Attorneys for the family of Nolan Xavier Wells on Thursday released the state’s autopsy report and recovered information from his cellphone, raising more questions about what led to his death, including evidence of deleted messages and a lack of water in his lungs, airway and stomach.
Digital forensic experts hired by Wells’ family examined his phone, including images, videos and social media apps to create a timeline providing more information about what led to his death on Horn Island, where his body was found on July 6.
Earlier this week, a Jackson County grand jury declined to bring criminal charges relating to the death of the Black teenager. Based on the condition of his body, location and position, the group concluded that he likely drowned. Wells’ parents said the grand jury findings did not provide clarity.
“This mystery still needs to be investigated,” Ben Crump, the national civil rights attorney representing his parents, said in a Thursday online news conference. “We cannot simply close the chapter, wash our hands of it, put a bow on it and say, ‘Nothing to see here.’”
Garrett Discovery, the Florida firm Wells’ parents hired, extracted information to track the location of Wells’ phone and SnapChat messages sent to it between July 4, when he went to Horn Island, up to when the forensic experts collected his phone.
GPS showed how Wells, 18, went to a McDonald’s the morning of July 4 before going to a friend’s house. By 10:30 a.m., his phone showed it was on a boat that traveled to Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where it remained for several hours.
Andrew Garett, CEO of the digital forensics firm, said the phone data shows Wells last used the device on the boat around 2:20 p.m. He chose to remain on the island, according to friends, and was last seen that afternoon. Around 4:30 p.m., his friends returned to the mainland with Wells’ phone on the boat.
His parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, retrieved his phone from his friends the next day and had it in their possession since then. Early on, they noticed few pictures or videos from the day on his phone, even though he commonly took them. They wondered if any had been deleted.
Andrew Garrett, CEO of Garrett Discovery, speaks during a Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, news conference in Florida about digital information pulled from the phone of Nolan Xavier Wells. Garrett guided reporters through the findings and showed a video created by his firm using GPS from Wells’ phone, showing where the phone traveled when it was in his possession and after when Wells stayed on Horn Island. Credit: screenshotGarrett confirmed Thursday that there was evidence some messages sent to Wells were deleted.
He also talked about how experts worked on Wells’ phone, including having to manually extract SnapChat messages because the programs typically used to do that were not compatible with the version of the app on the phone.
The additional amount of time that took them led the experts to prepare a preliminary report that the grand jury reviewed. Once the extraction was done, it provided a final report to the grand jury including SnapChat conversations from Wells’ phone.
Liza Park, a member of the family’s legal team, explained the process that led to phone extraction. She and Garrett pushed back against public comments about that process by District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath. In the video statement, McIlrath said her office was the one accused of “(refusing) to cooperate and/or obstructed a mutual examination.”
But in reality, saying that led some people to believe it was the family who walked away from an agreement, Garrett wrote in a Wednesday letter to Crump provided to reporters. During the news conference, Park clarified that Wells’ family never kept the phone away from the district attorney’s office and law enforcement.
Conversations about holding a mutual examination of the phone began after July 15, when the family, its legal team and McIlrath met at her office in Jackson County. After that, they said the state changed its parameters, most notably by selecting the location of the phone inspection, which the legal team says would have prohibited the family being there.
During the news conference, Crump’s team also released the state’s autopsy report, which it had not seen until Wednesday evening. They said it will be posted on his firm’s website.
Attorney Ben Crump holds a page from the autopsy completed by the state medical examiner’s office on Nolan Xavier Wells. On the diagram, the pathologist noted two contusions found on the back of Wells’ skull. Crump’s team continues to ask what caused those injuries and whether they contributed to the teenager’s death. Credit: screenshotPark read from the three-page report and highlighted the finding of two contusions on the back of Wells’ head noted on a diagram. Crump’s team continues to ask what caused those injuries and whether they contributed to Wells’ death.
Dr. Roger Mitchell, who was hired by the family to do the independent autopsy, will speak at a future news conference about findings from both of the autopsies, Crump said.
The state’s report also showed no signs of fluid in Wells’ airway, lungs or stomach. Park said water is typically present in those areas in drownings.
The family and legal team have called for the investigation to remain open and for officials to release the state’s autopsy and law enforcement investigative file. They are also asking for independent review by the U.S. Department of Justice.
If additional evidence is uncovered, it can be brought before a different grand jury at a later time to decide whether criminal charges could be brought and who to indict.
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