Phone Data Disputed
Forensic Examination Reveals Deleted Data on Nolan Wells' Phone Amid Disputed Claims
Anonymous
A forensic examination commissioned by Nolan Wells’ family found that data, including Snapchat content, appeared to have been deleted from his phone between his last known use of it and its return to his family, but could not determine who deleted it or why. The review recovered more than one million digital artifacts and used GPS and other records to reconstruct the phone’s movements on the day the 18-year-old disappeared; messages reportedly included discussion of people on Horn Island. Attorneys for Wells’ friends denied that the friends erased anything or had access to the phone, questioned the family’s account, and said a grand jury found nothing had been erased. The grand jury declined to bring criminal charges, finding no credible evidence of criminal conduct or a racial motive. Wells’ family says it will continue seeking answers.
Key Points
1
Forensic examiner Andrew Garrett said the deletions would have required a user action, although the analysis could not identify who performed it or why.
2
Ben Crump said one recovered group-chat exchange referred to two “really sketchy-looking guys” in boats; he stressed that the messages did not establish that the case was racially motivated.
3
According to an attorney for Wells’ friends, a girl from the group gathered the phones left on the boat, put them in Wyatt’s truck, and later retrieved Wells’ phone and gave it to a friend of his mother at about 1:30 a.m.
4
An independent autopsy arranged by Wells’ family reportedly found blunt-force trauma to the back of his head.
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