Mother Identifies Horn Island Body as Missing 18-Year-Old Nolan Wells
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 7
Mother Identifies Horn Island Body as Missing 18-Year-Old Nolan Wells
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 7
Summary
Tuesday’s identification by Christine Wonsley confirmed that the body found Monday on Horn Island was her 18-year-old son, Nolan Xavier Wells, ending a search that had drawn national attention.
Wells disappeared after a July 4 boat trip to the barrier island, about 10 miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, when his friends returned home that evening without him.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said the case remains a very active investigation, and authorities have not reported a cause of death.
Photos from the trip fueled online speculation about a racial element because Wells was Black and the other three men on the boat were white; civil rights groups including the NAACP have since weighed in.