Nolan Xaiver Wells was born on August 9th, 2007, to Christine and Elmore Wonsley. Nolan Wells was an 18 year old African America/ Asian American football player. On July 4th around 11 a.m Nolan and three friends (that we know of) set out to Horn Island. Which is an island on the outskirts of Mississippi. Around 4 p.m that day Nolan went missing. His three Friends that he left with say he did not get back on the boat with them to come home, and that he said he was going to catch a ride with someone else. On July 6th, 2026 his body was found on the shores of horn island. When the mother and father got ahold of his phone. All his snapchat history was gone, and there was messages out of his phone missing.
When Black people hear about things like this, it makes us angry. We know if the roles were reversed, and if it was a white boy with three Black boys. They would be immediately put in jail. But as soon as it’s a Black teenager, nothing is being said. Our President spoke out about white farmers being killed. But now it’s silent when it’s one of us? Not only that but so many popular news articles haven’t said a peep. How fair is that?
It gets even better. One of the white teens’ mothers is a judge. Who spoke out about her son’s involvement. She claims her son has no involvement. Then why is the boat at your house being “thoroughly cleaned”. They have never done that before. On top of that. After leaving Horn Island at 4:31 p.m. They arrived at their primary dock roughly an hour later. But, they did not stay there. They took a trip to Fort Bayou. Twice!
You might be thinking “Why does that matter?” It matters because they never mentioned it before. The three teens said they went back HOME without him. Not that they made any other stops before going home.
When detectives first went to Horn island to search for Nolan’s body. Nothing was found, when they came back from break. The body was there. Professionals searched and found nothing. They took a break. Came back, and the body is there? There are a lot of missing pieces to this story. There are a lot of shady things going on.
Like they say history repeats itself. Thinking back to the Tamla Horsford case. Once again the only Black friend, she was found faced down in the backyard of a slumber party. So when you wonder why Black people are so “angry”. Think about these times. Think about those names. Or even go back years. From slavery, to Jim crow, the KKK, etc. We weren’t even considered human, we were labor and property. For white people. The last words Nolan spoke to his mother was “Hey, mom, I’m about to go, love you.”
May Nolan Wells rest in peace. His name will forever be remembered.
Kai’Yah Hall-Swan – Dana Hall School – DMSF Class of 2030
Photo Credit: TungCheung – Adobe Stock