A July 4 boat trip, an 18-year-old’s death and a family’s search for answers in the Deep South

A July 4 boat trip, an 18-year-old’s death and a family’s search for answers in the Deep South 1 of 5 | A person holds a picture of Nolan Xavier Wells during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 2 of 5 | Christine Wonsley, mother of Nolan Xavier Wells, reacts as she speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 3 of 5 | Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, react during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 4 of 5 | Elmore Wonsley, father of Nolan Xavier Wells, speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 5 of 5 | Ben Crump, civil rights attorney, speaks during a news conference with Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 1 of 5 | A person holds a picture of Nolan Xavier Wells during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 1 of 5 A person holds a picture of Nolan Xavier Wells during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Christine Wonsley, mother of Nolan Xavier Wells, reacts as she speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 2 of 5 Christine Wonsley, mother of Nolan Xavier Wells, reacts as she speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, react during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 3 of 5 Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, react during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Elmore Wonsley, father of Nolan Xavier Wells, speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 4 of 5 Elmore Wonsley, father of Nolan Xavier Wells, speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Ben Crump, civil rights attorney, speaks during a news conference with Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 5 of 5 Ben Crump, civil rights attorney, speaks during a news conference with Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] New York (AP) — A week ago, 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells took a boat trip with friends to celebrate the Fourth of July on an island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. He never came back.Two days later, he was found dead. What happened, Wells’ parents say, is a mystery riddled with conflicting stories, implausible explanations and missing details. It is a case shadowed by the state’s fraught racial history and lingering distrust in law enforcement.At a news conference Friday in New York City, Christine and Elmore Wonsley called for a thorough and transparent investigation into their son’s death, skeptical of claims that Wells told his friends to leave the island without him and suggestions that he, an elite athlete who knew how to swim, had accidentally drowned.Wells’ body was found early Monday along the shore of Horn Island, about 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) off the Mississippi coast, more than a day after he was last seen alive. The roughly 11-mile long (17.7 kilometer) spit of land is near the Alabama state line. The island is uninhabited and accessible only by boat. About 200 people were there on July 4, the family’s lawyers said.“We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn’t come home,” Christine Wonsley said, looking upward several times as she stood alongside her lawyer, Ben Crump, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who will officiate Wells’ funeral. Crump said Wells’ family has commissioned an independent autopsy, performed by a forensic pathologist in Washington, D.C. with no ties to Mississippi law enforcement, while they await the results of an official autopsy, which could take weeks. They also plan to employ experts to recover messages that appeared to have been deleted from his cellphone, Crump said. They will eventually turn the device over to authorities, he said.