Nolan Wells Update: Attorney Reveals Mobile Phone to Undergo ‘Mutual Inspection’ After Concerns Grow Over Deleted Content

Nolan Wells’ cellphone will now be examined through a “mutual inspection” involving investigators and independent experts after concerns emerged that data on the device may have been deleted, according to the family’s attorney.

The 18-year-old vanished without a trace after failing to return from a Fourth of July boat trip to Horn Island, off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. His body was discovered on the island two days later. Authorities have said there is currently nothing to indicate foul play, but Wells’ family has launched its own independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. Several questions have emerged, including why Wells’ cellphone was left behind while his friends returned to shore.

Multiple Twists in the Tale

Questions also emerged whether any Snapchat content had been deleted before the device was returned to his family. Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, along with their attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, met with Jackson County District Attorney Angel McIlrath on Wednesday to discuss the case.

“There will be a grand jury that she will turn this case over to once they have collected all the information and finished their investigation,” Crump told reporters after the meeting at the Jackson County Courthouse in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

“We also agreed that we would have a mutual inspection of the cellphone, with our experts and their experts.”

Crump said former law enforcement experts will “help us with the cellphone downloads, so everybody will be able to see at the same time what the cellphone has.”

In an emotional interview with Michael Strahan on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday, Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said she tracked her son’s phone using the Life360 app after he disappeared but was left with concerns when she got the device back.

“When we finally got his phone, me and my sister went through the phone. We went in his Snapchat. He had two accounts. Absolutely nothing,” she said.

“It wasn’t even 24 hours, which is how long videos and pictures stay on Snapchat, and I was just like ‘that can’t be’.”

“I’ve seen Nolan whenever he Snaps – like when he goes and he’s having fun, like he does videos… there was absolutely nothing… even my sister was like… ‘that’s suspicious’,” Christine Wonsley said.

Devastated Mom

Speaking at a press conference in Harlem later that day, Wells’ mother said, “There were no saved pictures. There were no snaps from that day…” “Anyone who’s ever been around Nolan will tell you at social gatherings, he’s taking videos, he’s taking pictures, he’s even come up to me when I’m getting ready to go to bed, ‘Hey, Ma, come on, take a picture of me’,” she explained.

“You know, that was Nolan, so that’s why we feel that things may have been deleted, because of the fact that there was nothing in either one of his accounts.”

Wells’ family announced Wednesday that a homegoing service for the 18-year-old will be held Monday morning at Central Point Church in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. A celebration of his life will follow at the Jackson County Fairgrounds.

The Rev. Al Sharpton will officiate the funeral, while actor Tyler Perry is covering the funeral expenses. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has also helped pay for an independent autopsy of Wells’ body.

Crump told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes to share the preliminary autopsy findings “very soon.” “We’re concentrating on the funeral services, but hopefully shortly thereafter, we will be able to tell some findings of the preliminary autopsy,” he said.