Family pleads for answers in death of young Black man in Mississippi
The mother of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Black man whose body was found on an island off the Mississippi coast after a Fourth of July trip with three white friends, asked for public help on Friday.
Christine Wonsley, fighting back tears, said at a press conference that she wants to know what happened and why her child did not come home. Wells's death has become a social media flashpoint, fueled by questions about race in the US.
The body of Wells, 18, was found on July 6 on the northwestern tip of Horn Island, a long, thin barrier island along Mississippi's Gulf coast. He had visited the island and went missing on the Fourth of July holiday with a group of friends from his high school in nearby Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
A lawyer for his family on Friday sought help in answering questions including why his phone was not found with his body, but with one of the friends. Across social media, users have parsed timelines and circulated videos that authorities say remain unverified. For some Black Americans, the case has sparked painful discussions about navigating predominantly white spaces and racism, while civil rights leaders and others have renewed longstanding concerns about disparities in attention to missing persons cases involving Black victims.
As calls have grown for a thorough and transparent investigation, some people have urged caution against drawing conclusions before authorities release their full findings. ABC News reported that investigators suspect Wells drowned, but nothing has been ruled out. The Jackson County, Mississippi, sheriff's office told Reuters on Friday that its investigation into Wells's death is ongoing and active, but provided no other details.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family and is aiding an independent investigation including a private autopsy, said at Friday's press briefing in New York that there are many troubling questions. Accompanying Crump were Wells's parents and the Rev Al Sharpton, the US civil rights leader. The main question, according to Crump, is that the three friends who traveled with Wells to the island said Wells told them he wanted to stay on the island with a young woman when they left on the afternoon of July 4. But the young woman has said that Wells got on the boat with the boys. Crump also said that videos circulating online allegedly show Wells in a heated argument with his friends. The videos could not immediately be verified by Reuters. Also raising suspicions, according to Crump, is that Wells's phone was found not with his body, but in the possession of one of the young men who had accompanied him to Horn Island. Wells's mother tracked it down using Life360, a family-location safety platform, and she said it appears that several social media messages had been deleted from the phone.
In a July 7 statement, the Jackson County sheriff's office asked for the public's help in providing any eyewitness accounts or video. The office also solicited photo evidence related to anything people might have seen on Horn Island on July 4 involving the Wells case.
