The family of Nolan Wells bid a tearful farewell to their beloved son at his funeral on Monday, July 20, 2026.
Wells, an 18-year-old from Mississippi, disappeared July 4 while on a boat trip to Horn Island.
It’s been over two weeks now; his cause of death remains a mystery.
Two parallel investigations are underway, one at the state level and one sought by Wells’ family out of state.
In a final update in the case, the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting the official autopsy.
Bruce Lynd, Jackson County’s chief medical examiner, spoke with CNN and offered new details.
“There were no immediate, obvious signs of foul play or trauma to Wells’ body,” the outlet reported.
Lynd also emphasized that he recommended a state-level autopsy to rule out any signs of foul play.
“We requested an autopsy (from the) state medical examiner’s office so they could do the full autopsy and be able to say if there was foul play or trauma,” Lynd added.
The state medical examiner’s office conducted an autopsy July 7, a day after Wells’ body was found near Horn Island, with toxicology testing underway.
On the other hand, Nolan Wells’ family lawyer, Ben Crump, said he would reveal the autopsy results today, Wednesday, July 22.
As a reminder, the Wells family had sent their son’s body out of state to request an independent autopsy, fearing foul play.
“We had his body flown from Mississippi to Washington, D.C., because his family wanted to make sure they had a doctor who had no ties to Mississippi law enforcement to do an independent examination of their son’s body,” Crump said.
