Law&Crime Sidebar - New Clues Emerge in Nolan Wells' Mystery Island Death

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

A holiday boat trip turns into a devastating mystery after 18-year-old college athlete Nolan Wells is found dead on the shores of Horn Island in Jackson County, Mississippi. As his family demands answers and hires prominent attorney Ben Crump for an independent autopsy, rumors swirl regarding the final hours Wells spent with his friends before being left behind. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber sits down with civil rights attorney Joe Richardson to break down the latest law enforcement updates and investigate the growing national scrutiny surrounding the case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code SIDEBAR at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/sidebar HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & 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.

A lot of new updates in the strange death of a teen on a boat trip to celebrate July 4th. The mysterious circumstances surrounding him being left behind his body, eventually being found washed up on the shore of an island. They're only getting muddled right now. So we're going to sift through all of it and bring you the very latest. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Webber. Look, you know if you follow us here on Sidebar, we're always talking about the risks out there, the dangers.

Have you ever thought about a data breach? reach, you and your loved ones, your private information, constantly a risk of being leaked, which is why I want all of you to keep your data safe online. Here's how you do it. Incogni. Incogni tracks down all these old posts and search sites exposing your information, and then they demand its removal. Look, I was shocked. Turns out databases had my information, and within days, incogny was taking them all down. The setup is super simple. You just create an account, and Cogny's going to do the rest. And their unlimited plans, custom removals feature lets you submit specific links that their privacy experts will personally investigate and remove. They can't harm you

if they can't find you. Use code sidebar at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan that's incogny.com slash sidebar. All right, so we're coming back to a story that has been haunting this Mississippi community. This is a story that has captivated the country right now. We're talking about the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, a college athlete, a beloved son, He was a young man who police say just went out to celebrate the 4th of July on a barrier island with friends and never came home. Now, we were on this when that devastating news came in. You'll remember earlier this week, we spoke with a member of the United Cajun Navy, someone who was actually a part of that search for Nolan in the air, searching when the news came in that a park service ranger had discovered Nolan's body. And since then, there have been some big updates that we got to talk.

about. As a matter of fact, the case has gotten so much attention that even some notable names are weighing in, calling this case a tragedy, but praying for justice, praying for transparency. And also, this is interesting too. There is a judge with apparently a connection to this case who's now spoken out, looking to seemingly set the record straight on these rumors surrounding her family's connection or involvement. And now the case is being attacked. to perhaps one of the most recognizable civil rights attorneys in the country. Ben Crump, just recently spoke to ABC News, raised some serious questions about the handling of this case,

is now representing Nolan's family. And all this while Nolan's body is being flown out of state for an independent autopsy, the results of which are potentially, reportedly, expected as soon as tomorrow. But I just want to take a moment here because a lot has happened, and I want to try to get an understanding of it before we get into the new details.

So this all started with that trip to Horn Island on the 4th of July. Now, if you're not familiar, your Horn Island is this long, thin, barrier island. It's about 10 miles off the coast of Mississippi. It's part of the Gulf Islands, national seashore, only accessible by boat. It's known as a spot where people like to go have some fun,

out on the water, especially in a holiday like the 4th of July. And that is exactly what authorities, say, 18-year-old Nolan Wells and a group of friends decided to do, that they apparently took out a private boat out to the island for the day and something went wrong while he was out there. According to police, Nolan was last seen at around 3 p.m. on the northwest tip of Horn Island. His friends reportedly told searchers that he wanted to stay behind to talk to a girl,

was planning to catch a ride back with another group. They ended up leaving. But when Nolan didn't return home, his mother reported him missing. Setting off this massive search involved multiple agencies, including the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, the United Cajun Navy. Now we spoke with the vice president of the United Cajun Navy. Brian Trasher in our previous episode because he was part of the search. He was actually searching in the air when the news came in about Nolan's body. I saw the body from about 300 feet in the air,

and I can tell you that it did not, it did not appear to be waterlogged. He was only in the water for a couple days. But nevertheless, the sheriff's office put out a statement saying that they had no reason to believe it was not Nolan. Yeah, so a park ranger discovered this body in the water off the northwest tip of the island on July 7th. The family confirmed it was Nolan, but this is where things get complicated. Because since that time, the case has taken some terms. The questions have only deepened.

And I want to talk about what is happening right now. And now I want to bring on somebody to help make sense of everything that's happening. Joining me now, civil rights attorney, friend of the show, Joe Richardson. Joe, thank you so much for coming on. Particularly, I know you're at a conference, so you're very generous with your time.

So, Joe, thank you. Always good to be here with you, Jeff. You always. Thank you. I feel the same. So I want to start with the biggest development here, right? Arguably the biggest development. The family has hired Ben Crum, who is now representing them.

He has been involved in some of the most high profile cases in the country in the last few years, if you think about it, right, representing the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Brianna Taylor. And he put out a statement this week that's getting, you know, a lot of people's attention. I want to be part of it, quote, We've been retained by the family of Nolan Wells, a beloved son, teammate, and friend who went out to celebrate the 4th of July and never came home. The wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College was preparing to return for the upcoming football season and would have turned 19 next month. His family deserves answers.

They deserve the truth. We will not rest until every fact about what happened to Nolan on Horn Island is brought into the light. and we call on investigators to pursue this case with the urgency and transparency this family deserves. Now, Crump also spoke with ABC News and revealed that Nolan's body is being flown to Washington, D.C. for an independent autopsy, saying the family has concerns about the investigation being handled in the state of Mississippi. Joe, before I even go to the independent autopsy, why hire a lawyer? because of all of the things that you don't know. Things happen very quickly as it pertains to a death. And gosh forbid, there's something to hide.

We're not saying that that's the case. But if there was something to hide, after an autopsy, and you put that body in the ground, the body's not going to tell you any tales. And so we'll talk more about the autopsy, but that's one of the things that an attorney will do is get you a private autopsy. In the case of Ben Crump, he's also going to get you the attention that's going to ask questions that will put pressure on the powers that be, as it were, the people that are supposed to investigate thoroughly, et cetera, because there are unanswered questions, you have to do the

best you can to get to a place where you have every question answered that can be answered. You're not there, but is every question answered that can be answered? If the answer is no, and you can find an attorney that can draw attention as well as investigate, direct traffic, point at things as well as address it with the media, then that's what you do. Does this signal to you that either the family, the friends, they believe that something's not right with this investigation, or is it just to cover your basis? They know it's getting a lot of attention. This, like you said, Ben Crump is a renowned figure in the legal industry. You wonder if he has back channels with law enforcement, his own sources, if he can put pressure

on law enforcement or the prosecutor's office or who, and I'm not saying that there's a crime that has been committed, but is this signaling to you that something is not right or the family believes something is not right? Yeah, I think that that could very well be the case. I mean, Ben Crump, you know, he's nationally known. You know, I've seen him in San Bernardino down the street from me, but where people got to know him on a national standpoint is in Florida, you know, to where he's from. But he's got connections to the South, of course, deep connections to the South, went to school in the South, has handled cases in Mississippi, et cetera. So it would make sense that Ben Crump or somebody like him would be able to press

buttons right away and start to ask the right questions and to pull on the right resources, make the right calls in terms of understanding what's out of sorts about an investigation. So it's not only trying to get at what we believe may be the truth or whatever we can know about it. But is anything being done differently than how it would normally be done? So he brings to the table all of those types of things. Legally, can a lawyer file something with the court or file something to put pressure on law enforcement or to direct law enforcement to release information to the family? I think that you have to look at whether and to what extent the powers that be here, I believe it's going to be the state of Mississippi as of right now, is not doing what it would normally do.

If there's something that's not being made available as quickly as it would normally be, the key is entities get in trouble for not following their own rules, right? So what's really important is to make sure that they are following their own rules and to the extent that you're asking for something that maybe there's some gray area about, release the tape. A lot of times we might be talking about body camp when it's talking about police and things like that. We're far enough along where there are often specifics related to those rules. But if there's gray area where there's no specific prohibition,

on releasing something, releasing some information, doing X or Y or Z, and the police or the investigators aren't doing it, then maybe that's what the media attention helps to do, particularly if, you know, the shoes on the other foot now, often when people get pulled over or when people deal with police, they say, well, if you've got nothing to hide, let me search the car. So now here are people saying authorities, if you have nothing to hide, be as transparent as you can possibly be within the law to let us know everything we can know about what happened. Is this awesome? I'm not saying, this is a motivation for the family, but is there also a potential that you hire a firm like this to start to see whether or not there is a framework for a potential lawsuit?

Absolutely. No doubt about it. Because what Ben Crump and the Ben Crump's of the world are going to do, and what we all do, try to do, is find out where the holes are. Here are the holes. Here are the things that we don't know that we ought to. There might be some things that we will never know because we weren't there. But what are some things that are out of sorts that we can figure out and things that we know we can't figure out? And the question becomes, to the extent that they can, why aren't the authorities, the investigations, et cetera, et cetera, filling all of that in. Not to get ahead of ourselves depending on what you're going to be asking about. But there's also the element that one of these kids, mom, is judge.

Yeah, I do want to talk about that. Okay, yeah. And she's put her toe on the water, too. So there's a lot of powerful people dealing with it. That's why as much attention that can be brought to it is really important, but you want to understand whether and to what extent there may be legal rights that were infringed on or something that might be actionable. I want to ask about this independent autopsy.

Why conduct an independent autopsy? Why order one? Why do it outside of Mississippi? So this is a significant move. The state medical examiner already reportedly performed an autopsy on July 7th. Now, officials say those results could take a couple of weeks because they're doing toxicology and other testing. But Crump has indicated that the independent autopsy results are expected as soon as tomorrow.

And in speaking with ABC News, Crum said, we're trying to be very transparent because the family has some concerns about the state of Mississippi doing an investigation. We have investigators talking to witnesses that have no alignment or no allegiance to the state, and that's important. What's going on here, Joe? I think they're looking both ways before they cross the street. One of the biggest pieces of evidence is the body. Not to sound morbid or whatever, but there's a chance that if a drowning is being alleged and there's trauma that's inconsistent with the drowning, then we know that that raises more questions and that creates more problems.

There's also an argument that perhaps the state of Mississippi, depending on what may have happened, depending on what they suspect may have happened, that they can't necessarily prove one way or the other. They may be incentivized to close the book. I've dealt with cases where you're trying to unconsor. cover information and you're dealing with a corner or you're dealing with investigators, fire investigators, et cetera, fill in the blank, when something fits a narrative and they put it away, they do that. We would love to say, oh, we'll leave no stone unturned, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but that's not always the case. So what's the best way to be sure that you've uncovered all of the information you possibly can? I think it's because you do and that's that's

That's why you need to do an independent autopsy so that, you know, there is a scenario under which, and we're talking about the Deep South, we're talking about a very charged political time, we're talking about one black kid with several white kids. There is a scenario under which there could potentially be something to hide, and someone may choose sides in that regard. But the body itself, theoretically, could at least allay some concerns about how one may have die, you know, et cetera. And it might be said that you certainly get information quicker. That question, that might be consistent with what? But that's a point, right? How can you get

information quicker if the state examination is like, we can't definitively conclude what happened until we do this additional testing? That's why it's going to take some weeks. Couldn't an argument be, well, if you have an independent autopsy and they're coming results tomorrow, it's not as thorough? Or am I looking at it the wrong way? I don't think you're looking at it the wrong way. I think that there's an argument for that. But I also think that I also think that you get what you pay for. That independent autopsy is not cheap. That's why most people don't get it. There's a whole lot of people that don't want to believe what the coroner said about this or that thing. I had a case recently where I've got the coroner as it pertains to manner of death that's going along with what happened here

out in the field and deferring to what happened with the investigators, what the investigators said, including a person's past history. So a lot of things can figure in where perhaps you get the same information, but there are certain things that you can get quicker. The independent autopsy is not going to you everything right away either. But you might be able to get some indications a bit quicker than you would if you were going the public route. So here, there's both that are going on. People would, you know, may argue, oh, if it's quicker, then obviously it can't be good information. But on the other side, there are those of us that may believe in a worst case scenario that if it's public information with people that might have something to hide or people that are connected to people of influence,

then maybe we can't be as sure as we would like to be about what the result is. And it at least provides the family with some answers and a potential path of inconsistency with what the state medical examiner has. So I want to talk about something else. You mentioned it, the judge. There is a judge who is apparently directly connected to this case, now broken or silence. We're talking about Chancery Judge Ashley Cole, whose son was one of the friends out on the boat trip with Nolan posted a lengthy statement on Facebook saying, quote, our son loved Nolan dearly. And fortunately, I feel that it is appropriate for our family to dispel some rumors with facts based upon the social media attention that is being diverted away from the Wells family and their loss.

Our son was interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and cooperated fully. He saw Nolan last at around 3 p.m. on July 4th. They left around 4.30 p.m. when the boat was taking on water and they had an issue with the bilge pump. Nolan made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends. my family is hopeful that this information will help to redirect the attention to the Wells family, their grief, and their need for our community support. Joe, first of all, this is a judge, right? Second of all, didn't have to make a statement, made a statement,

and gave some very specific details about the last or some of the last movements and activities of Nolan. What do you take away from it? The judge is putting her toe in the water. judges often go out of their way not to make public statements because they're judges. And it is interesting that she's making this statement. And I will give you 10 to 1. Jackson County is probably a small enough place figuratively, if not literally, where I will give you 10 to 1 that she knows or the prosecutor.

She knows the prosecutor or the prosecutor knows her. She knows investigator, the investigating agency or the investigating agency knows her. And she knows the corner, the coroner's agency or the corner's agency knows her. her. So when you put all of that together, and I'm the family of this deceased, that doesn't necessarily put me at ease. I think there's one thing, there's two things that you can agree with right now between those families and those parents. I don't believe either of them wanted the son dead. Okay. And I believe that they both understand that the judge's kid, the judge doesn't want her kid to go to jail either.

So all of this is going on, which makes transparency related to the investigation all the more important. And even though she framed it as something that would divert attention back to the family, she's talking about the family's grief. She's not talking about the family's

justice. So there's a difference there in terms of what it is that's happening. How you see things depends on from where you sit. And I don't think she had to put her toe in the water at all. She decided to to, but I think that says a lot as well, potentially. Didn't you think it was interesting?

Another group of friends. He went with another group of friends. Yeah, it's on them. I thought that was interesting. Yeah, potentially on them. And so, but did he leave the other group of friends his cell phone? If that's true, what they reported is that somehow they showed up, the group of friends that left him, showed up with his cell phone.

Now, they say it's a pretty remote place and there's not a lot of service out there. I don't know how well your cell service works or whatever, but it seems like to me, I'd keep my cell phone, but I've a 19-year-old kid, whether I thought it was going to work or not. It wouldn't occur to me to leave. So that's the biggest question right now.

It's circumstantial evidence if that. It's not DNA. It's nothing like that. Why did this kid leave them the cell phone if that's what actually happened? I wasn't there. So it leads to some very interesting questions. And when you put all of that together, now I can see both sides of the coin as to why Judge Mom might want to put her toe on the water.

Let's get into where law enforcement is with all of this. So the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, they put out an updated press release and asking anyone who is on or near Horn Island on July 4th to come forward if they have any original unedited photos or videos that were taken around that time. The sheriff's office even said even information that may seem insignificant could prove valuable to investigators. We encourage anyone with firsthand knowledge to come forward. And the sheriff also noted that there are no surveillance cameras on Horn Island. So that makes any footage being captured or capturing anything at all more than more valuable. Joe, what does this tell you that the sheriff's office is now putting out that appeal? What are they hoping to find?

You tell me. Well, I thought it was interesting to me, and maybe it means nothing. to someone else or maybe it means nothing to them and it's nothing to be alarmed at, but they're asking for just firsthand information, quote, firsthand information, photos, things like that, photos, videos. But right now, I don't know that you want to be discriminant about the information that comes in. It's your job to sort through it.

And if not for any other reason, then all of the transparency that the circumstances now require, okay? You know, just like going to court, if I'm going to court, you know, here's they might not get in. It might not be admissible, but it is discoverable. Maybe if someone's, one of these kids' girlfriends heard one of these guys say something, one of these girlfriends, friends' friends said, oh, I've got regrets. That would be something to follow up on, even though it's not firsthand.

So right now, we can talk about firsthand information later, but anybody that's got anything to say, when some, you put out a drag net for information, in my opinion, you don't tell people just give me this type of information because you are the investigating agency. And you can decipher and discern what's good, what's not, what you can follow up on. And I think that with a lack of cameras, with a lack of a lot of the firsthand information that you may have in a place that's more inhabited, et cetera, I think it makes it all the more important to get information from wherever you can and you do the work to sift through it so that you avoid the appearance of impropriety and both actuality and perception. You've done everything you can do to answer every question that you possibly can so that everyone can move on. Talk about video. It is worth noting that there has been some speculation online,

including these reports from TMZ, that authorities are looking at a video that allegedly shows this heated argument that occurred on or near that island that day. I will tell you, I don't know if you've seen it, but I will tell you, the sheriff's office hasn't even confirmed that. I don't know if you've seen this video, but what are your thoughts on it? Well, you know, that's another thing to follow up on. You know, I tell you, as a side note, it's amazing how often, you know, we've got all of these news outlets. that's ABCs and the CBS is often, here's TMZ with, boom, this thing, you know what I mean? And you have got to follow up on it because if there's potential that that actually happened there, that might explain something, you know?

And so I'd better have that information, investigate it, figure out that I don't need it, then need that information and not have it. So it's another thing to follow up on. And it's another piece that might help to explain why they show up. with his cell phone, but not with him, assuming that happened. I'm a believing the report, but, you know, there's just things that don't quite make sense. And parents know, parents know, you know, if there's something amiss, if they know that their child wouldn't be without their cell phone.

I know my child wouldn't be without hers in any instance, not voluntarily. And so does that mean that somebody needs to have the book thrown at them and get the lecture chair? No, not necessarily. But it is something that we got to follow up on and we got to leave no stone. unturn, and the judge didn't talk about that. No. Look, and goes back to the larger question about so much attention, pressure being put on. There is also, I should mention this, there's also pressure coming from outside law enforcement. You have Representative Benny Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, has urged investigators to conduct

a transparent and timely investigation. The NAACP posted on Instagram saying their hearts are with the family and friends. And I actually want to go now to something about the family because, look, they're going through something that nobody should have to experience. I mean, it's one thing to go through this, but having all this attention now on it. And Nolan's mother has been posting to social media throughout this. And she shared the heartbreaking news when his body was found. But now she's asking for something else. She posted this to Facebook recently. It says, quote, missing our Nolan so much every second of every day. This has been the worst time in our lives. Watching his siblings go through the motions of grief adds another layer to the sadness.

Please keep us in your prayers and continue to respect our privacy. There is another layer to this because if we speak about videos or we speak about, you know, videos that are out there, apparently there are these AI generated video or videos that have been circling online appearing to show Nolan's mother saying she won't have a funeral for Nolan. There's a video even appears to show clips allegedly of him. His mother posted the video to Facebook, calling it fake, begging people to leave the family alone.

This is a whole different problem for victims and victims' families or those who just lose loved ones in 2026, right? I mean, what do you make of this? And by the way, does someone have a legal right of action? Do they have a legal cause of action to go after people that make AI videos of them? Well, boy, it's a loaded question.

And it's a perfect example of ways in which the law may not have quite caught up with every potential circumstance that's related to AI. That's related to technology, right? And so, therefore, there's a question. If there is publishing of something that someone knows not to be true, there's potential for defamation. It's really interesting because I never thought of defamation so much in that particular context. But if someone is saying something that's knowingly not true, that might be. a route depending on you know what jurisdiction you're in infliction of emotional distress in all of its forms intentional or negligent i would also imagine someone using your name image and likeness for

personal profit if you're making videos and getting clicks on it and getting money for it i'm not saying that's what happened but that's something too right yeah i mean so so there are things there you know you have to kind of adjust your thinking a little bit because we're in this AI generation but again now you're talking about AI you're talking about what's real and what's fake and how it can um uh uh take us away from from what's actually important. You've got implications here of race. You've got implications of politics and all these other things. And so therefore, depending on who you are, you know, whether you're talking about, you know, it's amazing.

Whether you're talking about this deceased young man or whether you're talking about Caitlin Clark. You have situations where people with different agendas can take it and run with it. And now they're incentivized to make something real fake or vice versa. and it's kind of a problem, and how do you wait all the way through it? So even though the family put out the word to try to get help and figure out where their son was, I could certainly understand them wanting to have privacy to not be bothered and certainly not to have anything that's said, that's not true about them being said, being implied, being created with caricatures and AI and those types of things.

Look, Joe, this is a really distressing story. It has new layers to it. I want to continue to follow it. I appreciate you coming on, giving us some things to think about. And again, for being so generous with your time because I know you're at a conference, but I really wanted to hear from you on this. So thank you so much, Joe. Appreciate it.

Always great to be with you. Honor, Jesse. Appreciate you. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's Peacock as well.

If you want to follow me, X, Instagram, my News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday, Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. See you next time, everybody.