Trump says he is considering FBI involvement in Nolan Wells death inquiry
The president said the White House was looking at the possibility after Wells’s family called for a federal investigation. The reports do not establish that the FBI has opened a case.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, October 7, that he was considering asking the FBI to look into the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old college freshman found dead on Horn Island, off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, in July. His family has sought a federal investigation after a local grand jury declined to indict anyone. Trump’s remarks establish that the possibility is under consideration; the cited reports do not establish that he has made a formal request or that the FBI has opened an investigation.
Asked by reporters at the White House whether he planned to push for an independent FBI investigation, Trump replied: “Well, we’re looking at that. Yes, we are.” His comments followed a call from Wells’s family and their lawyer, Ben Crump, for federal authorities to examine his disappearance and death. The sequence matters: the family’s request preceded the president’s statement, while any decision by the FBI remains unconfirmed.
What happened to Nolan Wells on Horn Island
Wells went missing during a Fourth of July weekend trip with friends from nearby Ocean Springs. His body was found on July 6 on the northwest end of Horn Island, a barrier island off the Mississippi coast. The Guardian reports that his cause and manner of death remain undetermined. Those unresolved findings are central to the family’s request for further examination.
A Jackson County grand jury declined to indict anyone in connection with his death. Reuters reported that the decision was unanimous and quoted District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath as saying there was no evidence to support allegations that the death was racially motivated. A decision not to bring charges resolves the question put to that grand jury; it does not supply a definitive medical cause of death.
Why the drowning findings remain disputed
The Guardian reported that the grand jury determined Wells drowned. The Associated Press reported on September 24 that both the official and independent autopsies had been described as inconclusive. The Guardian also reported that a family-commissioned examination by forensic pathologist Roger A. Mitchell Jr. found no evidence of drowning, citing an absence of water in Wells’s stomach, lungs and throat, and noted bruising on his body. Those are attributed findings from that examination, rather than a settled determination of how Wells died.
Crump rejected the drowning assessment in a statement: “We do not believe Nolan drowned, and the blunt force trauma to his head cannot be ignored or explained away.” He said the family would keep seeking answers. His statement explains the family’s position, while the medical and grand jury accounts in the published reporting leave the cause of death unresolved.
The AP’s account of the grand jury report adds context to the bruising. It said the panel found that Wells had not been in a fight or altercation on the island. A witness testified that Wells slipped awkwardly from a boat around 3:30 p.m. on July 4 but continued socializing. The grand jury could not determine whether that fall caused bruising and said the fall was not fatal. Those findings do not establish an alternative cause of death.
What the cellphone reporting does and does not show
The AP reported that Crump released information from a forensic examination of a cellphone, but not the full report of messages. The grand jury had access to 282 pages of Snapchat conversations, according to the panel’s report and Crump. Forensic examiner Andrew Garrett said some Snap messages had been deleted, but he could not assign intent to those deletions. The AP also reported that no evidence had been presented showing someone unlocked Wells’s phone after it left the island and before his family recovered it.
That limited record matters because the case has drawn national scrutiny and online speculation. The published cellphone account does not establish why messages were deleted. It also does not turn speculation about Wells’s final hours into a verified account. The full forensic report and complete underlying investigative record are not included in the cited AP report.
Has the FBI agreed to investigate?
TheGrio reported, citing People, that the FBI had previously said it would not investigate because of a lack of evidence of foul play. TheGrio said its own request for FBI comment after Trump’s remarks received no immediate response. That earlier reported position cannot establish what the bureau will decide after the president’s comments, and the available reports contain no confirmed new FBI decision.
Crump said on October 7 that the coming Sunday would mark 100 days since the family began looking into Wells’s death, and that its team was ready to work with the federal government. The family’s offer and Trump’s statement leave the next institutional step open: whether a federal agency will take up the request. For now, the documented change is the president’s public consideration of FBI involvement, following the family’s appeal.
Sources and context
- Trump says he may ask FBI to look into Nolan Wells deathReuters, republished by Investing.com
- Trump says White House is ‘looking at’ FBI investigation into Nolan Wells’ deaththeGrio
- Trump says he is considering asking FBI to investigate the death of Nolan WellsThe Guardian
- Lawyers for Nolan Wells’ family highlight cellphone data, autopsy report and push for investigationThe Associated Press
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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