Nolan Wells’ grandfather is speaking out after three teens who were with him the day he vanished returned to Horn Island with their attorneys to conduct their own investigation into the case.
On Friday, Mississippi attorneys Tyler Cox and Edward Andrew Paltzik — who represent Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour — went to the island with their clients.
Cox told CNN in a statement that Friday’s trip was an “emotional afternoon for Warren and Jax.”
Wells seemingly vanished from the island after spending the Fourth of July with a group of friends. A U.S. park ranger found the 18-year-old’s body in the water near the northwestern tip of the island on July 6, two days after his family reported him missing.
Why Return to Horn Island?
Christopher Wells Sr., Wells’ grandfather, took to Facebook to air his grievances about the friends’ trip.
“What’s the purpose of the three friends going to Horn Island to do an investigation over a month after Nolan’s death, nothing but theatrics it’s too late,” Wells said.
Cox, however, said the trip was not intended to gather evidence but to help the teens and their attorneys understand the island’s layout and dynamics.
Cox said his team has interviewed witnesses, gathered its own evidence, and turned everything over to authorities.
“We will never defame, guess, or speculate,” the attorneys said in a statement to People. “And here is the truth: we don’t know how Nolan Wells died. But what we do know beyond any doubt is this: Warren, Jax, and Morgan had nothing whatsoever to do with Nolan’s death.”
As part of their work, the attorneys said they are “combing through all the disgraceful mainstream media coverage and social media drivel thus far.”
The Teens Claim They’re ‘Completely Innocent’
The three teens have joined a GiveSendGo fundraiser claiming they have become victims of an “unprecedented online campaign of accusations, harassment, threats, and defamation.”
As of Monday morning, they have raised more than $166,500.
“They don’t deserve the credible threats, the physical threats, the in-person threats, online threats to them and their family that they have suffered through for the last 30 days, over 30 days,” Cox told the Sun Herald.
The teens’ attorneys say they plan to pursue defamation lawsuits against people who make what they characterize as slanderous and libelous comments about the trio.
“Starting today, those who wish to continue trafficking in lies about these good Ocean Springs young men will be held accountable to the maximum extent of the law,” the attorneys said.
Warren Hudson shared some of those threats with the Mississippi newspaper last week.
In one recording, a caller repeatedly says, “Justice for Nolan Wells. Justice for Nolan Wells, father of a murderer.”
Another caller repeatedly says, “Justice for Nolan Wells. Son for a son,” before hanging up.
View on Threads
Paltzik and Cox say their three clients “are completely innocent young men. Each of them loved Nolan Wells as a brother, and each are haunted to the cores of their souls by Nolan’s tragic death.”
They added that they are planning lawsuits against two individuals, which Paltzik said on Friday would be drafted “d–n near immediately.”
It’s unclear whether the two individuals the attorneys plan to sue were the people heard in the recordings.
Search for Justice
Wells’ grieving parents have also been targeted with racist attacks, hate mail and even negative reviews at the mother’s workplace.
The family is conducting its own investigation into his death, seeking answers about what happened to him. The family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and his team to assist.
They had his body transported out of state for a second examination by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr.
The independent autopsy listed Wells’ cause and manner of death as “undetermined” pending further investigation.
Mississippi officials confirmed on July 31 that the official state autopsy is complete. Its results, however, remain confidential.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel McIlrath said her office would withhold the autopsy findings while investigators complete their work and until a grand jury reviews the evidence.
