The investigation into 18-year-old Nolan Wells's death off the Mississippi coast

Wells's family began an inquiry of its own within days. It retained Crump and, joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton, asked for an honest and thorough investigation.^[1][11] His parents said they did not believe he had volunteered to stay on the island by himself.^[11] Crump's team and the district attorney agreed to a joint inspection of Wells's cellphone, which the family had recovered from his friends,^[12] and the family subpoenaed social media and technology companies for his account data.^[13] A preliminary independent autopsy, announced in July, found the cause and manner of death undetermined, and Crump called it inconclusive because of missing information.^[5] In August, the NAACP joined the family's legal team,^[14] and the family repeated a call from the Congressional Black Caucus for the Justice Department to open a federal review.^[15]

The speculation reached people connected to the case. In August, three people were charged in federal court with threatening a judge, a witness and local officials tied to the investigation.^[16] That month, lawyers for three of Wells's friends sent Sharpton a defamation demand letter, saying his remarks had labeled the three as criminals and exposed them to threats.^[17] They made a similar demand of Sunny Hostin of ABC's "The View" in September.^[18] In October, the three sued the NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who had pledged $25,000 toward a reward in the case. The suit was over an Instagram post that read "ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!" and linked to a video theorizing that they had killed Wells.^[19][20]

The official investigation ended without charges. The state medical examiner had finished its autopsy by the end of July, and the results went to a grand jury.^[21] On September 21, a Mississippi grand jury decided unanimously not to charge anyone. It reported "no credible evidence" of criminal conduct and found that the position, condition and location of his body were consistent with drowning.^[3] The state autopsy listed the cause and manner of death as undetermined.^[4] The family's independent autopsy had found no broken bones or deep tissue injuries and left unexplained a 12-inch injury to his scalp.^[5]

Days after the grand jury's decision, Crump released findings from a forensic examination of Wells's phone.^[6] The examiner said a user action had deleted data but that he could not determine who had done it, and lawyers for the friends said their clients had not deleted anything.^[22] On October 7, asked whether the FBI might investigate, President Donald Trump said, "We're looking at that."^[23] Messages from Wells's phone later showed suspicion and confusion among his friends after he disappeared.^[24]