An attorney for the friends who were with Nolan Wells the day he disappeared says he has credible witnesses who place the teen on Horn Island hours after his clients left.
Edward Andrew Paltzik is representing Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour along with Mississippi attorney Tyler Cox.
The duo has opened their own investigation into Wells’ death to clear their clients’ names.
Wells was last seen on Horn Island with friends celebrating the Fourth of July. Two days later, a U.S. Park Ranger found the 18-year-old’s body on the northwestern tip of the island.
‘Very Credible’
Paltzik says his team has interviewed witnesses, gathered its own evidence, and turned everything over to authorities.
From those interviews, Paltzik says he has found two “very credible” witnesses who saw Wells around 6 p.m.
“There are two very fine, upstanding members of the Ocean Springs community who saw Nolan Wells at about 10 minutes to 6 p.m. So, about an hour and a half after these fine young men had left the island,” Paltzik told The Officer Tatum.
According to a report by the United Cajun Navy, Wells’ friends departed Horn Island aboard the Triton at 4:31 p.m. Previously released GPS records largely match the timeline.
Hudson, who left on the Triton but did not arrive on it, says the friends asked Wells to get on the boat before they left, but the teen refused and wanted to stay on the island with a girl.
“It’s not like my buddy asked him one time. My buddy asked Nolan multiple times to get on the boat. And Nolan made a decision to stay out on his own,” Hudson said.
Paltzik says he does not doubt that his reliable witnesses are telling the truth about seeing Wells, given that they have a history with him.
“They saw Nolan, and they’ve known Nolan for years. There’s no chance that they made a mistake, Paltzik said. “And by the way, this can be corroborated through other evidence, other eyewitness accounts. And that’s the end of it right there.”
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A Mystery Altercation
Rumors are now spreading about a mystery altercation between Wells and another group of people.
The Officer Tatum claims that he has seen a message that a person sent to another kid saying, “Me and my husband saw you arguing with Nolan. You’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison.”
“Nolan and the person he may have been in an argument with, to me, are people that need to be investigated,” said Tatum.
Tatum did not have a screenshot of the messages to show.
The report from the United Cajun Navy references a video recorded around 5 p.m. showing a fight involving other people on the island before noting that by 7:30 p.m., a witness reported Wells was “nowhere in sight.”
‘Pushing this Narrative’
Hudson, Seymour, and Pitalo say things surrounding Wells’ death started badly for them from the very beginning.
They blame Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, for fueling the narrative that they had something to do with Nolan’s death.
“The fact that she posted a picture of me, Morgan, and another guy and Nolan on the boat blasting that out there, pushing this narrative, kind of. I wish that would’ve never happened,” said Pitalo.
The post Pitalo is referring to is from July 5, before Wells’ body was found.
In one post, Wonsley posted a picture of Nolan with friends, letting people know what color swim trunks Wells was wearing.
In another, Wonsley posted several other pictures from that day so people could have a better idea of what Wells was wearing before he disappeared.
“If those [posts] would’ve never happened, a lot of this stuff wouldn’t have been as viral or gone all over the country at this point,” Pitalo added.
‘I Wish We Would Have Never Went Out’
A month after Wells’ death, the trio says their biggest regret is even going to the island that day.
“I think about this every day. I wish we would have never went out on the Fourth of July because I know this wouldn’t have happened. Nolan wouldn’t be gone,” said Hudson.
The trio adds that since that day, they have been receiving threats, causing them to not go out in public much.
“Not being able to go to certain places or walk around in public because our heads are on a swivel, it’s really affected all of us,” Hudson said.
Hudson shared some of those threats with a Mississippi newspaper last week.
In one recording, a caller repeatedly says, “Justice for Nolan Wells. Justice for Nolan Wells, father of a murderer.”
Wells’ family has also received threats, including hate mail. Some people even filed complaints at Wells’ mother’s workplace, which led to an investigation that was eventually closed.
No arrests have been made in Wells’ case. Once the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office finishes its investigation, it will be turned over to a grand jury to review.
