A Jackson County grand jury found that Nolan Wells’ death was consistent with drowning and that no evidence showed a crime or racial motive behind the 18-year-old’s disappearance and death.
The findings followed a review of autopsy evidence, witness testimony, phone data, and investigative materials.
Wells’ body was found July 6 in the water off Horn Island, two days after he vanished during a July 4 boat trip with friends.
Horn Island is 10 miles off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
“The Grand Jury finds that the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning,” the report filed Friday in Jackson County stated.
The 23 grand jurors who met last week also found no evidence that a crime caused Wells’ death.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office listed Wells’ cause and manner of death as undetermined.
That result echoed an independent autopsy conducted by Dr. Roger Mitchell, the forensic pathologist hired by Wells’ family.
The grand jury received Mitchell’s sworn testimony, a forensic examination of Wells’ cellular phone, and other materials gathered during the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
Mitchell’s examination had been hindered because Wells’ body did not have a throat following the official postmortem.
Mitchell received “full access” to examine the college football athlete’s internal neck structures for the grand jury findings.
The report said bruising was found on the back of Wells’ head, but the injury was not fatal.
“There was bruising on the back of Mr. Wells’ head, which was not a fatal injury.
Further, the Grand Jury found no evidence of any fatal injury or organic disease to Mr. Wells’ body,” the report said.
A witness testified under oath that Wells slipped “awkwardly” from the side of a boat at about 3:30 p.m. on July 4.
The witness could not say definitively whether Wells struck his head during the fall.
Wells continued socializing after the incident and did not appear to be injured, according to the witness.
The grand jury found no other evidence explaining the bruising on the back of his head or suspected bruising on his buttocks and shoulder.
“While the Grand Jury found no other evidence to explain the bruising to the back of Mr. Wells’ head, or suspected bruising on his buttocks and shoulder, the Grand Jury cannot say without absolute certainty that this fall caused this bruising,” the report said.
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Wells had traveled to Horn Island with friends on July 4.
His friends returned to the mainland after their boat developed a mechanical problem, but Wells chose to remain on the island.
The report said remaining behind was not unusual and called it “common for visitors” during holidays or other crowded days.
Wells’ phone returned to the mainland without him, but the grand jury noted that it was not the only phone to do so without its owner.
Wells purchased alcohol using a fake ID before his death, according to the report.
No other people over the legal drinking age gave alcohol to Wells or his friends on July 4, and investigators found no evidence that Wells took cocaine.
The grand jury also found no evidence supporting public allegations that anyone traveling to or from Horn Island committed a crime leading to Wells’ death.
The report described attacks against his friends, their families, and people traveling aboard the Triton, Palm Beach, and Tideline as “malicious” and “false.”
Wells was not the only black person on Horn Island that day, contrary to another assertion addressed by the report.
The grand jury said false claims had contributed to “misidentification, speculation, and rumors” surrounding the death.
“There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s death and disappearance were racially motivated,” District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said in a video statement Monday.
She accused outsiders and influencers of trying to exploit the death to divide the community and create chaos.
“Nolan’s friends loved Nolan and Nolan loved them,” McIlrath said.
“Nolan chose to stay on the island that day, and there is not a scintilla of evidence to contradict that.”
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BREAKING: The Jackson County grand jury has UNANIMOUSLY returned a NO TRUE BILL in the Nolan Wells death investigation.
No indictment.
The DA also directly rejected the racial narrative surrounding Nolan’s friends, saying there was “not a scintilla of evidence” contradicting… pic.twitter.com/CQ5oUQfvKP
— April Chapman (@Unshakablewapr) September 22, 2026
Ben Crump, an attorney for the Wells family, criticized the grand jury’s decision.
“This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers,” Crump said, adding that Wells’ family would not rest until it knew what happened to him.
