Friends’ Snapchat messages surged with worries about Nolan Wells

By Mina Corpuz | Originally published by Mississippi Today

Over 200 pages of Snapchat messages pulled from the cellphone of Nolan Xavier Wells have only fueled questions surrounding what led to his death on Horn Island. 

The forensic phone extraction by Garrett Discovery covers messages sent within nearly 30 group chats between July 4 and July 26. The 18-year-old and his friends communicated primarily on Snapchat and other social media apps like Instagram, which is why investigators focused on the app. Wells’ body was discovered July 6.  

The recovered Snapchat messages provide a glimpse into how Wells’ friends tried to reconstruct where he was and who he was with. Some also mention the presence of what they described as “sketchy” characters on the island that day. 

After Wells died, messages in the groups turned from words of support to anger over social media speculation and criticism directed at lawyers representing Wells’ parents. Some of the national and online attention led some group chat members to express concerns about their own safety. 

The release of the Snapchat messages and GPS from Wells’ phone came days after a Jackson County grand jury declined to indict anyone for the Ocean Springs native’s death, concluding the condition of his body was consistent with drowning despite the lack of water found in his lungs, stomach and throat. 

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump and team members have presented more information such as an independent autopsy that highlighted injuries that the state noted but did not explain. They have also called for federal investigators to step in. 

In the report, Garrett redacted phone numbers and Snapchat usernames that identify senders in the group chats, but forensic investigators identified at least 200 distinct users. 

Mississippi Today reviewed the messages and organized them chronologically across all groups rather than individual group chats. Below is the start of messages friends sent directly to Wells checking in on him and asking if he needed help, which continued through the early morning of July 5. 

Wells was not able to read any of the messages because his phone was left on the boat that headed from the barrier island back to the Coast on the afternoon of July 4. His parents reclaimed the phone from his friends and later turned it over to the forensic investigators. 

‘You scaring me dude’

Wells told his friends he would get a ride back to the mainland on a different boat. He was reported missing the night of July 4, and the next day law enforcement, his family, volunteers and others began their search by water, land and air. 

Direct messages sent through Snapchat show how people began to worry. Some showed anger toward the people who took Wells to the island but did not return with him.

“If (you) bring someone on boat (you) make sure they fucking get back on,” wrote one person wrote in “thevapersofgtv” group text, which did not appear to include anyone from the boat.

The messages continued throughout the early morning of July 5, showing a mix of worry and best wishes. 

People asked Wells to text or call them back and offered prayers of safety. They told him to tell them where he was so they could come get him. Others told Wells they loved him. 

The messages picked up later in the morning with people mentioning that Wells had been reported missing, and they were more insistent about needing to hear back from him. 

“You scaring me dude I’m seeing and hearing a lot of stuff about you going missing can’t (lose) you bro,” one person wrote just before 10 a.m. 

Next are the group messages members traded July 5, the day after Wells was last seen. 

‘Has anyone seen Nolan yet’

One of the earliest messages about Wells was in the “Supa Senior Guyz” group chat at 6:15 a.m. As the morning progressed, other group chat members began to ask similar questions, including whether Wells got a ride off the island and who he interacted with throughout the day. 

Just before noon, people from multiple group chats said things seemed suspicious, but they also held out hope. Wells wasn’t the type of person “to get left,” someone wrote from the “WCBIA” group chat. Another person from “thevapersofgtv” chat said if he were on land he would’ve called someone. 

“(He’s) gotta be shlumped somewhere (right now) hopefully,” someone wrote in the “Supa Seniors” group. 

People from at least two groups chats wondered why Wells’ phone was left on the boat that departed without him. 

Group messengers told each other to look at their Snapchat memories and phone camera roll to see if Wells was in the background or if there was anything they could glean. 

Several people across different group chats asked about a girl Wells was seen with, which is in line with what his friends reported to law enforcement. 

The “Supa Seniors” group members traded messages about two “sketchy looking” people nearby at Horn Island who they believed were ex-felons. One said their father had to walk a woman who knew the men to her boat. Another responded that sheriff’s deputies told their dad that the men were people “you wouldn’t want to be left alone with,” especially if alcohol was involved.

By the afternoon of July 5, people in a few group chats said they had been contacted by law enforcement about Wells’ disappearance. They encouraged each other to “stick to what you know” and share what they could.

“(The police) are just trying to help Nolan, so be as cooperative as possible,” someone wrote in the “Supa Senior Guyz” group.

‘We’ll get through this together’

The morning of July 6, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said a body was found around Horn Island by a National Park Service ranger matching Wells’ description, leading to messages in the group chat expressing anxiety and, again, hope that it wasn’t Wells. 

Members of the group chats told others they loved them and that Wells loved them, too. They offered each other support and spoke highly about their friend. A few shared Bible verses or prayers. 

“Nolan was the most nice and caring guy we knew. He’s in a better place now and we’ll get through this together,” said one message sent July 6 in the “Supa Seniors” group around 10:15 a.m., before the body had been identified. 

“I wish I could help his family (right now),” a person in “thevapersofgtv” group wrote around 11:30 a.m.

Seconds later, in the same group, someone wrote: “I feel so bad bro.”

By noon, Wells’ parents announced that the body found on the island was his. 

As news spread across the state, nation and online, public discussion and social media chatter ramped up. The tone of some of the group chat messages took a turn. 

Members of multiple group chats had already complained about social media attention on Wells’ disappearance and death, calling the speculation lies and slander meant to provoke them. 

Through Snapchat, people in the group chats shared clips, posts and other information about Wells’ death that they found problematic. One member of the “thevapersofgtv” said people online were “(just) stirring up mess” and another person replied that “anything along that topic is dividing everyone.”

Intertwined with that displeasure were comments about race. Members from different group chats noted a focus on how Wells was Black and only his white friends made it home, and the idea was circulating on social media that white people in Ocean Springs were racist. 

“If they knew how much we love him, they wouldn’t say that,” one sender wrote in the “OS + BTown” chat the evening of July 5.

Several of the group chat participants criticized how Wells’ parents were working with Crump. A week after his death, members of the “Supa Seniors Guyz” called Crump someone who “does his job for the wrong reasons” and “hides behind the wall of being an ‘activist.’”

“It’s almost like their brainwashing Nolan’s parents and taking advantage of them while (they’re) overwhelmed with grief,” a member of that chat said about the legal team on July 14, a week after Wells’ parents hired Crump and joined them in several news conferences. 

Some also talked about taking precautions, such as limiting communication beyond friends and law enforcement and digital safety by turning off locations, blocking calls and ignoring messages on various social media apps. 

To date, some who have accused Wells’ friends of playing a role in his disappearance and death have been threatened with legal action. Three of Wells’ friends filed a federal defamation lawsuit against NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens over a social media post. Those making death threats to people linked to Wells’ death investigation are facing charges in federal court. 

One said in “thevapersofgtv” group chat that Wells’ case had grown bigger than that of Aubreigh Wyatt, another case that put Ocean Springs in the center of online and social media conversation. In 2023, Wyatt, 13, committed suicide after years of alleged bullying by classmates. Her mother took to social media to share her daughter’s story and pursue legal action that is still active.

Weeks after Wells died, some of the members of the group chat continued to talk among themselves, following updates including Wells’ funeral and news conferences hosted by Crump. 

“Supa Seniors” group members discussed whether they should attend the funeral with their Black friends “to send a message to the media.” 

It’s not clear whether they attended, but the day of the funeral, one group member called the offer of the $150,000 reward announced during Wells’ service “a disservice … and so ignorant.”

Wells’ direct messages also captured longer, thoughtful words recounting memories, his impact on their lives and wishes for him to rest in peace. One person went further and called for justice. 

“(You) and your family deserve justice. I’m praying you get everything you deserve that wrong will be shown and that if anyone did something to hurt you that they will be accounted for and punished,” they wrote July 7. “You deserve everything good out of this situation and I pray that God will reveal that.”

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article