-case scenario that if it's

public information with people that

might have something to hide or people

that are connected to people of

influence, then maybe we can't be as

sure as we would like to be about what

the result is.

>> And it at least provides the the family

with some answers and a potential path

of inconsistency

>> Right.

>> with what the state medical examiner

has. So, I want to talk about something

else. You mentioned it, the judge. There

is a judge who is apparently directly

connected to this case. Now broken her

silence. We're talking about Chancery

Judge Ashley Cole,

whose son was one of the friends out on

the boat trip with Nolan. Posted a

lengthy statement on Facebook saying,

quote, "Our son loved Nolan dearly.

Unfortunately, I feel that it is

appropriate for our family to dispel

some rumors with facts based upon the

social media tension that is being

diverted away from the Wells family and

their loss. Our son was interviewed by

the Jackson County Sheriff's Department

and cooperated fully. He saw Nolan last

at around 3:00 p.m. on July 4th. They

left around 4:30 p.m. when the boat was

taking on water and they had an issue

with the bilge pump. Nolan made a

decision to stay on the island and

return inland later with another group

of friends. My family is hopeful that

this information will help to redirect

the attention to the Wells family, their

grief, and their need for our

community's support. Joe, first of all,

this is a judge. Right? Second of all,

didn't have to make a statement. Made a

statement and gave some very specific

details about the last or some of the

last movements and activities

of Nolan. What do you take away from it?

>> The judge is putting her toe in the

water.

Um judges often go out of their way not

to make public statements because

they're judges.

Um and it is interesting that she's

making the statement and I will give you

10 to 1 Jackson County is probably a

small enough place figuratively if not

literally

where I will give you 10 to 1 that she

knows uh or the prosecutor. She knows

the prosecutor or the prosecutor knows

her. She knows the investigator, the

investigating agency, or the

investigating agency knows her. And she

knows the coroner, the coroner's agency,

or the coroner's agency knows her. So,

um

when you put all of that together

and I'm the family of of this deceased,

that doesn't necessarily put me at ease.

I think I I think there's one thing

there's two things that you can agree

with right now between those families

and those parents.

I don't believe either of them wanted

the son dead.

Okay?

And

I believe that they both understand

that the judge's kid the judge doesn't

want her kid to go to jail

either.

So, all of this is going on which makes

transparency related to the

investigation all the more important.

And even though she framed it as

something that would divert attention

back to the family.

Um she's talking about the family's

grief. She's not talking about the

family's justice.

Um so, there's a difference there in

terms of what it is that's happening.

How you see things depends on from where

you sit. And I don't think she had to

put the the her toe in the water at all.

Um she decided to, but I think that says

a lot as well potentially.

>> Didn't she think it was interesting

another group of friends? He went with

another group of friends.

>> it's on them.

>> interesting.

>> Yeah, it's potentially potentially on

them. And so, but did he leave the other

group of friends his cell phone?

Um

if that's true, what they reported is

that somehow they showed up, the group

of friends that left him, showed up with

his cell phone. Now,

they say it's pretty remote place and

there's not a lot of service out there.

I don't know how well your cell service

works or whatever, but it seems like to

me

I'd keep my cell phone if I had a

19-year-old kid whether I thought it was

going to work or not. It wouldn't occur

to me to leave. So, so that's the

biggest question right now. It's

actually it's it's it's circumstantial

evidence if that. It's not DNA, it's

something like that. Why did this kid

leave them

the cell phone if that's what actually

happened. I wasn't there. So, it leads

to some very interesting questions. And

when you put all of that together, now I

can see both sides of the coin as to why

um Judge Mom might want to

um put her toe in the water.

>> Let's get into where law enforcement is

with all of this. So, the Jackson County

Sheriff's Office, they put out an

updated press release and asking anyone

who was on or near Horn Island on July

4th to come forward if they have any

original unedited photos or videos that

were taken around that time. The

Sheriff's Office even said even

information that may seem insignificant

could prove valuable to investigators.

We encourage anyone with firsthand

knowledge to come forward. And the

sheriff also noted that there were no

surveillance cameras on Horn Island. So,

that makes any footage being captured or

capturing anything at all more than more

valuable. Joe, what does this tell you

that the sheriff's office is now putting

out that appeal? What are they hoping to

find?

Um you tell me.

>> Well, um I thought it was interesting to

me and maybe it means nothing to to

someone else or maybe it means nothing

to them and it's nothing to be alarmed

at, but they're asking for just

firsthand information.

Quote firsthand information, photos,

things like that. Photos, videos.

But right now, I don't know that you

want to be discriminate about the

information that comes in. It's your job

to sort through it. And if not for any

other reason than all of the

transparency that the circumstances now

require, okay? You know, just like going

to court, if I'm going to court, you

know, hearsay might not get in. It might

not be admissible, but it is

discoverable. Maybe if someone's one of

these kids' girlfriends heard one of

these guys say something. One of these

girlfriends' friends friends said, "Oh,

I've got regrets." That would be

something to follow up on, even though

it's not firsthand. So, right now, we

can talk about firsthand information

later, but anybody that's got anything

to say, when some you you put out a

dragnet for information. In my opinion,

you don't tell people just give me this

type of information because you are the

investigating agency and you can

decipher and discern what's good, what's

not, what you can follow up on. And I

think that with a lack of cameras, with

a lack of a lot of the firsthand

information that you may have in a place

that's more inhabited, etc., I think it

makes it all the more important to get

information from wherever you can and

you do the work to sift through it so

that

you avoid the appearance of impropriety

in both actuality and perception. You've

done everything you can do to answer

every question that you possibly can so

that everyone can move on.

Talk about video, it is worth noting

that there has been some speculation

online

um including these reports from TMZ that

authorities are looking at a video that

allegedly shows this heated argument

that occurred on or near that island

that day. I will tell you, I don't know

if you've seen it, but I will tell you

the sheriff's office hasn't even

confirmed that. I don't know if you've

seen this video, but what are your

thoughts on it?

>> Well, you know, that's another thing to

follow up on. You know, I I tell you as

a side note, it's amazing how often, you

know, we've got all of these news

outlets, ABCs and the CBSs, often here's

TMZ with boom, this thing. You know what

I mean? And you have got to follow up on

it because if there's potential that

that actually happened there, that might

explain something, you know? And so, I'd

better have that information

investigated, figure out that I don't

need it than need that information and

not have it. So, it's another thing to

follow up on and it's another piece that

might help to explain why they show up

with his cell phone but not with him.

Assuming that happened. I'm a I'm a

believing the report, but you know,

there's just things that don't quite

make sense. And parents know

parents know, you know, if there's

something amiss. If they know that their

child wouldn't be without their cell

phone. I know my child wouldn't be

without hers in any instance, not

voluntarily. And so, does that mean that

somebody needs to have the book thrown

at them and and get the electric chair?

No, not necessarily. But it is something

that we got to follow up on and we got

to leave no stone unturned.

And the judge didn't talk about that.

>> No. Look, and goes back to larger

question about so much attention,

pressure being put on. There is also, I

should mention this, there's also

pressure coming from outside law

enforcement. You have representative

Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat,

has urged investigators to conduct a

transparent and timely investigation.

The NAACP posted on Instagram saying

their hearts are with the family and

friends. And I actually want to go now

to something about the family because

look, they're going through something

that nobody should have to experience. I

mean, it's one thing to go through this,

but having all this attention now on it

and Nolan's mother has been posting to

social media throughout this and she

shared the heartbreaking news when his

body was found.

But now, she's asking for something

else. She posted this to Facebook

recently. It says, quote, "Missing our

Nolan so much every second of every day.

This has been the worst time in our

lives. Watching his siblings go through

the motions of grief adds another layer

to the sadness. Please keep us in your

prayers and continue to respect our

privacy." There is another layer to this

because if we speak about videos, if we

speak about, you know, videos that are

out there. Apparently, there are these

AI-generated video or videos that have

been circling online appearing to show

Nolan's mother saying she won't have a

funeral for Nolan. There's a video even

appears to show clips allegedly of him.

His mother posted the video to Facebook

calling it fake begging people to leave

the family alone.

This is a whole different problem for

victims and victims' families or those

who just lose loved ones in 2026, right?

I mean, what do you make of this? And by

the way,

does someone have a legal right of

action? Do they have a legal cause of

action to go after people that make AI

videos of them?

>> Well,

>> [sighs]

>> boy, it's a it's a loaded question. It's

a perfect example of ways in which the

law may not have quite caught up with

every potential

circumstance that's related to AI,

that's related to technology, right? And

so, therefore, there's a question. If

there is publishing of something that

someone knows not to be true, there's

potential for defamation. It's really

interesting because I never thought of

defamation so much in that particular

context, but if someone is saying

something that's knowingly not true,

that might be a route depending on, you

know, what jurisdiction you're in,

infliction of emotional distress in all

of its forms, intentional or negligent.

>> I would also imagine someone using your

name, image, and likeness for personal

profit. If you're making videos and

getting clicks on it and getting money

for it. I'm not saying that's what

happened, but that's something, too.

>> Right. Yeah, I mean, so so there are

things there, you know, you have to kind

of adjust your thinking a little bit

because we're in this AI generation. But

again, now you're talking about AI,

you're talking about what's real and

what's fake, and how it can um um take

us away from from what's actually

important. You've got implications here

of of of race. You've got implications

of politics and all these other things.

And so therefore, depending on who you

are, you know, whether you're talking

about, you know, it's amazing. Whether

you're talking about this deceased young

man or whether you're talking about

Caitlin Clark, you you you have

situations where people with different

agendas can take it and run with it, and

now they're incentivized to make

something real, fake, or vice versa. And

and it's kind of a problem. And how do

you wade all the way through it? So,

even though the family put out the word

to try to get help and figure out where

their son was, I would I could certainly

understand them wanting to have privacy,

to not be bothered, and certainly not to

have anything um that said um

uh that that's not true about them uh

being said, being implied, being created

with caricatures and AI and those types

of things.

>> Look, Joe, this is a really distressing

story. It has new layers to it. I want

to continue to follow it. I appreciate

you coming on, giving us some things to

think about, and again, for being so

generous with your time because I know

you're at a conference and but I really

wanted to hear from you on this. So,

thank you so much, Joe. Appreciate it.

>> Always great to be with you, honored

Jesse. Appreciate you.

>> And that's all we have for you right now

here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so

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