Mystery lingers after grand jury declines to indict anyone in Nolan Wells' death

A grand jury has declined to indict anyone in the death of 18-year-old Mississippi teen Nolan Xavier Wells.

The Mississippi teen disappeared on Horns Island on the Fourth of July on a boat trip with his friends, and his body was recovered two days later.

The district attorney released a video statement on Monday, September 21, and said the grand jury unanimously decided not to return an indictment after weighing on a wide range of witnesses and other sources.

“The death of Nolan Wells has devastated our community. Outsiders and influencers have attempted to exploit Nolan’s death to divide and create chaos here, but we are better,” said the prosecutor, Angel Myers Mcllrath.

Both parties involved in the case said the state’s medical examiner and an outside expert hired by Wells’ family said they believed “the cause and manner of Wells’ death is undetermined and that drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion,” per court documents released on Monday by Mcllrath.

The grand jury also went on to find that the “position of, condition of, time of discovery, and location” of his body was “consistent with drowning.”

According to the grand jury report, they found “that Wells didn’t have cocaine in his system at the time of his death and found no evidence to suggest Wells ever used cocaine.”

However, the jury concluded that Wells had purchased alcohol with a fake ID, and no one over the age of 21 provided alcohol to him or his friends on July 4.

As to how Wells sustained injuries to the back of his head, the jurors weighed the evidence pertaining to the circumstances, but the cause of the injury “remains uncertain,” per the court documents released on Monday, September 21, a finding that has only deepened the mystery.

The grand jury was officially sworn in on April 20, reconvened on September 14, and adjourned on Friday, September 18, 2026.

The 23-member grand jury heard from 43 witnesses presented by the prosecution.