The family of Nolan Wells, the Mississippi teen who vanished during a trip with friends to Horn Island before his body was recovered, says former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick stepped in to help pay for an independent autopsy away from Mississippi, a move attorney Ben Crump says was necessary because of what he believes to be “a serious trust issue there.”
Wells’ body was flown from Mississippi to Washington, D.C., so the exam could be conducted by an examiner with no ties to local law enforcement, Crump said during an appearance on “Good Morning America” alongside Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley.
“There is an issue of trust here that is really important,” Crump said, pointing to what he calls a pattern of inconsistencies in the official account — including claims that Wells drowned, despite no witnesses reporting seeing it happen.
The family says the version of events shared by the friends who traveled with Wells doesn’t add up. They say he was known for sticking close to his group and always checking in, but that didn’t happen the day he died. When his parents recovered his phone, they found his Snapchat accounts wiped clean and location data that conflicted with what they knew of their son and what his friends described.
Christine Wonsley said the family wants transparency and the same standard of investigation any other family would receive. Elmore Wonsley described his son as a quiet leader who led by example, someone focused on building a future for his family and his younger brother.
Kaepernick’s involvement comes through his Know Your Rights Camp organization, which regularly funds independent, second autopsies for Black families who don’t trust initial findings from local officials — including the family of Trey Reed, the Delta State University student found hanging on campus this past September. Advocates say the effort exists because families often can’t otherwise afford outside review, especially in cases echoing Mississippi’s history of unresolved deaths.
The Wonsley family says they’re looking for honesty and transparency and answers about what really happened to their son.
