The family of Nolan Wells says new findings from his cellphone are raising even more questions about what happened after the 18-year-old was last seen alive.
Digital forensic examiner Andrew Garrett, whose firm was hired by Nolan’s family, says messages appear to have been deleted from the phone sometime after Nolan’s last known activity at approximately 2:18 p.m. on July 4 and before his family regained possession of the device early the following morning.
Garrett said his team cannot determine who deleted the messages, exactly when they were deleted or why.
The examination reportedly produced hundreds of pages of records, much of it involving Snapchat communications.
Nolan disappeared during a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island, Mississippi, and his body was recovered two days later.
A Jackson County grand jury recently declined to bring criminal charges after reviewing testimony, cellphone records, GPS information and other evidence. The grand jury reported finding no credible evidence establishing criminal conduct or a racial motivation in Nolan’s death.
However, the grand jury did not officially determine that drowning was Nolan’s cause of death. Its report said accidental drowning remained consistent with the evidence and had not been ruled out.
Both the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist hired by Nolan’s family previously listed his cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Nolan’s parents, Christine Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley, continue to question the investigation and say they will not stop searching for answers about what happened to their son.