CHICAGO — A privately commissioned autopsy of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells has concluded that his cause and manner of death are “undetermined,” with investigators saying more information is needed before any final determination can be made.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Wells family, revealed the preliminary findings Wednesday before a packed audience at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago.
Reading directly from a report authored by forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Mitchell, Crump said the findings showed no evidence of bone fractures or bruising, but did not eliminate the possibility of foul play.
The board-certified pathologist identified “red discoloration” in the soft tissue at the back of Wells’ head, though there were no skull fractures or skin lacerations in that area, Crump explained. He noted that the body’s decomposition, combined with other limiting factors, made it impossible to reach a definitive conclusion.
Without additional information, the pathologist wrote that he “cannot rule out if any intervening nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” according to Crump.
The autopsy is part of a broader independent investigation led by Crump into how the teenager came to disappear following a July 4 boat outing with friends to an island off the Mississippi coast. Wells never returned to the mainland with the rest of the group, and his body was discovered floating near the island’s shore two days later.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office has performed its own autopsy, but those results have not yet been made public.
The second autopsy was arranged by the family and Crump, and was funded by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. A toxicology report was not included.
“This is only another part of the puzzle, and even though it tells us significant information, we still have more questions than we have answers at this time,” Crump said regarding the findings.
The unresolved circumstances surrounding Wells’ death have fueled widespread speculation online and prompted Black community leaders to demand greater transparency from local authorities. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white.
A $125,000 reward — jointly contributed by the Rev. Al Sharpton, actor and producer Tyler Perry, and former NFL player Terrell Owens — is now being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction related to the death.
The autopsy announcement came just two days after Wells was laid to rest in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
During his eulogy, Sharpton spoke out about the “inconsistencies and unanswered questions” that have added to the family’s grief. He questioned why Wells’ friends left the island without him, took his phone and keys, and failed to report him missing. He also suggested that local investigators had spoken too soon when they indicated publicly that no crime was suspected.
“The reason that a lot of people across the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is because we’re looking at the history in Mississippi,” Sharpton said. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.”
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said early interviews indicated that Wells had chosen to remain on the island and that his friends believed he would find another way back to the mainland. Ledbetter said the friends have been cooperating with the investigation, which is still ongoing.
“We are trying to be respectful and collaborative as much as we can,” Crump said. “But it’s always troublesome to all of us when these investigations just take forever.”
