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Body Found After Mississippi Black Teen Nolan Wells Disappeared While Celebrating July Fourth with White Friends

By | Published on July 6, 2026
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Mississippi Black teen last seen on the 4th of July celebrating with friends (Source: Facebook/ Christine Wonsley)

Authorities in Mississippi have found a body after searching for a missing Black teen who was last seen on the Gulf Coast with friends celebrating the Fourth of July.

Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told WLOX the body was found Monday morning.

While the identify of the body has not been confirmed, officials were searching for 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells who was last seen around 3 p.m. on Horn Island near Ocean Springs wearing blue swim trunks, no shirt, and sunglasses.

He is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 180 pounds.

Search Continued Through Monday Morning

The Department of Marine Resources, the Gulf Islands National Seashore and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Sheriff’s Office with the search.

The United Cajun Navy was also in the air searching for Wells with areas of interest marked and relayed to surface vessels.

“There were some people that thought he might have wandered off to the middle of the island, maybe into that lake,” Brian Trascher with the United Cajun Navy told WLOX. “There’s cactuses (sic) and a lot of thorny brush. He would not have comfortably been able to make it to the middle of the island. He probably would’ve turned around and went to the beach.“

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A Plea for Help

Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, pleaded for anyone with information to help find her son.

“We just pray our son is alive & safe. Again we are looking for any pictures/video footage around 4:30 pm or later. Please only PM me if you have information. #BringHomeNolan,” Wonsley wrote on Facebook.

Wells played football at Ocean Springs High School and is a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College.

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