Nolan Wells’ Parents Break Silence In Emotional 1st Interview: We ‘Want Answers’

Nolan Wells’ Parents Break Silence In Emotional 1st Interview: We ‘Want Answers’

Nolan Wells’ parents are speaking out for the first time on their grief and lingering questions after the 18-year-old was found dead following his disappearance over the July 4 weekend. Christine and Elmore Wonsley, along with their attorney Ben Crump, sat with “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan for an emotional interview on July 10 in which they reflected on their sorrow over Wells’ loss and explained their confusion about what led to his death. Wells was last seen on Mississippi’s Horn Island during a holiday boating trip with friends. Crump previously confirmed to NBC News that Christine had reported her son missing that night when he didn’t return with the others in his group. A two-day search culminated in a park ranger finding Wells’ body ashore on the island. A cause of death is yet to be determined, but Crump has said that the Wonsleys don’t accept that their son could have drowned accidentally and are launching an independent investigation into what happened. Both Christine and Elmore explained on “GMA” that they don’t understand why Wells would have chosen to stay on the island without his friends. “We always taught him that if you go with a group, you stay with a group,” Elmore said. “If you go with five, you come back with five. Do not separate from the group. Because I always said, ‘Safety is in numbers.’ So he knew to stay with this group, so why would he split from the group? I don’t know.” Per The Associated Press, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said that Wells’ friends are cooperating with authorities. “From the people we’ve talked to, it sounds like he chose to stay on the island with the assumption that he was going to ride back to the mainland with someone else,” he told the outlet of Wells. Crump, however, claims that there are inconsistent accounts about whether Wells intended to join his friends back to the mainland. Local police are also asking for anyone who was on Horn Island on July 4 to turn in possible photos or videos of Wells, while Crump and the Wonsleys shared hope to uncover more details through a forensic analysis of Wells’ phone. Wells would have turned 19 in August and was preparing to start the new football season at Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he was a wide receiver.