Grand Jury Says No Crime, Ben Crump Says Questions Remain: New Phone Evidence Reignites Nolan Wells Case

Just days after a Jackson County grand jury unanimously declined to indict anyone in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, newly public cellphone findings, disputed deleted messages and conflicting interpretations from the family’s attorneys and the district attorney have thrown the case right back into the spotlight.

Wells disappeared July 4 during a boating trip to Horn Island and was found dead two days later. After an extensive investigation, the grand jury reviewed testimony from 43 witnesses, evidence obtained through 132 subpoenas, cellphone and GPS data, photographs, videos and forensic reports before concluding there was no credible evidence that a crime had been committed.

But Wells’ family and civil rights attorney Ben Crump say significant questions remain.

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At a press conference this week, Crump’s team presented findings from a forensic examination of Wells’ cellphone. Among the information discussed were Snapchat conversations, Wells’ movements and claims that some Snapchat material had been deleted. A forensic expert working with the family said the examination showed deletion activity, although the publicly released information has not established who deleted the material or why.

That issue is now directly disputed by Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath.

McIlrath has pushed back strongly against the suggestion that someone accessed Wells’ phone and deleted evidence after his disappearance. Her office says the available data does not show unauthorized physical access to the phone and has publicly challenged Crump’s team to turn over any genuinely new evidence indicating criminal wrongdoing.

There is also disagreement over what Wells’ autopsy findings mean.

The state medical examiner documented bruising to Wells’ head, shoulder and buttocks but found those injuries were not fatal. Both the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist retained by the family classified the cause and manner of death as undetermined. The grand jury nevertheless concluded that the overall circumstances were consistent with drowning.

Crump and Wells’ family have focused heavily on those unresolved injuries and other unanswered questions, including why Wells remained on Horn Island while his phone left aboard a boat.

The grand jury, however, examined several of the claims that had circulated publicly and reached different conclusions. It found no evidence Wells had been involved in an altercation on the island, no evidence of a racially motivated crime and no credible evidence that anyone involved in the trip committed a crime. Jurors also heard testimony that Wells had been seen slipping awkwardly from a boat earlier that day.

That does not permanently close the case.

A grand jury declining to indict is not the same as an acquittal, and prosecutors could present the matter to another grand jury if meaningful new evidence emerges.

For now, two things can be true at the same time.

Nolan Wells’ family and attorneys still believe important questions have not been answered. At the same time, an extensive grand jury investigation found no evidence sufficient to charge anyone with his death.

The latest dispute over Wells’ phone now centers on whether Crump’s forensic findings actually change that picture or simply provide another interpretation of evidence investigators and the grand jury already considered.

And until that question is resolved, the debate surrounding what happened to Nolan Wells on Horn Island is unlikely to disappear.