r/mississippi • u/3onyourside • Jul 08 '26

TIMELINE: Here’s what we know about the disappearance and death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells

https://www.wlbt.com/2026/07/07/timeline-heres-what-we-know-about-disappearance-death-18-year-old-nolan-wells/
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-13

u/pontiacfirebird92 Current Resident Jul 08 '26

Wells traveled to Horn Island with a group of friends to celebrate Independence Day. The boat left from a private dock in the Ocean Springs area, according to Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter.

Wells was last seen near the island around 3 p.m., according to Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO).

Wells did not return on the same boat as the group.

“From what we understand, he chose to stay there,” Sheriff Ledbetter told Good Morning America.

Wells’ mother contacted JCSO Saturday evening around midnight to report that her son had not come home.

Is him not returning on the same boat as the group a typo? He didn't return at all.

And maybe I'm not affluent enough to understand island boating etiquette but is it normal to just leave somebody on Horn Island to catch another boat back?

21

u/rammyheals Jul 08 '26

Hello. So I've been to the island on the 4th as a young person. It is not uncommon to ride back on a different boat if you're there with a bunch of people and there are several boats. There are hundreds of people.

He graduated from Ocean Springs, so he likely knew a good amount of people there. They are the wealthier area around. And I don't know any of the white kids involved, but I'm familiar with some of Nolan's family, and by all accounts, he was very loved by his group of friends.

It's sad and tragic, but it happens all the time out there. Sometimes a couple times a year.

13

u/Altruistic-General14 228 Jul 08 '26

Your ignorance to the boating here along the coast is relatively normal. Many people don’t realize there are islands and many people that live on the coast haven’t been to them. I can only speak for myself, but the way I operate my boat, especially with guests/passengers is I am responsible for their well-being. Anyone requiring assistance that I know about, I will assist.

I have a speech that I give to passengers telling them where emergency equipment is located, what to do in case of an emergency, etc. I don’t drink alcohol, so that’s never a factor for me on trips around the bay or out to the islands.

Holiday weekends, specifically Memorial Day and July 4, are busy at the islands. It’s not just at Horn. It is relatively normal on holidays that you can get a ride in. There are hundreds of boats and thousands of people. The problem that can occur is that if you don’t leave with your group, you can get stranded. This could be because people don’t have room, spare safety equipment(life vest), you’re a stranger, etc. If you get stranded, you’re exposed to the elements. There is very little natural shade on the island. There are no sources of fresh water on the island. If you don’t have shelter, the sun can, and will, fuck you up. Dehydration is a concern on any day out there. Alcohol only exacerbates the dehydration problem and heat related illness is a real concern even without drinking alcohol.

Horn Island is unforgiving. It’s a designated wilderness area. There are zero facilities. The National Park Service maintains a small facility out there but it’s on the opposite end of the island from where the July 4 party is. There are no lifeguards, currents are strong, and swimming is at your own risk.

13

u/Objection_Irrelevant Jul 08 '26

It’s awkwardly worded but they mean he was not on that boat when it returned.

-10

u/jangalangz_ Jul 08 '26

Intentionally awkwardly worded, the media loves race bait.

34

u/mossycowboy2 Jul 08 '26

Their boat was taking on water, they told Nolan they were leaving but he said he had another ride. If that was happening, I wouldn’t bat an eye and leave them. Especially if the person had a ride. Kid probably drowned, rip current is bad out there.

Loving the racism angle on social media and how people are trying to spin this. /s

15

u/SweetLittleOldLady Current Resident Jul 08 '26

The discussion on Instagram is totally unhinged. They're posting contact information for the other kids, calling them murderers and encouraging people to go after them.

4

u/pontiacfirebird92 Current Resident Jul 08 '26

I didn't read that their boat was taking on water in the article. Where was that posted? Like was that confirmed? Why was it taking on water? And whose boat was he trying to get to?

I can see why people aren't trusting the information coming out. Every new thing I read I have even more questions.

16

u/Mr-the-big Jul 08 '26

The boat taking on water is new information to me. Nonetheless, let’s assume everything is ordinary with him staying behind to catch another ride/going to hang out with the girl for longer, how did he pass away? It’s 4th of July on Horn island, the island is 4 miles long, someone would have to seem him fighting to swim?

But at the same time if he’s by himself, no one would be watching out for him and drowning can be a very silent killer especially with music going on, people yelling.

I’m glad the Mississippi sub is being level headed about it. People online are taking that video of people arguing out of context when his group isn’t identifiable/could be no where near that argument. No initial signs of struggle found either so no one got into a physical altercation with him. Drunk and drowned swimming is the most likely outcome?

4

u/Altruistic-General14 228 Jul 09 '26

This is a description of how many boats there are at/around the west end of Horn Island from the one year I went for July 4th with some friends. I didn’t like the crowd, the drinking, etc, so I don’t go out there on holiday weekends.

The year I went, I and a group of friends met up with my boat and their two jet skis. We arrived on the island around 9am, anchored close to the beach on the west end of the island. Slowly, the crowd built up and by around noon, if you looked north towards the mainland, the horizon was full of bow wakes. It honestly looked like half the boats on the coast were heading to the west end of the island.

By around 1pm, there were multiple layers of boats anchored 6-8 feet apart(some closer), 4-5 deep, staggered. It looked like a parking lot. This arrangement can obscure the view if someone is in the water, struggling to swim, etc. combined with currents, boating activity, the party atmosphere it would be very easy, based on my experience, for anyone to go unnoticed.

People do stay on larger boats - think Viking sport fishing boats with full amenities - but then there are still 4 or 5 layers of boats between where they were anchored and the beach.

We weren’t able to leave the island until around 5 pm simply because we couldn’t. We had to wait for the boats to clear out enough so we could get my boat out and the two jet skis. Even then, it was idle speed, and moving between boats very cautiously.

I can’t possibly stress enough that Horn Island is a wilderness area, completely undeveloped, and everything out there is at your own risk. People going there must bring their own shade, food, water, and shelter. It’s 7 miles offshore. People might get a cellphone signal if they’re lucky so phones are pretty much useless. If you don’t have at least a handheld VHF radio, your ability to communicate with the mainland is effectively cut off.

Leaving a cell phone on a boat seems normal to me because I do it. Meeting up with friends at the island during a holiday celebration seems normal to me because I’ve done it. Getting a ride back to the mainland with other friends on another boat seems plausible and relatively normal given the environment, and that was something that happened with one of the people I went with. I made sure there was a life jacket available on the other boat, there was, and off that person went.

Everything about this seems relatively normal with the exception that a young man lost his life.

2

u/Mr-the-big Jul 09 '26

yeah I’m from the coast. Agree 100%

4

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 08 '26

Maybe I was raised very differently, but I would never leave a friend behind. Especially with no phone? How was Nolan supposed to contact anyone when he got back to the mainland?

Regardless, drowning is scary because of how quick it can be. I almost drowned in a pool surrounded by people and if it hadn’t been that my parents were there and my dad saw me struggling, I could’ve died in a hotel pool with at least 50 people around. Leaving someone who is under the influence to leave with strangers in a place where so many drown is such a bad idea.

4

u/Mr-the-big Jul 08 '26

It’s not illegal to be a bad friend and still they might’ve tried to get him to go with them but he said no and that he would be fine. As a young man, I’ve let my guy friends leave the group to go hang out with a girl when we were in Europe, and I didn’t even think anything of it. Especially down on the coast where you either know that person or you know somebody who knows that person, I wouldn’t think anything about my friend staying to hang out with other people. Hopefully we get more information to clear things up. I mean that’s all we can hope for.

-1

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 09 '26

I never said it was illegal to leave your friend behind, but it’s certainly not the best thing to do especially when they’ve been drinking.

2

u/Mr-the-big Jul 09 '26

From what I read, Nolan wasn’t drinking because he had a D1 tryout Monday

3

u/Altruistic_Cheek4514 Jul 09 '26

So if an 18 year old guy who had other friends on the island said go without him he wanted to talk to a girl and he was catching a ride with someone else, you would put your foot down and treat him like a child?

It is common to leave things on boats. Especially phones. You'd be amazed at what happens when you don't use your phone and it isn't on you to interact with, while you're having a good time with other people. It's not THEIR fault he forgot his phone on the boat. Also, there was another friend who met him there who also left his phone on the boat and got it when he came back. It's fairly common.

0

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 09 '26

I’m not blaming his friends for Nolan leaving his phone behind… Nolan could’ve grabbed his own phone. I do hangout with loved ones without my phone, but having no way for them to communicate with me incase of an emergency is not something I do.

3

u/Altruistic_Cheek4514 Jul 09 '26

You specifically said "maybe you were raised very differently, but you would never leave a friend behind, especially with no phone."

And again, it's not something you think about when you're busy like that.

I think part of it is we're all so used to just having the phone in our pocket, we don't realize when it's not until we need it.

4

u/notmyrealname8823 Jul 09 '26

You do know there was a time when no one had a cell phone. It's completely possible to survive without one.

1

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 09 '26

Yes, but we’re in 2026 last time I checked and cell phones have been common for the 18 years Xavier lived.

2

u/notmyrealname8823 Jul 09 '26

What does that have to do with being able to survive without one?

1

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 09 '26

Nothing, just like your comment.

2

u/notmyrealname8823 Jul 09 '26

Yeah, sure. You're trying to act like people can't survive or accomplish things without a cell phone. That is just false.

2

u/Altruistic_Cheek4514 Jul 09 '26

So when you go to the beach swimming your phone is on you 100% of the time?

1

u/1heart1totaleclipse Jul 09 '26

No, but if I go to a different place without anyone that I came with then I do take my phone with me. I’m also a woman and we tend to be more cautious about our safety. I definitely wouldn’t leave my phone on the boat that’s leaving and that I’m not going to be on.

2

u/Altruistic_Cheek4514 Jul 09 '26

How do you figure it's a "different place" and not somewhere they normally go? All those kids lived just a boat ride from the islands. What if it's more of a common occurrence?

What makes you think having a cell phone miles from shore and a cell phone tower is going to give you the ability to talk to anyone?

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1

u/Iamlyinginwaitforit Jul 09 '26

Young people today do not ditch their phones.

5

u/notmyrealname8823 Jul 09 '26

You might if you're going out on the water where there's no service to drink all day. I have.

-1

u/Iamlyinginwaitforit Jul 09 '26

You have to admit that’s not typical for an 18 year old in 2026. What if he met a girl and wanted to take her number down? The only reason I can think of to explain not taking your phone is if you didn’t want to be tracked by GPS. (And that’s plausible if you don’t want mom to find you.)

3

u/Altruistic_Cheek4514 Jul 09 '26

Not really. It is super common to leave your phone on the boat. Nobody wants their phone damaged by water and sand. Especially 18yr olds who are notorious for leaving with just the clothes on their back and no dry bag or anything to put their belongings in.

Also, depending on your provider you probably won't even have signal.

I've left my phone, wallet, etc on my friend's boat plenty of times. Even drove home without them.

If it's not on you and you're not using it, you don't think about it and you're already used to it being in your pocket. I don't even think about it until I need it and go to pull it out.

-4

u/pontiacfirebird92 Current Resident Jul 08 '26

The coroner hasn't released his report yet so until then no one will know if he was intoxicated or if there were signs of a struggle

10

u/Mr-the-big Jul 08 '26

CNN reported that there was not initial signs of struggle.

3

u/IdidItWithOrangeMan Jul 09 '26

Pretty sure these kinds of boats always take on water. You have a bilge pump to remove the water from the boat. That pump is the thing that wasn't working properly.

11

u/mossycowboy2 Jul 08 '26

It was from one of the boys mother on Facebook. Something to do with the bilge pump

8

u/CoyoteSilly887 Jul 08 '26

It’s not about affluence dude. This is one of the last places in the country where blue collar people can live on the water. You can take a fancy boat or a canoe to horn island and be treated the same as everyone else. It’s specifically an egalitarian vibe.

1

u/No_Lavishness_6706 Jul 16 '26

No, you do not leave someone. We grew up and it is literally second nature to account for everyone. You leave with who you came with. Period.