Attorney Ben Crump announces plans to tap experts in Nolan Wells investigation
During a recent press conference attorney Ben Crump revealed plans to work with audio engineering and oceanic experts in Nolan Wells case.
This week a number of new details surfaced surrounding the Nolan Wells investigation. Among those was the release of the audio recording of a call that was reportedly made from the boat Wells was on July 4. The call to Sea Tow, a private boat-towing company, quickly went viral after an independent audio engineer, Jeanetta Brantley, used her skills to enhance the background audio on the call.
During a press conference on July 30, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been working with the family, announced his team’s plans following the recent discoveries.
“We are announcing that we have the audio from the officials, and we have retained and are consulting with some of the foremost audio engineering experts to review those audio tapes from the Sea Tow call in its entirety,” Crump said, also sharing plans to consult with oceanic engineering experts to discuss “how these are lining up. The fact that they said Nolan’s body was found in the same location where they say they left him…So we want to know how is that possible with the oceanic tides? You got low tides and high tides. It’s not adding up.”
“So we are going to dot every I and cross every T until we find out what happened to Nolan Wells,” Crump emphasized.
This press conference comes days after Crump released the preliminary results of the independent autopsy during which Dr. Roger Mitchell, a board-certified forensic pathologist, found that the cause of death and manner of death to be “undetermined pending investigation.” At the time, the forensic pathologist reported not being able to assess the cause of death due to a number of missing elements at the time of his examination, specifically Wells’ throat. In an update to the press, Crump revealed that his team is working with Dr. Mitchell for him to be able to examine the late teens throat.
“We are hopeful that they will discuss with Dr. Mitchell the photographs and observations made at the time when Noah was first discovered,” Crump said, referring to a hopeful collaboration with Mississippi officials who conducted the initial autopsy. “Because Dr. Mitchell did not get an opportunity until July 10 to be able to examine his body, and at that time, we know the airways and the lungs had already been dissected and so forth. So we can’t tell if there was the presence of water or not. That would suggest whether he drowned or not.”
While Crump’s team has announced the preliminary findings from the independent autopsy, Mississippi officials have not released the results of their autopsy or toxicology reports. Despite the lack of official details being released, social media has been filled with headlines accusing the late teen of “heavily drinking” at the time of his disappearance, a narrative Nolan’s mother described as a “distraction” and that many media experts called a sign of bias.
“It has been 27 days since we have been able to talk to our son, to hug him, to tell him we love him. This has been the most difficult time we have ever had,” she shared. “Today we are begging because I’m not too proud to beg. If anyone knows anything, as friends, strangers, please call the hotline because we will not be able to rest until we get answers. Please understand that all of these distractions, these other questions that people, the attacks that people have sent our way, just know we will not be distracted. We are ready to do whatever we need to do as his parents to continue advocating for him, because Nolan is not here. He is not here to speak for himself. He is not here to tell us what happened. So again, we will not rest until we get answers. And if you know something, you need to let us know. Please do not be afraid.”