SerpApi.Org
For Nolan Wells’ family, the most disturbing revelation from his independent autopsy wasn’t simply that doctors couldn’t determine how he died–it was that they couldn’t examine one of the most critical parts of his body because it was missing.
“There’s so many people out in the public asking all of these questions, but the only question we have is, ‘What happened to our son?'” Wells’ mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, said during a Wednesday (July 22) press conference alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump and NAACP President Derrick Johnson.
For a Black family already searching for answers, new findings have intensified concerns about how Mississippi authorities have handled the investigation from the beginning.
The independent autopsy, performed by renowned forensic pathologist and President of the National Medical Association, Dr. Roger Mitchell, stops short of providing a definitive answer. According to the report, both the cause and manner of death remain undetermined, while the exact date of death is also unknown.
The case also arrives against the backdrop of Mississippi’s painful history of suspicious deaths involving Black people–particularly cases in which bodies are found in rural areas or waterways and families are left questioning official investigations, as Crump noted in the press conference. While every case is unique, advocates say that history has fueled skepticism and heightened demands for transparency in Wells’ death.
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Mitchell noted that advanced decomposition of Wells’ body significantly complicated the examination, making it difficult to determine whether certain findings occurred before or after death. During a layered dissection of the back of Wells’ neck, the report identified “a 12-by-8-inch focal area of rare discoloration.”
“There are no lacerations of the overlying skin nor fractures of the underlying skull,” the report states. “These findings are inconclusive for perimortem injury due to both the extensive decomposition and the absence of associated injuries.”
Still, Crump said the finding cannot simply be ignored.
“He found rare discoloration when he cut into the back of the head. We actually saw the pictures of it,” Crump said. “It’s significant.”
Perhaps even more troubling, Mitchell was unable to examine Wells’ throat because it was not included with the body sent from Mississippi for the second autopsy.
“We got the autopsy without his neck. We got the body without his neck,” Crump said, adding that the original Mississippi medical examiner still retains portions of Wells’ remains. While it’s common for examiners to keep parts of a body for additional testing, in Wells’ case, missing pieces only fuel more speculation.
The pathologist could not rule out an injury to the neck as a possible cause of death. Nor could he rule out foul play.
Questions also remain about whether Wells drowned, whether his lungs contained water, how long he had been in the water, what his last meal was and ultimately how he ended up face down and fully clothed in the water. Toxicology results are also still pending.
The independent autopsy was funded by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose Know Your Rights Camp has supported families seeking independent forensic reviews in high-profile death investigations.
For Christine Wells, the lack of answers has only deepened the family’s anguish.
“It is our hope that our local authorities will do what they need to do,” she said. “Because us having the preliminary results and hearing nothing from them is heartbreaking and it’s concerning.”
For now, the second autopsy has not solved the mystery surrounding Nolan Wells’ death. Instead, it underscores just how much investigators–and his family–still don’t know.
“This is only another part of the puzzle,” Crump said. “We still have more questions than we have answers at this time.”
