Although little is known about Nolan Wells’ final moments before his mysterious death, his mom insists that the 18-year-old student-athlete wasn’t “sloppy drunk” during a Fourth of July party on Horn Island — and that a witness who saw him that afternoon told her Wells seemed “perfectly fine” when they spoke.
From the beginning, Christine Wonsley said that speculation about whether her son was intoxicated during the party was “gut-wrenching” to hear.
“If you were in our situation, how would you feel if there were millions of people who were saying, ‘Oh, hey, well, he was at an island. He was heavily drunk,’ ” Christine asked Don Lemon on an episode of The Don Lemon Show, which aired on Friday, July 31.
“And I’m like, ‘But was he though? Or is this a narrative that you guys want to use,’ ” she added at another point during the conversation.
Wonsley said that one of Wells’ football coaches told her that he saw Wells on July 4, between approximately 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time.
“He was like, ‘Christine, yeah, we talked for a while. We talked about college. We talked about his life, his plans,’ ” Christine remembered the coach saying. “And he was like, ‘He was perfectly fine.’ Because I think it had bothered him too that there was this narrative of, oh, he was sloppy drunk.”
According to a document with preliminary information from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, witnesses reportedly told investigators that Wells had been drinking heavily with friends before he disappeared, ABC News reported.
friend Warren Hudson told conservative commentator Brandon Tatum that people were drinking that day — “I mean, it’s Fourth of July. Everyone’s just trying to enjoy themselves” — but also that Wells seemed “completely fine” whenever they interacted.
In a previous interview with PEOPLE, Brian Trascher, vice president and spokesman for the United Cajun Navy, a rescue team that ᴀssisted in initial search efforts, said it’s not clear if Wells was drinking or how much he may have imbibed.
“My understanding is that even though there was pictures of the boys drinking beer and stuff, Nolan’s blood alcohol level was not at an intoxicated level,” he said.
Wells’ state autopsy, as well as a toxicology report, have yet to be released. The preliminary findings from the independent autopsy commissioned by the family were undetermined, but didn’t rule out foul play, the family’s attorney announced in late July
Wells’ parents have questioned the accounts that he voluntarily separated from his friends. They say this would have been extremely out of character for their son, in part because he also didn’t have his phone with him.
Some of the teen’s friends maintain that he stayed behind to talk to a young woman he met and that he left his phone on the boat in order to protect it from the ocean. His family got the phone back later that night after Hudson called Wells’ mom to report him missing.
Wells’ parents also called initial statements from officials — who suggested Wells may have drowned in the area known for rip tides — too quick a judgment.
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As speculation continues to swirl around the missing persons case, Christine just wants to know what happened to her child.
“I would like for everyone to just do their job,” Christine told Lemon of her message to officials at the state and local level as they prepare to release their findings about the investigation.
“I would like for everyone to treat this as if this was their child or their family member,” she continued, “and give us the same honesty, transparency, and respect that they would expect for them or their family.”
