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Who's Katie McCormack? Mystery girl linked to Nolan Wells identified; her sister's conflicting account complicates probe
Nolan Wells, who disappeared on Horn Island, was seen conversing with Katie McCormack, whose sister's statement contradicts accounts from Wells' friends.
The identity of the mystery girl with whom Nolan Wells was said to have interacted on Horn Island just before his disappearance has been revealed. However, this disclosure, along with new contradictory narratives, has only intensified the inquiries surrounding his demise.
Eighteen-year-old Wells had traveled to the island, situated 10 miles off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, with a group of close friends on July 4. His companions departed without him, allegedly because the college football star chose to remain behind to speak with a girl — identified as Katie McCormack, 19, according to the Daily Mail.
Nolan Wells probe update: Katie McCormack's sister gives different account
However, McCormack's sister offered a contrasting version of events regarding the ill-fated trip compared to the accounts given by Wells' friends.
The unfortunate teenager had dedicated five hours to celebrating the Fourth of July alongside hundreds of fellow college students on Horn Island when, late in the afternoon, his friends began to feel alarmed as their boat began to fill with water, necessitating a hurried return to shore to prevent it from sinking.
Wells informed his friends to return to the mainland without him, as he was deeply engaged in conversation with McCormack, according to Daily Mail.
On July 7, Ashlee Cole, the mother of Wells' close friend Warren Hudson, who was present on the island, issued a statement saying that the group of friends made their way back to the mainland after experiencing an issue with their boat's bilge pump, but Wells chose to remain behind.
Katie McCormack's sister gives different account
In contrast, Gracie, McCormack's 23-year-old sister, contests the assertion that Wells stayed on the island to converse with her.
Gracie states that McCormack believed Wells would have returned to the mainland by boat with his friends.
“Katie had a conversation and assumed that Nolan was getting ready to get on the boat he came out on,” she told the Daily Mail.
“Katie assumed the ‘friends’ telling him to get on the boat wouldn’t have left him,” Gracie added.
McCormack, who comes from a few towns east of Ocean Springs where Wells resided, was on the island with a different group of friends and was ultimately taken home by her brother Tony and his fiancée Eva Criddle, according to Gracie.
The sister further claimed that they have provided all the information to Nolan's mother and the authorities.
There has been no indication of any wrongdoing on McCormack’s part.
Here's what Katie McCormack said
While McCormack has not made any public statements since Wells went missing and was subsequently found dead, she did respond to a social media post that defended her, as per Daily Mail. “I’m good, and all I can do is pray for healing over them. This is a terrible situation all in all," she said.
The differing narratives from witnesses present on the island who interacted with Wells have raised concerns for the mourning family, who have enlisted the services of prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump to conduct an investigation.
“She saying he went and got on the boat. They saying he didn’t get on the boat. So which is it?” the attorney told reporters, adding that somebody is not telling the truth.
Authorities found Wells’ body on July 6 in the water off the island.
