Nolan Wells heard arguing over phone in vid, attorney says – as family insist messages deleted when friends returned it

NOLAN Wells was allegedly heard arguing over his cellphone in a video taken before his death.

Attorney Ben Crump said the footage captured the 18-year-old demanding, “Give me my freaking phone,” during the July 4 boating trip from which he never returned.

The troubling footage circulating on social media appears to offer a possible glimpse into the college football player’s final hours on Horn Island.

It allegedly shows a tense confrontation near the shoreline as several people gather beside boats lining the beach.

The person who posted the clip claimed it was filmed at 4.01 pm near the west tip of the island, shortly after a “big fight” had broken out on shore.

“We were parked right next to the boat Nolan was allegedly on,” the poster wrote.

“Hope this helps in any way. This was immediately after the big fight that broke out up on the shore.”

The poster later stressed that they could not identify Nolan in the footage.

The U.S. Sun has watched and listened to the footage but was unable to establish exactly what was being said or identify who was arguing on the beach.

Authorities have also not confirmed whether the footage is authentic or connected to his death.

Crump said other young people who were on the island identified Nolan as the person heard demanding the device in the recording.

His family have separately raised concerns over alleged deleted messages after the device was returned by friends who left Horn Island without him.

The college football player vanished after traveling with friends to Horn Island, Mississippi, where his body was found two days later.

Crump said the alleged argument has raised fresh questions about why Nolan’s phone left the island with his friends while he remained behind.

Authorities believe Nolan likely drowned and have said they have not found evidence of foul play.

But Crump said the phone dispute, alleged deleted messages and differing accounts of Nolan’s final movements have left his family demanding an independent investigation.

“What we’ve been told does not make sense,”  Al Sharpton said, calling for “the most thorough, most objective investigation.”

Crump added: “The glaring contradictions will just jump at you.”

“This does not smell right,” Sharpton said.

Crump also questioned the early drowning theory, saying: “If he drowned and nobody sees him drown? Nobody offers ᴀssistance, nobody trying to help? It’s not adding up.”

Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter previously said Nolan’s friends told investigators that he voluntarily stayed on Horn Island when they left.

Christine said she could not understand why her son would make that choice.

“That I cannot answer,” she said. “I can’t fathom why he would.”

Nolan’s father, Elmore Wonsley, said his son had always been warned never to split from a group while away from home.

“I don’t know why he would,” he told Good Morning America.

“We always taught him that if you go with a group you stay with a group.”

He recalled Nolan telling him about trips to parties with college friends in other cities.

“I’d tell him, you go with five you come back with five. Do not separate from the group,” his father said.

“I always say safety is in numbers, and he would say, ‘Yes, sir.’”

He added: “So why he would split from his group, I don’t know.”

Christine said trips to Horn Island were common for the teen and his friends.

He had visited the undeveloped island several times over the previous year and would usually check in once he was safely back on the mainland.

“This time there was no call or text from him,” she said. “This time it was from his friend.”

One of Nolan’s friends contacted the Coast Guard at around 11pm on July 4 to report him missing, Ledbetter told ABC News.

Christine separately called the sheriff’s office at around midnight leading into July 5.

Elmore said several of Nolan’s friends were already outside the family home when he and Christine arrived and began asking what had happened.

He said the exchange became tense as the family tried to obtain Nolan’s keys and gather information.

“Things got a little tense,” Elmore recalled. “I need ya guys to calm down.”

The family said they have not spoken directly with Nolan’s friends since his death, although the parents knew some of them from high school.

Crump said some people who were on the island have since retained attorneys. No one has been accused of a crime.

Crump has also pointed to conflicting accounts over whether Nolan returned to the boat after speaking with a woman at around 3pm.

The woman reportedly said Nolan told her he was heading back to the vessel after their conversation.

But his friends claimed Nolan told them he planned to remain on the island with her, according to the attorney.

“She’s saying he went and got on the boat. They saying he didn’t get on the boat. So which is it?” Crump said.

Horn Island can only be reached by private boat and has no permanent staff, drinking water or other facilities.

The sheriff’s office has asked anyone who was near the island’s northwest tip to provide pictures or footage that may show Nolan or an alleged altercation.

Investigators are also seeking witnesses who may have heard an argument, disturbance or any other unusual activity.

A Mississippi state medical examiner carried out an autopsy on Tuesday, but no official cause of death has been released.

Toxicology testing and other findings could take several weeks.

Nolan’s family is now having his body flown more than 800 miles to Washington, DC, for an independent autopsy.

Crump said the examination had been expected sooner, but bad weather delayed the transportation of Nolan’s body to Washington.

He said the independent findings could now be available within the next few days.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is paying for the independent autopsy, while actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry is covering Nolan’s funeral expenses, Crump said.

Crump said Nolan’s father described his six-foot-one, 180-pound son as an “elite athlete” who knew how to swim.

“He said that his son could swim,” the attorney said.

“And so, they’re just not accepting that Nolan drowned accidentally.”

Nolan played wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College and was due to return to school on Monday.