Law&Crime Sidebar - 25 New Bombshell Texts RELEASED in Nolan Wells Disappearance

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

A newly released 292-page digital forensics report offers an unprecedented look into the private text messages sent around the time of Nolan Wells' tragic disappearance and death off Horn Island in Mississippi. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber breaks down these newly revealed conversations, tracing the timeline from frantic initial searches to intense public speculation and digital evidence claims.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Try Rocket Money for FREE or unlock more features with premium at: https://RocketMoney.com/lawHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Jay Cruz, Christina O'Shea, & Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson, Heather Berzak & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The private conversations from when Nolan Wells disappeared, when his body was found, and during the investigation have just been released. These messages from what seemed to be his friends and others who knew him add just a new layer to this case. I'm going to break down the key communications from this almost 300-page report, put them into context as we ask what this all reveals. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

A critical report has just been released in the Nolan Wells death case. Because as you may recall, his family hired an outside digital forensic examiner to review all the digital communications in this case. A lot of it on Snapchat, right? And that this was conducted by Garrett Discovery. That 292-page report of communications to Nolan's phone and what appears to be among his friend groups has just been released. You don't have to go through it.

We did. We're gonna condense this report for you, try to put as much into context as we can. And what is fascinating about this is that you're seeing the timeline of them, right? You're seeing the progression, you're seeing the reactions to what is happening out there. And for those who have theories about what happened to Nolan or speculation, this is important to understand. This is important to read these communications, okay? Because where are we right now? A grand jury found no evidence to support criminal charges in connection with Nolan's death.

The Jackson County District Attorney's Office has said there was no evidence of a crime. Remember, Nolan disappeared on July 4th after a boating trip on Horn Island, this barrier island. This is out in Mississippi. His body was discovered two days later on July 6th in the water off the northwest end of Horn Island. Again, this is about 8 to 10 miles off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. But his family and his family's attorney, Ben Crump, claims, Still no answers. There's still no conclusion here. In fact, Crump held a press conference where he made bombshell claims about Nolan's phone. Going back to Garrett, Andrew Garrett, the CEO of this forensics company, Garrett Discovery, the forensic examiner hired by the family to examine Nolan's phone or these communications, said this during a press conference that was held by Ben Crump. Were things deleted from that phone, yes?

there were things that were deleted from the phone i can't talk to intent unfortunately that's not my field of expertise in psychology but i could tell you from a digital standpoint things were deleted on the phone from the time he last had the phone up until the time that his parents got the phone and was the snapchat things they were snapchat correct so look no one's phone cell phone communications became a major point in this story and if you have been following this case you know that Nolan's friends have come under the spotlight quite a bit. To be clear, they deny any involvement. No one has been criminally charged.

And apparently the grand jury also received a report on the cell phone or on Nolan's cell phone's lock state screen activity calls, messages, location, app use, and a nearly 300-page Snapchat conversation report that we're about to get into. And according to the local DA, nothing was deleted from Nolan's phone since he used it. and no one other than the family had used it.

Okay, so now let's get into this report what it tells us from these different conversations. The first thing, panic. Nolan, where the F are you, dog? Coast Guard's on the search for you, man. Has anybody seen Nolan yet? Just heard about it. Who we ride back with?

Any word? Then later on in the report, you see from a different data set, I, Nolan, you good? Bro, are you good? Nolan, let us know something, bro. Please, this are all messages to Nolan. phone. Please answer. Please come back, Unk. I hope you're okay. Are you good, bro? Nolan, are you okay? Again,

panic, desperation. And then you go to July 6th, right? This is when Nolan's body was found, and when that news surfaced, it's really heartbreaking when you see the messages to Nolan's phone. Like, tell me this isn't true, bro. Please open this text and let me know you're safe. You can't be gone, bro. This bleep can't be real. We was supposed to move in today, man. You're the best friend I got at school. And then the messages just start rolling in. You have this one to Nolan's phone. You inspire me, man.

I'm in disbelief right now, bro. I give anything for another party or just another night to hang out with you one last time. I love you, Nolan. Rest easy. I will never forget everything we talked about. You will never be forgotten. I didn't want to type this because I don't want it to be real. Seriously, I've been praying nonstop, begging God to bring you home safely.

For some reason, no matter what people post or say, I still just don't want to believe it until it's confirmed. And then you go back to the original data set, right, the original conversation with the friends, how they find out. They got him. No way, man. You all keep your heads up.

There's no way. You all can come to my house. I love you all more than anything. Nolan loved each and every one of us. This is tragic. I want to see my boy. Then you see what appears to be a reference to Nolan's parents, Christine and Elmore. I wish I could help his family right now. I keep thinking about little Elmore, bro.

It's just incredibly sad when you read these messages in real time as they're getting this information and people sending the messages to Nolan's phone. And for those of you who have questions about the friends or put the focus on the friends, this is a different kind of perspective, right? And I want to go back to that actually, that initial conversation with the friends when Nolan was missing and before his body was found, you have messages like this. I think I'm taking our boat out there today. Anyone want to come out with me? To look, obviously, not anything else.

Yes, I would. I'm not home. Someone got to have a little intel man. Then there's a reference to this girl, right? There was this idea, who was this young woman that Nolan Wells may have been talking to, to leave the boat with his friends and go to Horn Island? Redacted is the girl he was talking to.

She is not missing. Last time I saw him was when he was talking to that girl. Dude, I'm scared. Has she responded to anyone yet? He's got to be with her. Could he have gone to the north side, alone with her? Nobody on redacted boat could get in touch with her? Then there's this.

Thing is, if he's out there, there's definitely people who stayed overnight. I don't think they would let themselves get stuck out there. So many people that you could ask to give you a ride to shore. That's what I'm thinking. If him and that girl are both missing, they're definitely together. But where? I think he's with that crud chick and Moss Point. How you all know she's not missing?

She is missing. She is. This is obviously before they had more information. And there's a further discussion later on. The redacted's mom said that Redacted only had a short conversation with Nolan. Her story is falling apart. They need to investigate her ASAP. They definitely are.

Then there's this communication later on in the report. Have we tried to get in touch with the girl that Nolan was talking to at the island? I messaged her. No response. I've heard Redacted and her friends pulled up and tried to talk to her, but they didn't get anywhere. And then there's this back and forth later. on in the report. Has anyone tried finding that redacted girl on social media? Found her on FaceTime, Facebook. Has she texted anyone back? Or has anyone texted her? What do I say? Just ask if

she's with Nolan. She's not with him. She reposted his mom's post. Bro, WTF dude. Ask her where he went when she left him. And then at one point in the report, there's this back and forth. Yeah, who TF was the girl? She was so ratchet. Like, do we have her number? There's something really fishy about her. Yeah, she was weird. Yeah, she rode out on redacted boat and he even said he didn't know her and that was his first time meeting her. They need to like pull her in for questioning. Yeah. Now the reports that we've seen have indicated that she did speak with investigators and that there was some sort of communication between her and Nolan's mom. And then you just see the brainstorming here. Bro, how did she ride back and Nolan didn't get a ride? We need to ask that girl. Yeah.

No way they haven't spoken to her yet. And then this is a key point where they talk about the police. Have you all contacted the police? Anyone on the boat that he wrote out there on? With the information that you all have? Yeah, the police and DMR and Coast Guard know about it. Is anyone going a horn? Another message that says, I want to help.

And then I thought this was an interesting communication again on July 5th. Someone at DMR said that Redactor Girl saw someone on a boat screaming at Nolan to get on before they left. Did he get on? He said it might have been Mr. Redacted. I don't think so. No, he came and was hanging out with us and around us. He never disappeared with Redacted when it was time to leave around like six.

He got off our boat with this other guy and they started walking back to their boat. And this is interesting when they talk about who this other guy is. Did anyone recognize this other guy? No, Drew is trying to figure it out. Is this confirm? Was it a black or white guy? He's got to be hibernating somewhere. Someone said redacted was acting weird too.

I'm confused on how you don't know what TF this guy looks like, but you saw him. And then there's a reference to something that we're going to get into more race. At one point in the communications, this is on July 5th. There's a message, are they racist at all? Like not even trying to be like that. I wouldn't think so. And hearing tons of stuff that could be true about some people out there. You never know.

But with all this suspicious behavior from a lot of people, this is really weird. Redacted said that Nolan wasn't ever planning on riding back with them. We got to figure out whose boat he was planning to get on. And I just want to go back to that sketchy guy, because later on in the report you have this. Do any of you all remember real sketchy-looking guys behind us in two boats? I mean, like, yeah, the one that looked like Redacted, maybe. Apparently, the guy was real skinny. The ones that were right behind us, yes.

One was black and one was white. Well, those guys were apparently like felons, at least one of them. And they were there when we were all gone, I think. Another message. And sheriff's talking my dad said something like you wouldn't want to be left alone with them, especially really drunk. There's this message. Everyone please be safe.

The private investigator. Bleep is that? Like really? Yeah, our friend group is getting bleep blasted on Facebook. Just don't read that burs or be running your own mouths because people will make an inch turn into a mile. Turn off your locations. They've been showing up to people's houses too, okay? No one say anything to anyone.

Don't talk out of our friend group to anything. want. And again, we'll get more into that a little bit. But this theory that someone did something to Nolan, we see that at one point in the report, apparently not sure if it's true that the Marine Patrol said he thinks someone took him home and did something. WTF? And there is a reference in this report to some sort of fight or altercation, which I'll go to. My brother is pissed. Bro, where were you all when you got in the fight? Pressing charges on me now and he swung first. Where is everyone? And there's this even reference a few pages later. He might have got drugged or something.

So let me put that into context for a second, okay? So early on in the investigation, ABC News reported that Ben Crump at one point seemingly claimed that Nolan Wells was asking for his phone back. Perhaps there was some sort of altercation. To be clear, the grand jury report concluded that Wells was not involved in a physical altercation or argument. And Nolan's reported good friend, Tristan Shepard, claimed in an interview, there was no altercation involving Nolan.

Even says Nolan isn't even in this video that surfaced. where there was a speculation that you might hear yelling or something about Nolan. He goes, quote, that's me yelling. There was no talk about a phone in that video. Nolan wasn't on the island at that time. He said it was a fight with a stranger. He confirmed that Nolan stayed behind

that he had to return to shore because of an electrical issue on the boat. He also talked about Nolan meeting a girl, claimed that there was this thought that Nolan would come back in a different friend's boat. And there was also this theory that Nolan went onto the mainland

and something happened to him there, that his body had been taken back to this Horn Island. area where it was discovered. That something happened to him. Maybe he got killed. Now, Shepard countered that narrative that Wells was at a pool party early in the morning of July 5th, because there was this photo that seemed to circulate of Nolan Wells at a pool party. And Crump had even apparently shared a photo, again, of what people believed to be Nolan at this party. And according to TMZ, Crump had posted the photo to social media with the caption. Now, listen, I don't know if these are

facts or rumors because no official statements have been confirmed. We sometimes have to follow all clues until the truth is found. Ben Crump, at a later press conference, kind of push back on what's reposting or sharing. But Shepard said that that photo was actually from a party on June 27th in past Christian Mississippi. Actually, talking Mr. Shepard, it appeared in these conversations that he might have apologized for doing an interview, assuming, of course, this is him. Sorry, boys, if my interview has had some backlash on you all, that wasn't my intention at all, was just trying to clear our group of what I know was the truth. And this now brings me to this whole interesting conversation about talking with authorities

among what appears to be this friend group. The police just called me. They've called everyone. I had to give them your name. All good. And asking for times and bleep. I told them I didn't have my phone for most of the day, which is true. Like, I don't know how they want me to tell them times when I'm in the water.

They're just trying to help Nolan, so be as cooperative as possible. I was. I love you all, boys, man. We're going to get through this. Love you, dude. And then there's this communication. I don't know if we will, but if anyone does just a little advice, but if we get called in for questioning that the smart move is to ask for an attorney, and that doesn't mean we're guilty, it's just smart so we don't get played by some potential biased cop. Later on, it says, yeah, they're probably going to bring all you in. They ask us to come in. Don't worry, it's not bad. They just want to work with us to find anything we possibly can't out. Don't speculate about bleep y'all.

I haven't been contacted yet by anyone, only facts, because they can try to get your bleep if you talk more. And this is where they're getting upset about the speculation that seems to be coming out. So stupid, bro. Small-minded individuals who are so full of hate towards themselves that they can't help but try and push it on to other people. Unfortunately, probably going to be like this for a bit. Yep, it'll be for sure. And even once the truth comes out, they will still call it a cover up, sadly. There's this recommendation.

Stay out of public eyes for a while because these people are so crazy, they take a picture and say some lies about us. Then there's this. That was our bleeping boy, and sadly a tragedy happened. And we're having to pay the consequences for it when we are just as hurt, if not more, than all these people. I know this had already been stated, but don't pay attention to these dumb people online. They have nothing better to do and want to just jump to conclusions. Change your anger and rage into peace through prayer. Anyone that knows us knows where we stand as people. and that's what matters.

We are in this together. Lay low and pray. I love you all, but we don't need to be texting about this. These people are saying horrible things and we all know none of this bleep is true. And it appears in these conversations, there's not just frustration about the speculation,

but there's this idea of what can they do to help. Y'all, check your all's memories and camera roll if you took videos or picks and see if you can see him in the background of anything. He's in the background of all my picks, but that was at 12-1. See if he was talking to anyone we don't know. Yeah, see if he's talking to that girl.

Then there's a reference to Nolan's phone. Does someone have his phone or a snap login? His mom has his phone. Bleep have his login. Oh, okay, because it keeps saying he is active. It says he is active at his house. It's his parents. We'll talk about Nolan's phone location in a minute,

but I want to get to another part. So as I mentioned, a lot of attention was focused on the friends, right? And you saw this take on a life of its own with people online, even in the real world, by the way, three people were even charged with alleged threats in connection with the Nolan Wells case. And a lot of this dialogue came down to race, right? Nolan, Black, goes out with white friends, doesn't come back. There appears to be a discussion about this.

And to be clear, I don't know which friend group this is. And there's a lot of vulgar language. So I'm going to do my best to explain it. But let me just go to it. What's the Snap Nolan was with, Adam, or shoot me? Because Snap. Who they said he was. wit. T.S. Weird

A. F. I'm a look on FB. Damn white N-words, Maine. Oh, it was white N-words. Hmm. Bleep don't add up at all. They did some wit, bruh. I low-key feel that they I low-key feel like they drugged

his Asum ICL. Them bleeps hiding some. They bleep in lying, Cah. All of them white N-words was lying. Redacted was crying. night while we was just asking questions, WTF, and then you go back to the friends and about race.

We need to go to Nolan's funeral and get with all our other black friends to prove a statement for the media. It would shut everyone down. It says it would shut down the racist people online. I think we should ask Mrs. Christine, Nolan's mom, if she's fine with us going. And they really are concerned about how do they fight back against this narrative. Man, I really hope this autopsy gets done and no foul play is involved and his mom defends everyone publicly. It hurts so much more to see people turning this into violence and arguing. I agree. It's so sad.

Yeah, people are DMing me too. Make your account private. My DM's getting flooded by people who ain't even from here. Same. That's what people do. They come up with their own stories just from what he said, she said situations. Can't really do much until we know what really happened from a valid source. Had a close friend die and we got some bleepin death threats for it.

Turn your all snaps maps off. I did. Dude, this is actually a race war. Sorry, E.J., but it is. Those who knew the real know y'all wouldn't try to hurt that man. OMG, I can't think of anything that has made me more mad on my phone than seeing these theories and comments that people are saying about Ocean Springs and the white people in it.

And then there seems to be a reference to Ben Crump, representing the family during this. Whoever paid for the funeral wants it to be some huge thing. It's almost like they're brainwashing Nolan's parents and taking advantage of them while they're overwhelmed with grief. It's so evil. I think the same redacted definitely taking advantage of them. Sadly, you can tell the guy does his job for the wrong reasons and hides behind the wall of being an activist. He only takes on cases that involve white and black people.

No black on black or white on white. He's been posting nonstop lies just to stir bleep up. Now, I don't know for sure if that's who they're referencing, but I'm making it. an assumption here. And then you have this. So much these people online don't know anything about the story and are just saying we are pieces of bleep. I want to start a GoFundMe for his family or something, man, just anything to help. And then it says, let's do it. Now, by the way, talking about a GoFundMe, there was a GoFundMe that was set up for the Friends. It's titled, Stan with Nolan Wells' targeted friends. The goal was to raise $500,000. It raised so far at the time of this recording,

over $210,000. And the description reads the following, quote, is being handled carefully. None of it is being wasted. This money is not going to the boys for new trucks or spending money. We will not let it burn a hole in their pockets, nor would they ever. It is solely to prosecute cases of defamation against the worst of the worst wrongdoers, and that is exactly how it's being used. The money you donate to these boys will allow them to win the fight against fanatical opponents who have unlimited resources. Now, at the very end of the report, you have information about what appears to be Nolan Wells' phone location history. So you see, on the side, the last phone lock attributable to Nolan, they have it at 2.18, 10 p.m. on July 4th, 2026.

Also underneath that, you see that at 4.36 p.m. That is the reported call to Cito. Remember that the boat was taking on water had a problem. 437, Snapchat activity. Sit, yikes. And then 439, 46 p.m. bilge problem. Again, all seemingly in reference to the boat. Now, there's another part at the end of this report where it shows where Nolan's phone may have been. So you see at one point the phone was on the boat, and then you see the movement from Nolan's phone onto land, from boat to car, from the 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. hours on July 4th. And then you see the phone, what appears to be stationary at what you have to assume, or what I assume

to be, the parents' house at this location. So there you go. That's a breakdown of this report. Where does it fit into the overall case? We shall see. But this is more information that I know a lot of people we're looking for and trying to make sense of. It's all we have for right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you next time.