Newly obtained audio and GPS data are providing the clearest timeline yet of the boat’s movements before Nolan Wells was reported missing on Horn Island.
NBC News obtained audio through a records request capturing the group calling for emergency towing assistance on the afternoon of July 4, after their boat’s bilge pump failed.
“Hey, we’re at the west tip of Horn, and our bilge pump stopped working. We’re going. We’re sinking. Can you all please come?” the person operating the boat said, per NBC News. “I want to get this boat unsank and towed back.”
A dispatcher can be heard responding, asking whether everyone onboard was accounted for and in good health. The caller confirmed they were.
The exchange appears to confirm that everyone aboard the vessel at the time was accounted for, though it does not establish whether Wells was expected to be on the boat.
The audio appears to support the account of Chancery Court Judge Ashlee Cole — the mother of Warren, one of the friends who was on the island with Wells — that the boat developed a bilge-pump problem and left the island around 4:30 p.m. Cole wrote on Facebook that her son last saw Wells around 3 p.m.
Separately, CBS News obtained GPS data from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources that tracks the boat’s movements throughout the day.
According to the data, the boat left a private dock at approximately 9:56 a.m. on July 4 and arrived at Horn Island at 11:14 a.m. It departed the island at 4:31 p.m. and returned to its original departure dock before traveling into Fort Bayou around 5:52 p.m.
The boat returned to the dock at 6:06 p.m. and later went to the Fort Bayou boat launch at 7:19 p.m., after which it was transported overland — presumably towed by a vehicle — to the Biloxi, Mississippi, residence of the boat’s owners, per CBS News.
According to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources report obtained by CBS News, the boat’s owner, his mother, and one other individual who was reportedly with Wells on July 4 all cooperated with the investigation.
The MSDMR report ends on July 5, following notification that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office would take over as the lead investigative agency.
Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, told CBS Mornings last week that he does not believe his son chose to stay behind. “I don’t believe he decided to stay on the island by himself. It just doesn’t — that’s not his character,” he said.
Attorneys for the Wells family said their experts will work with the district attorney’s office on a mutual inspection of Wells’ cellphone. The family has previously raised concerns about the phone’s location history and whether content was missing when it was recovered.
The case will ultimately be presented to a grand jury once the Jackson County Sheriff’s investigation is complete.
The local district attorney has said that grand-jury review is routine in cases involving unnatural or suspicious deaths and should not be interpreted as an indication that a crime was committed.
The official autopsy report, including toxicology findings, remains pending.
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