Body of Mississippi college football player found on Horn Island

The body of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells was found Monday on the northwest end of Horn Island, near the place where he was last seen with friends three days earlier. Authorities said the body was believed to have washed ashore as searchers worked the barrier island off the Mississippi coast.

Wells, a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College who previously played at Ocean Springs High School, would have turned 19 next month. He was last seen around 3 p.m. Saturday, July 4, 2026, after traveling to Horn Island by boat with a group of friends. His mother, Christine Wonsley, reported him missing that night.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remained active, and Sheriff John Ledbetter said Wells’ friends were cooperating with investigators. Officials said the cause of death had not been determined and that they were waiting on autopsy and DNA results before drawing any conclusions.

Search efforts stretched across agencies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with deputies working alongside the Department of Marine Resources, Gulf Islands National Seashore and the U.S. Coast Guard. The body was recovered Monday, July 6, 2026, on the island’s northwest end, the same stretch of sand and marsh where Wells disappeared after the holiday outing.

The family has retained civil-rights attorney Ben Crump, who said they want a thorough and transparent investigation. Crump said the legal team plans an independent review and will seek records, witness accounts and autopsy findings. Wonsley also said the family is looking for videos and other documentation from Horn Island as they try to piece together Wells’ final hours.

The case has resonated far beyond Jackson County because it involves the death of a young Black student-athlete on an isolated Gulf barrier island during a holiday weekend, at a moment when the family is pressing law enforcement for a fuller accounting of what happened and what evidence exists. The unanswered questions now sit with the records, the witness statements and the medical findings that investigators have not yet released.