INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Nolan Wells' parents are not letting go. On Monday, Christine Wells Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley stood beside civil rights attorney Ben Crump at a press conference in Inglewood, California, and renewed their call for a federal investigation into the death of their 18-year-old son — this time naming a specific agency: the National Park Service.
THE ASK — Crump read aloud a letter from Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida to Jessica Bowron, the acting director of the National Park Service, asking the agency's Investigative Services Branch — its own team of federal criminal investigators — to open a "prompt and exhaustive investigation" into Nolan's death. Rep. Maxine Waters of California has also signed on in support. The family wants the FBI involved too. The connection is direct: Nolan disappeared July 4 during a boating trip to Horn Island, a barrier island off the Mississippi coast, and his body was found in the water nearby two days later. Horn Island sits inside the Gulf Islands National Seashore — federal land managed by the Park Service, which gives the agency jurisdiction to investigate.
WHY FEDERAL — The family is turning to Washington because the local case is closed. In September, a Jackson County grand jury returned a "no true bill," finding insufficient evidence to charge anyone. The district attorney also said there was no evidence the death was racially motivated, and the grand jury deemed the death consistent with drowning. But the autopsies tell a murkier story: both the state autopsy and an independent one commissioned by the family list the cause and manner of death as undetermined. The state found bruising on the back of Nolan's head and neck; the independent exam found a larger area of blunt-force injury to the back of his head. Neither found water in his lungs or stomach.
THE PARENTS — "We have been left with more questions and heartbreak than any answers," Christine Wonsley said. Her husband was just as direct: "We're not asking for special treatment. We're asking for what any father would do for his child, and that's to find the truth." Days before the press conference, Crump's team released a forensic analysis of Nolan's phone showing it was last unlocked by facial recognition at 2:17 p.m. while he was on the boat — and that some Snapchat messages had been deleted. Ninety-three days after their son died, his parents are still waiting for the federal government to act.
Sources
- Baller Alert — Nolan Wells family pushes for National Park Service probe
- Front Page Detectives — Family urges FBI probe after grand jury findings
- CW7 Arizona — Family renews calls for federal investigation
- Unheard Voices — Family, national leaders renew call for federal investigation