JUST IN: HEARTBREAKING AUTOPSY RESULTS RELEASED..! – Harrowing new details have emerged after independent autopsy findings for Nolan Wells were made public during a press conference led by civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Attorney for family of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells presents results of independent autopsy
The 18-year-old from Mississippi went missing after a Fourth of July boat trip with several of his friends. His body was found two days later.
CHICAGO — Independent autopsy results for Nolan Xavier Wells were presented Wednesday morning by the attorney representing the Mississippi teen’s family, alleging foul play couldn’t be ruled out.
The 18-year-old went missing during a Fourth of July boat trip with several of his friends to Horn Island, Mississippi. His body was found two days later in the waters off the island’s coast.
An autopsy was performed by the state of Mississippi, but the results have not been released, as of July 22.
“It is our hope that our local authorities will do what they need to do because us having the preliminary autopsy results and hearing nothing from them, it’s heartbreaking,” Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said.
“We just want honesty,” Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, said. “We want to know what happened to our son, because the things that you’re telling us, that’s not the character of our son. We know our son.”
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Wells’ family, helped arrange an independent autopsy that was funded by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
The results were presented in Chicago at the 117th NAACP National Convention, where family, friends, civil rights leaders and medical experts spoke.
Crump alleged the first autopsy revealed an undetermined cause and manner of death, pending investigation.
The independent autopsy was performed after the state medical examiner’s office concluded their assessment, which reportedly couldn’t rule out foul play.
Reading from a report prepared by forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Mitchell, Crump said the report showed no evidence of fractures or bruising, but also did not rule out the possibility of foul play.
Credit: Family via AP
This undated photo provided by the family in July 2026 shows Nolan Xavier Wells with his mother, Christine Wonsley. (Family photo via AP)
The board-certified pathologist found “red discoloration” in the soft tissue in the back of Wells’ head, but no underlying skull fractures or lacerations to the skin around the area, Crump said. He noted that the decomposition of the body, along with other limiting factors, had made it impossible to make a determination.
Without further information, the pathologist wrote he “cannot rule out if any intervening nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” according to the attorney.
“We still have more questions than we have answers at this time,” Crump said during the presentation.
The still-unknown circumstances around Wells’ death have touched off rampant online speculation and prompted calls from Black leaders for transparency from local authorities. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white.
“We cannot allow another individual, particularly a young black man’s death, go uninvestigated,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said.
The investigation is ongoing, and investigators have said Wells’ friends have been cooperating with authorities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Attorney Ben Crump, center, speaks during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip.
