Friend revisits Horn Island spot where Nolan Wells was last seen
Warren Hudson returned with Brandon Tatum to the Mississippi beach as questions continue around Wells’ death after July Fourth.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
One of Nolan Wells’ close friends has returned to the Mississippi beach where Wells was last seen alive and where his body later washed ashore, according to video from The Officer Tatum Show.
YouTuber Brandon Tatum traveled by boat to Horn Island with Warren Hudson, described by TMZ as one of Wells’ best friends and one of the people who had been with him there on the Fourth of July. In the video, the pair anchor offshore, walk through the water and come onto the same stretch of beach where Wells had been during the holiday gathering.
The footage shows the shoreline on a Monday afternoon, with several other boats visible nearby. Tatum and Hudson used the trip to challenge the idea that Wells had been on a remote beach with only his group around, according to TMZ’s account of the video.
Tatum said the area had been crowded on July Fourth, describing lines of boats anchored off the island while people celebrated America’s 250th birthday. TMZ said its own video from the holiday gathering matched that description and reported earlier that the footage could include one of the last images of Wells alive.
What Tatum says happened before Wells stayed behind
In the Horn Island video, Tatum said the boat Wells had arrived on was having mechanical trouble and was being towed away from the island. According to Tatum, Wells’ friends urged him to get on the boat with them as they were leaving, but they say he chose to remain on Horn Island.
Tatum claimed Wells’ friends had left the island by 4:30 p.m. TMZ also reported there were accounts that Wells was seen about two hours after that.
People involved in the search and rescue effort have said Wells’ body was found very near the area where he had last been seen, according to TMZ. The report did not state who saw Wells later in the day or what investigators have concluded about that timeline.
Family points to independent autopsy findings
Wells’ family has said an independent autopsy they commissioned found preliminary signs that he may have had an injury to the back of his head, according to TMZ’s reporting on the family’s announcement. The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, has said the autopsy left important questions unresolved, TMZ reported.
No official cause of death has been announced in the case, according to TMZ. The investigation remains ongoing.
The return to Horn Island adds a clearer look at the setting, but it does not answer the central questions facing Wells’ family: what happened after his friends left, how he died and whether the reported possible head injury is tied to his death.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.