Body of missing 18-year-old Nolan Wells found on Mississippi island

College freshman’s mother identified his body after he was reported missing following 4 July boat trip with friends

On 4 July, Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and a group of friends went on a boat trip to Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Wells’s friends all returned back home that evening, but Wells did not, prompting his mother to report him missing and ask for help on social media, triggering a two-day search that caught national attention. That search came to an end on Monday, when a body was found on the island. On Tuesday, Wells’s mother, Christine Wonsley, identified the body as belonging to Wells.

“His father, our family, friends and I are absolutely devastated,” Wonsley wrote in a Facebook post. “My heart is broken for my sweet son who was always willing to cheer and uplift others. Nolan was a special soul, God took his time creating our son.”