The cellphone belonging to Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old whose body was discovered on Horn Island, will undergo a "mutual inspection" by authorities and independent experts. This decision comes after concerns were raised that content on the device may have been deleted.
Wells did not return with friends from a boat trip to Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast on July 4th. His body was found two days later. Police have stated that no evidence of foul play has been uncovered thus far. However, the family of the college football player is pursuing their own investigation.
Questions have surfaced regarding why Wells left his phone behind before his companions returned to shore, and whether Snapchat content was erased prior to the device being returned to his family. Representatives for Wells' parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, met with Jackson County District Attorney Angel McIlrath on Wednesday to discuss the case.
"There will be a grand jury that she will turn this case over to once they have collected all the information and finished their investigation," stated civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, following the meeting at the Jackson County Courthouse in Pascagoula, Mississippi. "We also agreed that we would have a mutual inspection of the cellphone, with our experts and their experts."