The household of Nolan Wells on Thursday launched the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s post-mortem report, which discovered that the trigger and method of dying are “undetermined.”
“This 18 yr previous male was discovered face down within the water at Horn Island. As a result of the circumstances surrounding this dying are unknown, the trigger and method of dying are greatest labeled as undetermined,” the state post-mortem report states.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Division launched this picture through the seek for Nolan Xavier Wells, 18, in Mississippi.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Division
The state post-mortem report indicated that the pathologist discovered “proof of harm” to the again on Wells’ head that’s described as “two darkish red-purple subcutaneous scalp contusions.”
The report didn’t conclude how this harm occurred. It additionally discovered that there have been “no exterior scalp accidents” and “no fractures” within the cranium.
The State Medical Examiner’s workplace report comes after a grand jury reviewing the proof in Wells’ dying found that no criminal charges are warranted at this point, in keeping with the report launched on Monday night time.
The state post-mortem report’s conclusion matches the findings of the private autopsy commissioned by Wells’ household, which was launched in July. It preliminarily dominated his trigger and method of dying as “undetermined pending investigation,” with the unbiased pathologist acknowledging a number of limitations within the report.
“Shedding a toddler, it really breaks your coronary heart … particularly somebody like Nolan, who introduced a lot pleasure and light-weight and life to everybody,” Wells’ mom, Christine Wonsley, advised reporters in July.
“The one query now we have is, what occurred to our son?” she mentioned.
An undated picture of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, whose physique was believed to be recovered after going lacking on July 4, 2026.
Courtesy of the Wells Household
The circumstances surrounding Wells’ dying garnered nationwide curiosity after the school soccer participant went lacking on the 4th of July after happening a boat trip with friends to Horn Island. Officers mentioned it appeared Wells stayed behind on the island after his pals left.
The teenager’s physique was recovered on July 6, and authorities mentioned they think he drowned.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter mentioned there was no preliminary indication of against the law, however he confused that investigators had been “working diligently to find out precisely what occurred.”
Ledbetter additionally mentioned the sheriff’s workplace welcomed the household’s unbiased investigation.
ABC Information’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
