Missing teenager Nolan Well's cause of death 'undetermined', according to autopsy
The family of Nolan Wells have released their independent autopsy after the 18-year-old was found dead, ‘face down’ and ‘fully clothed’, on Horn Island.
Wells went missing from a Fourth of July party after traveling to the Mississippi island with a group of friends for a large party with around 300 people.
His body was found in the water near the northwest end of Horn Island, just two days after he was last seen.
Earlier today (22 July), family attorney Ben Crump presented the preliminary findings of the autopsy by Dr. Roger J. Mitchell at a news conference.
Advert
Dr Mitchell said Wells’ body was so decomposed by the time of his second autopsy, that he might have missed signs of bruising or abrasions.
The forensic pathologist said he could not rule out foul play, despite not finding any fractures or deep tissue injuries on his body.
Why Nolan Wells’ body was returned to the family without his throat and lungs
Investigators had already dissected Wells’ organs and removed his throat structures as part of the official investigation, which Mitchell said was common practice.
It meant that he was not able to examine Wells’ lungs or stomach for possible signs of drowning.
Notably, Dr Mitchell did not conduct his own toxicology, as the official autopsy and toxicology are yet to be released.
Crump said ‘we will persist, persist, persist’ in finding out what happened to the young man.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said Wells was last seen on the island at around 3 pm local time on 4 July.
Wells’ mother said Wells was on a the boat with someone who contacted the US Coast Guard that evening to report him missing.
“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,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said to the Associated Press.
Why Wells left his phone behind
Crump, however, questioned the idea of a ‘teenager’ leaving their phone behind.
“What teenager would leave their phone behind if they’re going to stay on this island?” Crump said. “What teenager wouldn’t take their phone?”
Wells’ friend Tracestin Shepherd told ABC News that Wells left his phone in a boat because he would be spending time in the water. Many of his friends did the same thing.
Crump previously said Wells is heard on a video, shot from a boat on the water, demanding his phone back.
"That's me yelling. ... there was no talk about a phone in that video," Shepherd clarified, adding that Wells wasn’t in the clip.
"All our friends are out there. Who are we communicating with? And we're in salt water. We're not in fresh water," he said.
"Nobody would ever hurt Nolan in our friend group. We would die for him. We would do everything in our power for that guy. If he needed anything, we would do it. Nolan brought us all together."
Topics: US News
Anish Vij