Questions grow after Nolan Wells independent autopsy ruled ‘undetermined;’ Cajun Navy disputes Crump’s claims

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WXXV) — Attorney Ben Crump and his legal team are raising new questions about the cause and manner of Nolan Wells’ death following the autopsy’s undetermined findings.

Attorney Crump’s legal team challenged several aspects of the investigation into Nolan Well’s death, following the release of those autopsy findings. His legal team and the NAACP say those unanswered questions warrant further investigation and they’re calling for additional transparency from law enforcement as the case moves forward.

“They’re calling, as we are, for a fair, impartial, comprehensive investigation. When Nolan’s parents heard the sheriff say there is no foul play at the beginning of the investigation, that is cause for concern – major concern,” said Crump.

“We’re not accusing anyone of anything other than the state of Mississippi local officials,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “We’re accusing them of being derelict in their duties to follow up and to ensure that regardless of what happened, that there was a proper investigation.”

Nolan’s parents – Christine and Elmore Wonsley – also appealed to authorities for more information in their son’s death.

“It is our hope that our local authorities will do what they need to do, because us having the preliminary autopsy results and hearing nothing from them… it’s heartbreaking, and it’s concerning,” said Christine Wonsley.

“Honestly, we want to know what happened to our son because the things that you’re telling us is not the character of our son. We know our son,” said Elmore Wonsley.

Some of the questions raised by Ben Crump and his legal team during the press conference appeared to conflict with information that has been made public over the course of the investigation.
At one point during the discussion, Crump said the Wells family was told by members of the Cajun Navy that Nolan Wells’ body was found “face down and fully clothed.”

“They told us, we haven’t heard from any of their local officials, that Nolan was found face down, fully clothed. Well, that’s significant to us because the last time we saw him on videos he was without a shirt. So, at what point did he put on the shirt? Somebody saw something,” said Crump.

We sat down with the National Vice President of the Cajun Navy, who was in a helicopter flying over the island when the body was discovered. He says those comments are false.

“What Crump said was that we told the family that he was fully clothed and that’s not true. We never told the family anything like that,” said Brian Trascher. “Nolan was wearing the swim trunks that everybody saw in the pictures of him from that day and nothing else. He was not wearing a shirt, he was not wearing shoes, and no other articles of clothing were visible from that height, and talking to people who were on the beach that day, that’s corroborated that that’s exactly what he was wearing.”

Trascher says that the Cajun Navy will be meeting with the Wells-Wonsley family soon to look over sensitive photos and videos taken during the recovery of Nolan’s body that had not been previously shared with the family.

“We have since communicated with Nolan’s mother today and told her that if there’s anything she needs, anything her team wants us to turn over with regards to images, videos, all that kind of stuff, that we’ll be happy to share it with them,” he said. “We just didn’t, number one: because nobody asked for it from their team, and number two: just because we felt like it would have been very emotionally bad for her to see a lot of these images.”

The full autopsy report from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet been released, leaving key questions about the circumstances of Nolan Wells’ death unanswered. It remains unclear when the report will become public.