Mystery Video in Nolan Wells' Death Investigation
Summary
This video discusses the suspicious death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old college football player whose body was found on Horn Island. His family, along with attorneys Ben Crump and Reverend Al Sharpton, are demanding a full investigation, citing inconsistencies in the accounts of his disappearance and death, and questioning the handling of evidence like his cell phone.
Key points- The family of Nolan Wells is demanding a full investigation into his death, which they believe is not a simple accident.
- Attorneys Ben Crump and Reverend Al Sharpton are representing the family and highlighting inconsistencies in the official narrative.
- Questions have been raised about Nolan Wells's cell phone, with claims that messages and photos may have been deleted.
- There are contradictions in the statements from Nolan's friends regarding his whereabouts before his death.
- The family is concerned about the lack of witnesses who saw Nolan during his alleged drowning and the potential for deleted evidence.
Chapters
Notable quotes (4)
“"We just want honesty and transparency. We want a thorough investigation. We want that same respect that would be given to anybody else. And that's it. We just want answers."”
“"There's no information that we have right now that would lead us to believe that a crime has occurred."”
“What we've been told does not make sense.”
“The glaring contradictions are just jump out at you.”
0:00This does not smell right. >> One of them is telling the truth. One of them is not. >> We just want to know what happened. And why our baby didn't make it home. >> Reverend Al Sharpton and [music] attorney Ben Crump standing with the family of Nolan Wells today [music] demanding a full investigation into the death of the 18-year-old college football player whose body was found on [music] Mississippi's Horn Island. As the family awaits the results of an independent autopsy, new questions [music] are being raised about what really happened to Nolan Wells. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.
0:43Big update in the Nolan Wells story. This is something we've been following. There is a major press conference that was just held. And this is the story of that 18-year-old Southwest Mississippi Community College football player, graduate of Ocean Springs High, who disappeared while boating with friends on Horn Island. This is right off the coast of Mississippi. It's back on the July 4th weekend. We know that his body was tragically found that Monday on the island washed ashore. His family is demanding transparency. They're demanding a full investigation. In fact, Christine and Elmore Wansley told Good Morning America, GMA, in an interview today, "We just want honesty and transparency.
1:24We want a thorough investigation. We want that same respect that would be given to anybody else. And that's it. We just want answers." And they have even retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump. We did a sidebar yesterday explaining why they would want to hire a lawyer at this time. It's about ensuring that they get the information they're seeking, potentially assessing a legal issue for a lawsuit, pressuring authorities to be transparent about the investigation, ordering an independent autopsy. In fact, Ben Crump told ABC News Live this week that Nolan's body would be flown to Washington, D.C. for an independent autopsy. This came after the Mississippi state medical examiner
2:04already apparently performed an autopsy, but that agency indicated that the results could take weeks because of toxicology tests. Those findings are pending. Now, there is something to keep in mind here. Authorities reportedly believe this was a tragic accident, that this was a case of drowning. According to the New York Post, John Ledbetter, the Jackson County Sheriff, said "There's no information that we have right now that would lead us to believe that a crime has occurred." According to CNN, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynn indicated there were no immediate signs of physical injury. But, this is a story that has gotten a lot of attention. It has sparked many thoughts, many
2:38theories, particularly given what we're learning. For instance, according to CNN, Nolan didn't return to the dock with his friends that day. His family didn't understand why, why he would separate from them, that he was supposed to take a different boat back, but didn't, that Nolan apparently didn't have a cell phone with him, that there were reports of an alleged altercation that day. We know the Jackson County Sheriff's Office is reportedly still investigating all of this. But, according to the Sheriff, one of Nolan's friends contacted the Coast Guard on the night of July 4th at around 11:00 p.m.
3:07Nolan's mom apparently called the Sheriff's Office leading into July 5th, and the family has concerns about, for example, why Nolan would stay without friends. Christine telling GMA, quote, "That we cannot answer. I just I can't I can't fathom why he would." Elmore saying, "We always told him, if you go with the group, you stay with the group." There's also this. Christine apparently told GMA that they tracked Nolan's phone using the Life360 app.
3:33They were able to get his phone through his friends, and she claims that some texts and messages were deleted. And apparently, it was actually specifically in reference to Snapchat. Now, one of the things that authorities are apparently looking for and asking for are unedited photos and videos that were taken on July 4th. Sheriff Ledbetter telling outlet WXXV, "Right now, I know time is of the essence, but folks want answers 10 minutes ago, and unfortunately, that takes time to get the accurate information. It's going to take a lot of hard work. I think the family deserves the truth, and that's what we're here to provide for them and
4:09for the public." The sheriff adding, according to WAPT, "I would urge anyone that has information or that was on the island to take down as much information as they can to piece together what happened." I say all that to tell you what happened today. There's a grieving family. They have a lot of questions. They want answers. What happened today? Major press conference was held in Harlem. You had the family, their attorney Ben Crump, and Reverend Al Sharpton, all demanding the same things: transparency, answers, and the truth about what happened to Nolan Wells. So, if you've been following this, you know there's been a lot of anticipation to this. We were
4:45expecting the family to potentially announce the results of that independent autopsy that was conducted. And again, this is separate from the state's medical examination. So, it seems by all accounts, Nolan's body was flown to Washington, D.C. Now, we didn't get the results of that independent autopsy because there was reporting that we may get those today, but we did get something. Maybe not what everyone expected, but Reverend Al Sharpton kicked things off, and he was getting straight to the point.
5:11>> What we've been told does not make sense. And being that there is lack of confidence in the local authorities who have already, in my judgment, seemed to have mishandled where it was going. Because to just immediately before a week time saying there was nothing done wrong when we hear that this young man was engaged in some kind of argument that was on tape.
5:46That his cell phone and keys ended up with one of the people that were there on the island and got away. >> Now we go to Ben Crump and he claims the stories about what happened to Nolan just doesn't match. >> The glaring contradictions are just jump out at you. The fact that he is there with his friends and you look at all the videos it seems to be he's the only black on the island or maybe one other but not many.
6:22And so um Jared, you have where a young woman he was talking to says that well Nolan said he was going back to get on the boat with the boys. The boys say that Nolan told them he was going to stay and talk to the young woman. It's a contradiction. They're not saying the same thing. One of them is telling the truth, one of them is not. And then the fact Reverend Al that they have this video of an argument that is going on and and you know, thank God all young people they have cell phones and anytime you hear people raising their voice, they start the
7:22video. And so you hear on the video Nolan saying, "Give me my freaking phone. What are you freaking doing?" And that becomes even more relevant when you think about the The that they are presenting that Nolan chose to stay behind. That's what they're saying. >> And he also brought up something that makes you stop and think. Nolan's phone.
7:54>> His phone? He wouldn't take that with him if he's going to stay behind on the island? I mean, we're talking about an 18-year-old kid. What teenager would leave their phone behind if they're going to stay on this island? What teenager wouldn't take their phone? And so, it's not adding up. It's not adding up at all. The fact, as Ravenel said, you know, they didn't take his phone with them.
8:27His mother, when she finds out that her baby is missing, they start trying to track the phone. The GPS the phone. They've used Life360, and they discover that Well, the phone is on land. The phone is on land, but you're saying he went missing on the island. And so, it's not adding up. >> From there, we heard from Christine, Nolan's mom, talked about what happened when she finally got her hands on that phone.
9:03>> So, when we made it home, uh my sister and I actually went through Nolan's cell phone, um particularly Snapchat because that is so popular with the children. Um And when we opened it up, there was nothing. There were no saved pictures. There were no, um snaps from that day. And we did open it before the 20-hour 24-hour expiration. Um so, we found that very concerning only because anyone who's ever been around Nolan will tell you at social gatherings, he's taking videos, he's taking pictures, he's even come up to me when I'm getting ready to go to bed, "Hey Ma, come on, take a picture of me."
9:53You know, like he's just that's that was Nolan. Um so that's why we feel that things may have been deleted. >> And here's one of the biggest questions of all. More than 200 people were reportedly on that island. Boats everywhere. Anyone see anything? >> This notion that where he drowned, y'all have I'm sure seen all the videos out there. I mean, if he's drowning, nobody sees him drown? Nobody offers assistance? Nobody tries to help him?
10:27I mean, obviously, he stands out. He's I think the only black person I saw when I'm looking at the videos. And if you see him drowning, you mean nobody is going to try to help him? It's not adding up. It is not adding up. And that's why um the family at their behest, we had an independent autopsy being performed. Um and we thank Colin Kaepernick for helping to pay for that independent autopsy. And we thank Tyler Perry for uh helping to pay for the funeral. Because as Reverend Al said, these were just uh regular parents going about their life.
11:13They weren't expecting any of this. And then we're having to try to hire all these experts to be able to go and see if they can retrieve deleted messages. We have to have experts you'll hear from Attorney Park talk about um you know, where the body came was found when it was recovered and how long it took to be recovered.
11:38>> So, despite prior assurances that Crum's team would have the autopsy results as soon as possible, seems we're still waiting for those. And we're going to keep following the story. We're going to keep seeing what develops because this is a family that's not going to stop and I will tell you right now, neither are we. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us and as always, please subscribe [music] on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's Peacock as well.
12:05You want to follow [music] me X, Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. See you next time, everybody.
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