Newly released video appears to show 18-year-old Nolan Wells was not on his friends’ boat when it was being towed away from Mississippi’s Horn Island on July 4, adding another development to the ongoing investigation into his death.
New footage shows Nolan was left behind
New video and photos show Nolan’s friends on the boat, getting ready to be towed back to the mainland without him. Seven people can be seen on board but Nolan is not seen anywhere in the footage, which was obtained by “The Officer Tatum Show.”
The new footage seemingly confirms what TMZ reported earlier, that authorities have evidence showing Nolan was on Horn Island after the boat left on July 4.
Nolan’s friends had called a private towing service after their boat started taking on water because of a failing bilge pump. However, the private towing service did not end up towing the boat. Instead, another boat that was anchored near Horn Island towed Nolan’s friends. They said they later got their boat working again and returned to the mainland without Nolan. According to his friends, they left Horn Island at 4:30pm. They also claim someone later told them they saw Nolan on the island at 6pm, as per TMZ.
In the viral audio of that call, some people believe they can hear someone say, “Is he dead?” However, it is not clear if this was actually said and according to reports, the people on the boat deny saying it.
According to reports, Nolan’s friends say they told him to get on the boat and leave with them, but he chose to stay behind with a woman. However, the woman’s sister claims she believed Nolan was leaving on the boat and that his friends were not planning to leave him behind.
Here is the video:
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Witnesses claim he was drinking heavily before death
Witnesses told investigators that Nolan was drinking heavily with his friends on Horn Island before he went missing, as per a preliminary document from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, cited by ABC News.
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What happened before he went missing
Nolan, 18, was reported missing after he had gone on fourth of July boat trip to Horn Island with friends. His father, Elmore Wonsley, said the trip was meant to be Nolan’s “last hurrah” before returning to football camp at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
One of his friends reported him missing to the US Coast Guard around 11pm and his mother filed a missing persons report with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department after midnight.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told the Associated Press that Nolan’s friends, who have cooperated with the probe, said Nolan chose to stay on the island, believing he would return to the mainland with someone else. “From the people we’ve talked to, it sounds like he chose to stay on the island with the assumption that he was going to ride back to the mainland with someone else,” Ledbetter said.
Nolan’s body was found on July 6, washed up on the northwest shoreline of Horn Island, near where he was last seen. Authorities believe Nolan drowned, but his family has raised doubts so they started independent investigation.