Nolan Wells’ autopsy found no water in lungs; data was deleted from his phone the day he disappeared, experts say

ORLANDO, Fla. (WLOX/Gray News) - New details were revealed during a press conference sharing the results of the state’s autopsy and findings from Nolan Wells’ cellphone.

Wells went to Horn Island in Mississippi with friends to celebrate the July 4 holiday but never came home. His body was found two days later on the shore of the island.

At the press conference, Andrew Garrett, a forensic expert with Garrett Discovery, detailed information extracted from Nolan’s phone, including when the phone was accessed.

He said data show Nolan’s phone stayed on the boat the whole time and that Nolan last accessed the phone around 2:18 p.m.

“One of the things we do know is there was interactions with the phone before and after his death, up until the time that his family retrieved the phone from the other young men that were with him that day,” Garrett said.

Garrett also said some data was deleted from the phone but did not give details about what kind of content was deleted.

“There were things that were deleted from the phone,” Garrett said. “I can’t talk to intent; unfortunately, that’s not my field of expertise, psychology.”

He said from a digital standpoint, things were deleted on the phone from the time he last had the phone up until the time that his parents got the phone.

The data also included a GPS tracking video of the phone’s movements throughout the day, synced with messages and calls made at different times.

Garrett said Nolan used Snapchat and Instagram to communicate 90% of the time versus traditional text messages. The examination was able to retrieve all the messages from group chats Nolan was in — even after his death — until the phone examination began.

Ben Crump said in those conversations, Nolan’s friends discussed concern that “people on Horn Island can be racist.”

“It is very interesting to know that not only were people across America concerned with the history of the state of Mississippi — whether race would be an issue — but the messages on his phone and the snaps will show some of his own friends were concerned about people on Horn Island can be racist,” Crump said.

Crump read one Snapchat conversation aloud. (Note: WLOX does not have an official transcript of the messages. This recount is based solely on what Crump read during the news conference.)

Do you all remember real sketchy looking guys behind us in two boats?

I mean like yeah, that one looked like [redacted name].

Maybe. Apparently the guy was real skinny.

The ones that were right behind us?

Yes.

Yes, one was Black and one was white.

Well those guys were apparently like felons or something, at least one of them. And they were there when we were all gone I think.

Are you sure?

Yes they were.

My dad had to walk this lady to her boat because she knew one of them and sheriffs talking to my dad said something like ‘you wouldn’t want to be left alone with them, especially if they’re really drunk.’

What the...

There are so many people out there so I don’t know if they could’ve even done something, but I don’t know.

Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath previously said in a 15-minute video posted to Facebook Monday night after the grand jury returned a no true bill once the state autopsy report was finished, she reached out to Nolan’s mother directly.

McIlrath said when she did not receive a response, she spoke with one of her Mississippi attorneys and shared Nolan’s autopsy and toxicology results.

However, Crump said in Thursday’s press conference that they were “told they could get the autopsy when the DA released the grand jury report, and that was news to us.”

Crump and his team said they ultimately did not receive the autopsy report from the DA’s office until 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 23, after back-and-forth communication with the office.

Crump read letters between the DA and a Mississippi-based attorney working with Nolan’s family, detailing the confusion about what was needed in order to request and obtain the report.

Both the state and independent autopsies listed Nolan’s cause and manner of death as undetermined. The grand jury report noted that accidental drowning is consistent with the evidence and that the evidence does not rule it out.

Liza Park, an attorney on Crump’s team, said the state autopsy found two 2-inch contusions — or bruises — on the back of Nolan’s head. This is consistent with what Dr. Roger Mitchell found when he conducted the independent autopsy.

Park emphasized that Dr. Mitchell found no white blood cells, meaning the injury to Nolan’s head happened within a short period of time before he died.

Park noted that the state autopsy report says the larynx and hyoid bone are without hemorrhages and fractures, and the interior spine was “unremarkable.”

The report says there were no other external or internal injuries, and that there were “no internal organ abnormalities contributing to death.”

The toxicology results included in the report say chest decomposition fluid included 270 mg/dL of ethanol. Cannabinoids, nicotine, cotinine and caffeine were all “presumptive positive,” but it says confirmatory testing did not reveal cannabinoids in the decomposition fluid.

Park said there was no fluid or debris in his airways, his GI tract was “unremarkable,” and his stomach was empty.

“What this means is that there’s no water in the stomach. There’s no water in the lungs. There’s no water in the throat,” Park said.

Initially, Jackson County investigators, Nolan’s parents and attorneys were going to inspect the 18-year-old’s phone together.

An attorney working with Crump’s team previously said the family never inspected the phone with officials because they did not agree to the terms the district attorney’s office requested, which required the family to drop off the phone and leave it with law enforcement.

“This became a big controversy,” Park said.

Park stressed that Nolan’s parents never intentionally kept the phone away from the DA or law enforcement.

Park mentioned that the family agreed to do the joint investigation at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, but they weren’t aware that only law enforcement would be allowed inside the lab until later on.

Then, Park said they were given a 48-hour notice to turn the phone in for inspection, but the terms still had not been agreed upon.

“Somehow the wheels fell off on that and communication became strained,” Park said.

In total, there were more than 1 million artifacts of data on Nolan’s phone, according to Garrett.

“We don’t know what happened to Nolan Wells,” Crump said at the end of the news conference. “We’re not accusing anybody of anything nefarious. Even with the phone extraction, Mr. Garrett says he doesn’t know the intent of any of that stuff. But what we are saying... if you care anything about Nolan Wells, if you know anything, come forward. If you care anything about Nolan Wells, let’s focus on what killed Nolan Wells. Let’s don’t focus on the distractions. It is beneath our shared humanity.”