Nolan Wells’ family has released the state’s official autopsy, and it shows two bruises on the back of the 18-year-old’s head and no water in his lungs, just days after a grand jury said his death was consistent with drowning.
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Attorneys for Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, shared the report Thursday during a news conference in Florida, saying they had only received it the night before. The Mississippi state medical examiner lists both the cause and manner of death as undetermined, meaning the examiner could not say how he died or whether it was an accident.Attorney Liza Park read from the three-page report, which documents two dark red and purple bruises on the back of Wells’ scalp, each about two inches long. It also states there was no fluid or debris in his airways, and Park said the report showed no fluid in his lungs or stomach. She said water is typically found in those areas when someone drowns.
“We are still trying to determine who or what caused the blunt force trauma to the back of Nolan Wells’ head,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said.
Forensic experts have said drowning is one of the hardest causes of death to prove because no single autopsy finding confirms it. Examiners look for signs like frothy fluid in the airways, and drowning is often reached by ruling everything else out first, which is what pathologists call a diagnosis of exclusion.
Nolan Wells, a Black teenager, went to Horn Island, a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with friends on July 4. His body was found along the island’s shoreline two days later.
The family also released new findings from his cellphone. A digital forensics firm they hired said GPS shows Wells went to McDonald’s that morning, then to a friend’s house, and was on a boat headed to Horn Island by 10:30 a.m. The phone was last used on the boat around 2:20 p.m. His friends have said he chose to stay on the island, and they returned to the mainland around 4:30 p.m. with his phone still on the boat. The firm’s CEO, Andrew Garrett, confirmed there is evidence that some Snapchat messages sent to Wells were deleted. His parents noticed early on that there were very few photos or videos from that day, which was unusual for him.
Earlier this week, a Jackson County grand jury declined to indict anyone. After hearing from more than 40 witnesses, jurors found no credible evidence that anyone who rode to or from the island that day committed a crime, and concluded that the condition and location of his body were consistent with drowning. Dr. Roger Mitchell, the pathologist the family hired for an independent autopsy, also listed the cause of death as undetermined and is expected to speak at a future news conference about both reports.
The family’s legal team is also disputing District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath’s account of why a joint examination of the phone never happened, saying the family never kept the phone from investigators.
“This mystery still needs to be investigated,” Crump said. The family is asking for the case to stay open, for the full law enforcement file to be released and for an independent review by the U.S. Department of Justice. If new evidence comes out, it can be brought before a new grand jury.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s autopsy report found no water in his lungs or airways, despite the grand jury report suggesting Nolan Wells’ death was an accidental drowning. The cause and manner of death remain undetermined, with documented evidence of head injuries… pic.twitter.com/FP3fkaHnTf
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 24, 2026
