Family of teen football player found dead demands answers after 4th of July boat trip disappearance

The family of Nolan Xavier Wells, the 18-year-old football player who vanished after a Fourth of July boating trip with friends, has retained the services of a prominent civil rights attorney, Ben Crump.

Wells’ body was recovered off the northwestern tip of Horn Island, a popular barrier island located about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast, on Monday — near where he had last been seen “talking to a girl” on the Saturday afternoon, officials said.

His body was positively identified by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday afternoon through dental records, WLOX reported. 

The cause of the death has not yet been determined and could take weeks pending autopsy results; however, authorities told ABC News he’s suspected of drowning as the investigation remains ongoing.

Crump said in a statement that Wells’ family is demanding answers as to what led to the teenager’s death.

“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,” the high-profile attorney said.

Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told ABC News foul play is not suspected in Wells’ death, however law enforcement is reportedly investigating a viral clip circulated online, which appears to show several people having an “intense” argument on the island, TMZ first reported.

Ledbetter said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon that officers want to speak with anyone who “observed or heard an argument, disturbance, or other unusual activity while on the island that day.”

The sheriff told ABC News that Wells’ friends had left the island and gone back without him after spending the Fourth of July on the island. He was last seen around 3 p.m.

“From what we understand, he chose to stay there,” Ledbetter said.

His mother reported him missing around midnight that night, according to WLOX.

Photos of the 6-foot-1, 180-pound teen — who played as a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College — showed him shirtless while sporting blue swim trunks, sunglasses and grinning alongside friends on a boat before he went missing.

“Missing our Nolan so much every second of everyday,” Wells’ grieving mother Christine Wonsley posted on Facebook early Wednesday morning. 

“This has been the worst time in our lives. Watching his siblings go through the motions of grief adds another layer to the sadness.”