Nolan Wells investigation includes boat search and GPS data review
A Mississippi marine report says investigators searched a friend's family boat and checked GPS data after Nolan Wells was found dead.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
The Nolan Wells investigation has expanded to boat searches and GPS data checks, according to a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources report obtained by TMZ.
The report says investigators began searching after Wells’ mother reported him missing on July 4. Wells had gone to Horn Island with friends and did not come home, according to TMZ and the marine resources report.
His body was found on July 6 near the area where he was last seen, TMZ reported.
What did police search in the Nolan Wells investigation?
On July 8, investigators met with Jerry Adkerson and Jennifer Pyron, identified in the report as the grandfather and mother of one of Wells’ friends, according to TMZ.
The report says Adkerson signed paperwork giving investigators permission to search their boat and collect GPS data from it. TMZ reported that the permission form allowed officers to take any document or item from the boat that they considered relevant to the investigation.
Investigators also met with another man, Bart Edmiston Jr., and pulled data from his boat, according to the report cited by TMZ.
GPS information can help investigators reconstruct where a boat traveled and when it moved. In a case centered on an island trip, that data may help authorities compare witness accounts with boat movements recorded by onboard systems.
What have witnesses said about Horn Island?
According to TMZ, Wells’ friends told police that he said he planned to stay behind on Horn Island to spend time with a girl. TMZ reported that the girl gave investigators a different account, saying Wells told her he was leaving with his friends.
The marine resources report also says investigators went to the home of a woman named Laney, who had originally been reported as being on Horn Island with the group that included Wells, according to TMZ.
TMZ reported that it is not clear whether Laney is the same girl referenced in the friends’ account. The report says Laney told investigators she was not on Horn Island on July 4 and instead had been on a different island with a separate group of friends.
The report does not describe a final conclusion about what happened to Wells. It details steps investigators took after his disappearance, including interviews, boat searches and data collection connected to the Fourth of July trip.
No arrests or charges were reported in connection with the details described by TMZ. The investigation described in the marine resources report remains focused on piecing together Wells’ movements before his body was found.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.