Attorneys for the late teenager’s family confirmed they will work with a local prosecutor’s office to inspect the contents of the phone

Nolan Wells‘ family has agreed to work with a local prosecutor’s office to inspect the contents of his cellphone amid the ongoing investigation into his tragic death.

Wells disappeared during a Fourth of July outing to Horn Island, a barrier island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, after spending the holiday there with a group of friends. He was reported missing later that night, and his body was discovered two days later on the island’s northwestern tip.

Questions surrounding what happened to the late teenager’s cellphone have since emerged, with his parents raising concerns about the circumstances of their son’s death.

The family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, has now confirmed that they will work with investigators at a local prosecutor’s office to inspect the contents of Wells’ cellphone, following his parents’ concerns that messages may have been erased before they got it back.

Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, met Wednesday, July 15 with the local prosecutor, who briefed them on the investigation into their son’s death.

Christine and Elmore, who have called for a thorough and transparent investigation, said Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath shared little information as investigators continue working to piece together the teen’s final moments.

The couple spoke at a news conference outside the Jackson County Courthouse in Pascagoula after the meeting. They were joined by Crump, whose legal team is conducting its own investigation into Wells’ death and has commissioned an independent autopsy by a medical examiner in Washington, D.C.

The update regarding Wells’ cellphone was among the big takeaways from the meeting. It’s been confirmed that the phone will undergo “a mutual inspection” by experts for both the family and the district attorney’s office.

“We just want to make sure everybody else’s cellphone is also being downloaded,” Crump said at the end of the news conference.

No posts or messages were discovered on Wells’ phone from the 24 hours or so before his family retrieved it, which they reportedly found strange given that he was an avid Snapchat user.

Crump had previously said that he was planning to hire an expert to recover data from the phone or Wells’ social media accounts. This process is now moving forward.

Crump also previously questioned why a teenager would put a phone down, while Wells’ parents have said that they consider their son leaving his phone on the boat highly unusual and potentially a clue to something else.

However, Wells’ friend, Shepherd, offered a different view, telling ABC News that it was normal to leave a phone in a boat to protect it during gatherings like the party.

“All our friends are out there. Who are we communicating with? And we’re in salt water. We’re not in fresh water,” he said.

“We always taught him that if you go with a group, you stay with a group,” Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, previously told Good Morning America. “If you go with five, you come back with five. Do not separate from the group. Because I always said, ‘Safety is in numbers.’ So he knew to stay with this group, so why would he split from the group? I don’t know.”

The family has launched its own independent investigation into Wells’ death and commissioned a separate autopsy, saying they believe several aspects of the case remain unanswered. Officials are still waiting for toxicology testing before his autopsy report can be finalized.

Crump called the family’s work to discover what happened to Wells a “ferocious search” for truth and justice, PEOPLE previously reported.

He also told reporters that the case will be presented to a grand jury as part of the investigation, not necessarily as an indication of suspicion of a crime.

“The hope is that when this is presented to the grand jury, all relevant witnesses and evidence will be presented to them, so that we can have a fair and impartial investigation into the death of Nolan Wells,” Crump said at the news conference.

“Our lived experiences tell us that we must question everything, everybody’s role, law enforcement’s role. That is the lived experience as Black people in America,” he added

Wells’ funeral service will take place at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Miss., on Monday, July 20, following a visitation from 9 to 11 a.m. local time. “We want to celebrate Nolan, he would not want us to be sitting around crying and eating,” his mom, Christine, told reporters during the press conference.