The United Cajun Navy disputed claims that Nolan Wells was found “fully clothed” after reports surfaced suggesting the same. Earlier reports claimed that Todd Terrell, president of the United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit that assisted in the search for Wells, told Nancy Grace on Monday, July 20, that Wells was “face down” and “fully clothed” on Horn Island.
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Terrell was one of the people who helped find Wells.
“[His body] was in the same vicinity of where he possibly drowned .… it was not uncommon for the body to have washed up right there,” Terrell told Grace.
The crime show host asked Terrell if Wells was face down and fully clothed. He said yes, and then discussed where he body was found and its position, but did not mention what Wells was wearing.
On Wednesday, while revealing the contents of the independent autopsy’s preliminary report, civil rights attorney Ben Crump questioned why Wells was “fully clothed,” according to a member of the Cajun Navy. Photos of Wells from July 4 revealed that he was barefoot in swim trunks.
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Crump went on to note that Wells had not been seen with a shirt or shoes that day, so they were not sure when or if that changed.
The United Cajun Navy replied to Crump on X. “@AttorneyCrump we didn’t say Nolan was fully clothed when found. He was wearing only swim trunks. Please don’t misrepresent our words,” it wrote.
The Ocean Springs, Mississippi, teen was found dead in the water on the northwest end of Horn Island on Monday morning, July 6. Wells went missing on July 4 after taking a boat to the island with friends. The search for the teen was called off after a body was found by a park ranger on Monday, July 6.
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An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family was inconclusive, Crump announced Wednesday. The autopsy found the teen’s cause and manner of death to be “undetermined” pending further investigation. Crump announced the preliminary findings in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago.
The independent autopsy report did not show any evidence of fractures or deep tissue injuries, the Associated Press reported. It also described a “red discoloration” on the back of Wells’ skull as “inconclusive” and meriting further investigation, according to Crump.
Dr. Robert Mitchell, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, wrote in the report that the possibility that “non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death” could not be ruled out.
