Sheriff Tom Ricks defends his investigation into Nolan Wells’ death while misinformation spreads online about the teen’s final moments.
Sheriff Tom Ricks is investigating claims that Nolan Wells decided to stay behind on a boat after a mechanical issue caused it to take on water during a Fourth of July celebration on Horn Island in Mississippi, and the case keeps getting more tangled as new details emerge.
The sheriff’s department is examining viral social media videos taken around the time Wells was last seen alive.
When asked about the origins of one particular video, Ricks said, “I don’t know the origins of that video at this point. But yes, we are looking into it. It’s been brought to our attention.”
One of Wells’ friends reported him missing to the Coast Guard around 11 P.M. that night, and Wells’ mother filed her own missing person’s report with the sheriff’s department just after midnight.
Authorities believe Wells drowned, but investigators are still working to determine exactly what happened.
The situation got even more complicated when attorney Ben Crump shared a viral photo claiming to show Wells at a land-based pool party in Jackson County before 1 A.M. on July 5.
Crump captioned it, saying, “I don’t know if these are facts or rumors because no official statements have been confirmed. We sometimes have to follow all clues until the truth is found.”
Tracestin Shepherd, one of Wells’ friends, told Rolling Stone that the photo was actually from June 27, not July 5.
Shepherd said Crump is taking advantage of Wells’ grieving parents and called the pool party theory “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking.”
Wells’ family attorneys have launched their own investigation and allege his cell phone was returned with deleted text messages.
The sheriff addressed this concern directly: “At this time, we do not have the cell phone that they speak of and we’ve never had the cell phone, but it is to my understanding that we requested the cell phone for an extraction. We’re working towards the same goal as the family. We want a thorough investigation and that’s what we’re going to continue to do until we arrive at the answers that the family deserves.”
According to TMZ, Tyler Perry and Colin Kaepernick are covering the costs of Wells’ funeral and an independent autopsy being conducted in Washington, D.C.
The sheriff’s department is still reviewing a substantial amount of video and images received from the public, and Ricks said he welcomes the independent investigation the family’s attorneys plan to conduct.
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