GPS data from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, obtained by CBS News, has tracked the movements of the boat Nolan Wells was on when he headed to Horn Island on July 4. The Ocean Springs, Mississippi, teen was found dead in the water on the northwest end of Horn Island on Monday morning, July 6. Wells went missing on July 4 after taking a boat to the island with friends. The search for the teen was called off after a body was found by a park ranger on Monday, July 6.
The vessel left a dock at approximately 9:56 a.m. that morning, per the data. It arrived at Horn Island at 11:14 a.m. CBS News previously reported that Wells was not on the boat when it left the island.
The GPS data shows that the boat left Horn Island at 4:31 p.m. and returned to its original departure dock. Then, it traveled into Fort Bayou around 5:52 p.m. and then returned to the dock at 6:06 p.m.
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The boat went to the Fort Bayou boat launch at 7:19 p.m. later the same evening, according to the MSDMR report, from where it traveled over land — presumably towed by a vehicle — to the Biloxi, Mississippi, residence of the boat's owners.
According to the MSDMR report, the boat's owner, his mother and another person who was reportedly with Wells on the day of the incident have cooperated with the probe.
{{/usCountry}}According to the MSDMR report, the boat's owner, his mother and another person who was reportedly with Wells on the day of the incident have cooperated with the probe.
{{/usCountry}}The report of the department ends on July 5, after notification that the Jackson County Sheriff's Office would be taking over as the lead investigative agency.
Nolan Wells’ family meets with DA
Christine Wonsley, Wells’ mother, met with the local district attorney in Mississippi on Wednesday, July 15, for the first time since Wells’ body was found, per ABC News. Once the Jackson County Sheriff's Department investigation into Wells' death is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury by the Jackson County DA's office.
However, the DA’s office explained that convening a grand jury does not indicate that there is any criminality. It is a standard procedure followed for most unnatural or suspicious deaths in the county.
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Wells’ family has hired attorney Ben Crump, who said that after the family's "respectful meeting" with DA Angel Myers McIlrath, the DA said "she will turn this case over to [the grand jury] once they have collected all the information and finished their investigation."
The family is conducting an independent investigation. Crump said that the family and the DA agreed to "have a mutual inspection" of Wells' phone, "with our experts and their experts."