Wells Family Sends 18-Year-Old's Body to DC for Independent Autopsy as Mississippi Probe Drags On
Updated
Updated · CNN · Jul 11
Wells Family Sends 18-Year-Old's Body to DC for Independent Autopsy as Mississippi Probe Drags On
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jul 11
Summary
Washington, DC, is where Nolan Wells’ family sent the 18-year-old’s body for an independent autopsy, with attorney Ben Crump saying results could come very soon.
One week after Wells vanished on a July 4 trip to Mississippi’s Horn Island, his family says contradictions in witness accounts and questions about his cellphone have deepened doubts about what happened.
Jackson County authorities are still awaiting the state autopsy and toxicology results, while the coroner said there were no immediate obvious signs of trauma or foul play when Wells’ body was found Monday.
Horn Island’s strong currents have fueled the possibility of drowning, but Wells’ family and Crump say the circumstances do not add up and want an examiner with no ties to Mississippi law enforcement.
Mississippi’s racial history and an early sheriff’s comment that no foul play was suspected have intensified public distrust, even as a former police chief said the investigation’s pace is not unusual.