Preliminary independent autopsy results for Nolan Wells’ death are released

By Alisha Ebrahimji, Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) — The cause of death for Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old whose body was found July 6 along the shoreline of Horn Island off the Mississippi coast, has not been determined, according to preliminary independent autopsy results announced Wednesday.

An independent investigator ruled the manner of death to be undetermined pending investigation, family attorney Ben Crump said.

The independent autopsy, which was requested by Wells’ family and was privately funded, is separate from the official autopsy performed by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office on July 7. Results from the state’s autopsy investigation have not been released, pending the outcome of standard toxicology tests.

Wells and his friends went on a Fourth of July boat trip to Horn Island — an uninhabited stretch of federally protected land off the Mississippi coast that authorities said was busy with holiday revelers.

When photos from the trip showed the Black teen surrounded by White friends, his death sparked nationwide attention and speculation that race may have played a role, given Mississippi’s fraught racial history.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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