The search for Nolan Xavier Wells, a teen who vanished on Fourth of July at a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, was called off on Monday after authorities recovered a body.
While law enforcement is awaiting DNA testing to officially confirm the identity of the remains, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd told reporters that it matched Wells’s description and “there is no reason to believe it is not him.”
Wells, an 18-year-old football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, disappeared Saturday afternoon during a trip with friends to Horn Island, a barrier island that’s part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and is about ten miles off the coast. Authorities said that Wells’s friends left the island without him that afternoon. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said on Monday. Wells’s mother, Christine Wonsley, reported him missing that evening, triggering a search-and-rescue operation by authorities including the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard as well as the United Cajun Navy, an emergency-response organization.
A body believed to be Wells’s was recovered Monday morning by a park ranger. Ledbetter added that so far, authorities do not suspect foul play but an investigation is ongoing.
Following the recovery, Wonsley posted on Facebook thanking those who helped search for her son. She added, “His father Elmore Wonsley, our family, friends and I are absolutely devastated. My heart is broken for our sweet son who was always willing to cheer and uplift others. Nolan was a special soul, God took his time creating our son.”
Across social media, those who knew Wells remembered him as a kind and hard-working young man. “We are devastated by Nolan’s passing,” said Jake Bramlett, the head football coach at Ocean Springs High School, where Wells was a multisport athlete before graduating last year. “He was the kind of son, teammate, friend and student that every coach hopes to have in a program … Nolan was so much more than an outstanding football player. He carried himself with humility, treated others with respect, worked hard and led by example. His character spoke louder than his accomplishments, and he was loved deeply by his teammates and coaches.”
Friends of Wells’s family have also created a GoFundMe to help cover the funeral and memorial expenses, as well as any additional costs his loved ones are currently facing. “While no words can ease the pain of this unimaginable loss, we are deeply grateful for every person who searched, prayed, shared his story, and stood beside our family during these difficult days,” the fundraiser reads.
We’ve reached out to Wells’s family for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
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