Lemon LIVE Special — Nolan Wells Family Holds Press Conference with Ben Crump and Al Sharpton

[9:37] Good afternoon. To my right are the parents of Nolan Wells, and we'll hear from them. And, [9:45] of course, Attorney of Black America Ben Crump and Attorney Park you'll hear from. [9:55] I want to thank, let me say at the outset, that when I received the word of what happened to [10:03] Nolan and began hearing what was pieced together, it is clear that this situation must have the most [10:18] thorough and objective investigation to lead to justice. What we've been told does not make sense. [10:31] And being that there is lack of confidence in the local authorities who have already [10:40] in my judgment seem to have mishandled where it was going. Because to just immediately, [10:48] before a week time, saying there was nothing done wrong, when we hear that this young man was engaged [10:58] in some kind of argument that was on tape, that his cell phone and keys ended up with one of the people [11:07] that were there on the island and got away. He was one black with three young white men, [11:15] who happened to end up with his phone, happened to end up with his keys. Then there's just too many [11:21] questions that they should not be closing the investigation. Now, I'm from Brooklyn, [11:29] so I'm a little different than some of y'all. I was built different. My nose is out here, [11:35] my eyes are here, my brain is here, which means some things I could smell before I could see and [11:43] before I can figure out. This does not smell right. So some people are saying, Reverend, [11:49] are y'all bringing in race? Well, we're not bringing in race, but we're not discounting race either, [11:57] because we don't know what it is. So to tell us don't rush to judgment saying it was racist, [12:03] it's fine. But then I'm telling you don't rush to judgment saying it was not racism, because we do [12:11] not know, we do know what these parents are being told and what the parents have now shared with us [12:18] does not make sense. How do you end up a young promising football player, not in trouble, mother [12:28] and daddy at home, everything we tell them to do and be. They go on the 4th of July, on the [12:36] anniversary of this country, going to our island. We're outing with his friends and the friends come [12:43] back and he's left there with some story about, he said, leave them behind. But then by some magic, [12:52] one of the friends has his keys and his phone. Mind you, his mother tracked down the phone. [13:01] They didn't voluntarily tell her they had his phone. They didn't voluntarily say they had the keys. [13:07] So if they had not been tracked down, we don't know if they ever would have known where it was. [13:13] Some of this doesn't make sense. So we are absolutely a National Action Network and other [13:19] groups going to rally behind this family. I have told them that whatever we can and need to do, [13:27] we will do it. Because this smacks of some of the worst fears that we've had historically, [13:35] not only in Mississippi, but in this country. And we are there until the end with them. I've been asked [13:43] by the family to be in Mississippi for the funeral to officiate, which I'm going to do. We just got off [13:52] the phone with Tyler Perry, the actor who says he wants to help cover whatever expenses for the funeral. [13:58] We have with us Spike Lee is in the house. Many of our people that have always supported families are there. [14:06] This is not about them trying to raise money. We're going to take care of that. This is about though [14:12] they got to keep going forward. But we want justice. And let the chips fall where they may. If it ends up [14:20] being one way that we suspect was wrong, fine. But if it's another way, don't back up and play games [14:29] with this. They are not activists or lawyers. So they only want justice for their son. I'm an activist. [14:39] When we get there and they say we heating things up, that's what we do. Because sometimes you got to [14:45] make people sweat to get the poison out of their system. I'm the sweat man. And they are the parents [14:54] that want to see justice for their son. Let me let you hear from Christine and Elmer Wansley and then [15:00] Attorney Crump. Let them hear. Okay, Attorney Crump and then we hear from the parents. [15:08] Thanks, Reverend. Thank you, Reverend Al, for always answering the bell, as you have done on so many [15:22] occasions when families get the worst news of their life. And make no mistake about it, [15:32] Christine and Elmer got the worst news of their life on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion [15:40] where everybody was celebrating the 4th of July weekend. I'm Attorney Ben Crump along with Attorney [15:48] Lisa Park and Jared Preston and Camila Moore. We have the honor and the privilege of helping to lead an [15:57] independent investigation on behalf of the family of Nolan Wells. Why do you say we need to be retained to [16:09] lead an independent investigation? It is because the family has distrust of the Mississippi law. [16:19] law enforcement officials, giving them a fair investigation, where their black son ended up [16:30] dead after going out on a boat with three young white men. The history of Mississippi is something that [16:40] they don't just read about in books, but it's a lived experience for many black Americans. That [16:49] often times, when our children are killed in highly questionable situations, that there is this notion [17:02] that, oh, it was nothing wrong, no foul play, let's just sweep it under the rug. Well, we refuse to sweep it [17:10] under the rug. We refuse to just let Nolan Wells' death be in vain. We are going to make sure that we get [17:20] to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because Nolan deserves it. You're going to hear [17:29] his mother and father talk about what a wonderful young man he was. I mean, doing everything right. [17:37] Reverend Al, he was not only a college student, he was a great athlete. He was a model big brother for his [17:46] little brothers and sisters, and he was a great son who was on the cusp of becoming a man. I mean, [17:56] Christina Elmore did everything to prepare him for this moment. He was so close. He was right there. [18:05] You're going to hear his father talk about him had a good football season last year, but this season, [18:12] he was really ready to go to the next level, to go to division one. I mean, the highlights that you're [18:19] seeing on social media of his athletic proudness. I mean, it is all relevant, because when you start [18:28] talking about drowning, I mean, this is a kid who knew how to swim. This is a kid who was in tip top [18:36] shape. He was a superior athlete. And so I'm going to get to that in a moment, these glaring [18:42] contradictions, but to try to say, oh, we're suggesting it was just an accident or drowning. [18:48] Go ahead and move on. Well, they are not accepting it. They are not accepting it. They want to know [18:58] that you have not taken the path of least resistance, that you have done a full, complete, [19:07] thorough, impartial investigation because it cannot be lost on anybody, but especially us in the black [19:22] community. If the roles were reversed and you had three young black men on a boat with a young white [19:34] man and that young white man ended up dead, what kind of investigation would be being conducted by [19:44] the Mississippi law enforcement officials? How many times would those three young black men be [19:51] interrogated? So all we're asking is the same consideration you would have given if the roles were [20:02] reversed, give that consideration to this family as well. That is our fight. The glaring contradictions [20:11] are just jump out at you. The fact that he is there with his friends and you look at all the videos, [20:23] it seems to be he's the only black on the island or maybe one other, but not many. And so, [20:32] Jared, you have where a young woman he was talking to says that, well, Nolan said he was going back to get [20:45] on the boat with the boys. The boys say that Nolan told them he was going to stay and talk to the young [20:58] woman. It's a contradiction. They're not saying the same thing. One of them is telling the truth. [21:09] One of them is not. We have to get to the bottom of that. It's important. And then the fact, Reverend Al, [21:18] that they have this video of an argument that is going on. And, and, you know, thank God all young [21:30] people, they have cell phones. And anytime you hear people raising their voice, they start the video. [21:36] And so you hear on the video, Nolan said, give me my freaking phone. What are you freaking doing? [21:46] And that becomes even more relevant. When you think about the story that they are presenting that [21:55] Nolan chose to stay behind. That's what they're saying. But his phone, he wouldn't take that with [22:07] him if he's going to stay behind on the island. I mean, we're talking about an 18 year old kid. [22:14] What teenager would leave their phone behind if they're going to stay on this island? What teenager [22:22] wouldn't take their phone? And so it's not adding up. It's not adding up at all. The fact, as Reverend Al said, [22:31] you know, they didn't take his phone with them, his mother, when she finds out that her baby is missing, [22:46] they start trying to track the phone, the GPS, the phone, they've used life 360. And they discovered [22:55] that where the phone is on land, the phone is on land. But you're saying he went missing on the island. [23:05] And so it's not adding up. And so they go get the phone. And you'll hear her tell herself, [23:12] when her and her sister start going through his phone, Jared, they they realize that they're [23:18] deleted messages. So they're trying to figure out, well, why are they deleted messages on his phone? [23:25] I mean, it becomes relevant when you start putting everything together, where we can't just say, [23:31] oh, there's no instance of foul play. We're going to get to the truth one way or the other. The fact [23:40] that, and this, this really makes no sense to me, Reverend Al, this notion that where he drowned, [23:52] y'all have, I'm sure seen all the videos out there. I mean, if he's drowning, nobody sees him drown. [24:01] Nobody offers assistance. Nobody tries to help him. I mean, obviously, he stands out. He's, [24:10] I think, the only black person I saw when I'm looking at the videos. And if you see him drowning, [24:17] you mean nobody is going to try to help him? It's not adding up. It is not adding up. And that's why [24:26] the family at their behest, we had an independent autopsy being performed. And we thank Colin Kaepernick [24:39] for helping to pay for that independent autopsy. And we thank Tyler Perry for helping to pay for the [24:47] funeral. Because as Reverend Al said, these were just regular parents going about their life. They [24:53] weren't expecting any of this. And then we're having to try to hire these experts to be able to go [25:01] and see if they can retrieve deleted messages. We have to have experts. You'll hear from Attorney Park [25:08] talk about, you know, where the body came, was found when it was recovered, and how long it took to be [25:17] recovered. We think all of those are relevant issues to trying to understand what really happened to [25:25] Nolan Wells. And this independent autopsy is so very important. Because we had his body flown from [25:36] Mississippi to Washington DC. Because his family wanted to make sure that they had a doctor who had [25:46] no ties to Mississippi law enforcement to do an independent examination of their son's body. And [25:56] we are hopeful to get that results in the very near future. We were hoping we would have had it today. [26:05] However, as you all know, here in New York, they canceled all the flights yesterday. And so [26:10] it took a long time for his body to get to the medical examiner's office in Washington DC. But rest [26:19] assured, as soon as we get those results, we will make them known to you because we believe transparency [26:28] is very important. We want to lead by example. We want them to be transparent, and we want to be [26:35] transparent. We know they conducted an autopsy. We are waiting on their results as well. The final thing I [26:43] will say is this. If there are any people who are on that island, any young people who recorded videos, [26:54] who witnessed things, who may have saw Nolan at any time on that island, [27:04] and please, please, please, please let us know. Please call bencrump.com, call the 800 number, [27:18] just any information. They are desperate. We're in a ferocious pursuit for the truth. And y'all, [27:30] if it was your child, wouldn't you want everybody who knew something to let you all know? [27:38] Well, this is a hard one, Rae, because it's so tragic on so many levels. Rae, before we [27:50] bring the parents up, why don't we have attorney Lisa Park, who is helping head of the investigation [27:56] with our office. My name is Lisa Park. I'm the senior attorney for the Ben Crump Law Office in Atlanta. [28:07] It is our honor to work with the family to try to find answers in this case. I think that most of you [28:18] at this point are aware of Ben Crump Law and many of the cases that we represent in this country. Some of [28:28] these cases you don't know anything about until we get involved and we shed some light and we explain to [28:39] the media what has happened and you all let America know what has happened. Sometimes cases come and you [28:51] all already know about it. This is one of those cases. I saw this in the news before I got a call from Ben. [29:04] This was already huge in social media, already out in general media. Why? Why? Because it doesn't [29:18] take an attorney. It doesn't take a special investigator. It doesn't take someone with extreme [29:25] training to know right off. There's something wrong here. This is, as Ben has put it, not adding up. It is so [29:40] obvious. There are so many people in this country that go missing, right? Everybody knows this, but this case has [29:51] captured everybody's attention. Think about why. You know that something is not right. It doesn't take us. [30:01] It doesn't take the Reverend Al Sharpton, Ben Crump, to tell you and then think, oh, now I know something's [30:10] wrong. We know something is wrong. And for every single person that was in Horn Island, and we know there's [30:19] about 200 people. There's a lot of people. And we know that Horn Island is a popular place during the [30:26] holidays. It's a popular place on the weekends. You have to get there by boat. It's the only way to get [30:33] there. You have to leave by boat. It's the only way to leave. So many people out there, if you are watching [30:45] this, if you see this, and you are struggling about what to say or what to do, you know what the right [30:54] thing to do is. Call Ben Crump Law. There's this thing called the internet. It's very easy to find that [31:06] number. Call us. We have an entire call center. They're waiting to hear from you. If you didn't go to Horn [31:15] Island, but you've heard something, because people are talking. They're talking with each other. They may not be [31:23] calling the police. They may not be calling us. But you heard something. We need to know that. We need to know that. [31:33] In America today, so many of us, we want to believe that the last several decades, we've made so much progress in our race [31:44] relations, don't we? We want to believe that. Whether you're black or you're white or you're Asian, [31:50] that's what we want to believe. We wanted to believe that this past 4th of July when we celebrated 250 [31:58] years, right? If you want to believe that, you've got to be part of the solution. You've got to be part [32:07] of that. You have to make it happen. And you, if you have information, please call us. It is incredibly [32:16] important. People out there, you have answers. You may not know exactly what your information means, [32:24] but if you saw something, say something, please. All right. We're going to hear from the parents, [32:39] and then we'll have Q and A. And what I want is when we go to the media, identify yourself and your [32:48] outlet so we know who is speaking. And let me say again that we're standing with this family [32:57] till the very end and make sure we're dealing with justice. Let's first hear from the mother, [33:04] Christine Wansley. First of all, I want to say thank you everyone for being here. This is not how I [33:18] wanted the world to meet my son, but here we are. Um, so as you know, I'm Christine Wals Wansley. I am [33:27] Nolan Wals's mom. And Nolan was, is the kindest soul. He never met a stranger. He loved everybody. [33:45] He didn't care if you were black, white, purple, green, looked like a marshmallow. Like he just wanted [33:54] everyone to be in peace with one another. Um, he just, he loved life and God gave him this big heart, [34:06] which always scared us. Um, me and his dad had conversations with him all the time, not just [34:15] about the importance of understanding our history as black people, but also the importance of how you [34:25] have to move in certain spaces. And it's not us being, well, feeding into racism or the, you know, [34:39] the stereotypes that comes with that. Unfortunately, that is just a matter of fact. There have been [34:46] many cases, many instances that shows it. It's unfortunately a pattern that he did not like. [34:55] He did not like that. There was so much division. And I think that's why God gave him us. He was really [35:02] a peacemaker. He wanted, like I said, everyone to be included. He never wanted to leave anyone out. [35:10] He just, even at a young age, um, I don't know. He was, how old was he? No, no, not 18. When he was a baby, [35:21] he did a little dance. So his father and I were having a moment and as couples do. And even in that moment, [35:33] he runs in the room with his diaper on, of course, and he starts dancing because it was like he could feel the tension. [35:43] He could feel that something wasn't right. So he's just, he was just a special kid. Like he was a special kid. [35:52] But again, just heart was so big and, and I'm good. We're going to miss him dearly. Um, but we, um, we are grateful, [36:11] especially to our friend, uh, to Shima, who actually was one of the people, um, who helped us that night. [36:19] She went and picked up his cell phone from where it was and then provided that to us because we were, [36:27] we of course contacted authorities to figure out who to do the report with, whether it was [36:35] the county or the city, which then turned into DMR, who I contacted immediately from there. [36:42] And you know, but [36:44] So, um, our friend actually, we, when I called her, Nolan is best friends with her two sons, [36:55] Jaylen and Javon. When I called her, I said to Shima, have you seen Nolan? He's missing. No one [37:01] has seen him. No one has talked to him. The boys were actually with her, her sons. [37:05] So they opened up their Snapchat because a lot of the kids do have their locations where they're [37:11] tracking one another. Um, so one of the boys says, well, it's showing that I think I can't [37:19] exactly remember what his location was showing, but my life 360 location was showing something [37:26] completely different. It was actually showing that his phone was like he was on land. And, [37:34] and so we ended up, she received the phone from that parent. And then we met up where his car was, [37:42] which was at a separate location. Um, there were issues obtaining the key, but even so there's just [37:50] a lot of tell them about what happened with the key. So I'm going to let my husband tell you about [37:57] that because he actually went up to the door to get the key. Cause at that point, I was just not [38:03] in my right mind. Um, this has just been an awful situation, just terrible. Elmore Wandsley, the father. [38:15] Okay. So the situation with the key, when we got to the house, um, a few of his friends, [38:22] they were already there and they were at the door in the house, um, asking questions. So when I walked up, [38:30] they were getting, you know, things again, kind of tense. So I turned to them and told them, [38:35] I need you guys to calm down. I need, I don't do this to me right now. I need them to kind of trust [38:40] me so I can, they can give me something. So I was able to calm them down. So the guy that's, [38:49] he's in one of the pictures, but he came out of the room half asleep or whatever, Harry, where, [38:54] uh, I think Jack's or whatever. And I said, look, I'm Nolan's father. I'm here to get his keys. [39:00] Um, so I can get his car. I said, uh, he's like, his car's parked in the yard. [39:06] So he was like, uh, I don't know, man. I know it's like my brother. I said, well, [39:10] if Nolan was like your brother, would you please go in your room and see if you can find my son's [39:15] keys so I can take his car home. He walks off two or three minutes, come back. I can't find the keys. [39:21] I said, okay. So at that point I get the boys and I get to move them out the house because I [39:26] didn't want them to go into the house and start tearing up these people's houses because they'd [39:30] never be a whole new situation. So walk outside by the car. One of the guys that was in the house [39:36] with us, he was on the phone with a girl and the girl told him that Nolan's keys were on top of [39:42] this Jack's guy's Xbox in the house because apparently she was there with him earlier. So he goes back up to [39:48] the door by herself and five minutes later, the keys come out. So now I feel like you done lied to [39:55] me. So now I'm really like in distrust with you. But as far as that night goes, um, if I knew anyone [40:06] who had a boat, I would have went out that night looking for my son. We tried, but I just, I don't [40:13] have, I don't have friends with boats, but if I knew someone with one, I would have went out that night. [40:20] And this so happened that his coach saw all the stuff on Facebook that next morning and [40:25] called and contacted me like five in the morning, asked me, did we want to go out? And I told him [40:29] yes. So within an hour, he was at the dock. We met him and we went out. We docked the boat, [40:35] got off the boat, walked on the island, walked a pretty nice stretch, came back, got back on the [40:41] boat, went around the island, looked, came back around. And where we went to the, that's where [40:50] apparently they say that his body floated up. I don't know a lot about water currents over there, [40:57] but I would have, I would think that we would have saw his body. And on the trip there, there was a [41:08] family that stayed a night on the island, like actually tented out on the island. So if he was [41:15] left, he would have saw dead family on the island and it was two of the boats docked. So he would have [41:20] had help. So I, I just, I don't know. I don't know. I think we stayed there for like an hour, [41:28] hour and a half. That's when Jackson County and the sheriff department showed up and they were going to [41:37] do their rounds. And I had a classmate of mine, him and his two boys, they came out and they searched [41:43] and then they got back and touched me and said the Coast Guard had finally showed up in airplanes. So [41:50] what is so critical, what Elmore is saying is they went out on Sunday and the tide, if it brought his [42:01] body up, he went missing on July 4th. As they say, his body should have been there on July 5th. [42:09] Why would it not appear to July 6th? And that's one of those things that's just not adding up. And the [42:17] fact that if he stayed behind on the island, there were boats there, there were people, somebody had to [42:27] see something. That's why it's not adding up. And that's, that's what they're saying. It's just not [42:34] adding up. And if he was there two days, somebody on the island would be able to verify that. Two days [42:43] and nobody's come forward and say, no, he was with us or no, we saw him. It just does not make sense. [42:50] Make it make sense. Just one last thing. We want her to talk about the cell phone deleted messages. [43:02] I'm sorry. I thought my voice was loud enough. One last thing. We want to have Christine talk about [43:11] the cell phone from her perspective before they tell you who Nolan was, and then we'll take your [43:21] questions. So when we made it home, my sister and I actually went through Nolan's cell phone, [43:31] particularly Snapchat, because that is so popular with the children. And when we opened it up, there [43:40] was nothing. There were no saved pictures. There were no snaps from that day. And we did open it before [43:50] the 24 hour expiration. So we found that very concerning only because anyone who's ever been around [44:01] now, Nolan will tell you at social gatherings, he's taking videos, he's taking pictures. He's even [44:09] come up to me when I'm getting ready to go to bed. Hey, mom, come on, take a picture of me. [44:13] You know, like he just that's that was Nolan. So that's why we feel that things may have been deleted [44:23] was because the fact that there was nothing in either one of his accounts. [44:28] But I do want to say this. I would hope that any parent who, God forbid, would be in our situation, [44:42] I would hope that you would do the same thing. I would hope that you would ask for any help, [44:52] receive any help to get answers, because at the end of the day, that that's all we want. We just want to [44:59] know. We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn't come home like that. That's our biggest thing. [45:10] And we are so grateful to everyone, family, friends, classmates, United Cajun Navy, everybody that's [45:21] assisted us. We appreciate you. There's not enough thank yous that we could say or give to you. But I just, you know, [45:30] we just want to know. We want an honest, thorough investigation. That that's all we're asking for. [45:36] That's it. Do you want to say about who Nolan was and then you talk about that? [45:45] Nolan Nolan is a person with a big heart. He's loved by not just his family, but the community. [45:57] He's a born people person. He really developed a bond with his baby brother because both of them play [46:13] the same position. So he was really understanding the business side of the sport, which is football, [46:21] and understanding that it's not just a game you play. So the stuff that I was telling him, it was [46:27] kind of starting to sink into him and he was no, no really getting more in depth into it. And I could [46:33] see as he did that, his baby brother really started getting more into it as well as far as being more [46:39] focused because he saw, well, if my big brother is about to go do this great thing, then I want to [46:45] do this great thing, but I want to do it better. That's why that's what made them so like, like vinegar [46:51] or they just, they, it was like, they was always at each other, but they were the same. When I look at [47:00] my youngest, I'll say Nolan, or when I look at Nolan, I'll say my youngest name. So they were training [47:08] together. I would always say, hey, you did some push-ups, you didn't want to run some routes. [47:15] And they know when I say that next day, they're out there running routes. Even my other side, he'll go out [47:20] there, he doesn't play that position, but he would go out there and exercise and work out because [47:25] they were understanding what I was talking about. They were growing, they were becoming men. [47:29] So this was his, this was his time. He would always talk to me. I would always give him my advice [47:36] about stuff. I always try to tell him what to look for. And I was always telling him, I said, so I'm [47:41] giving you this advice and I'm telling you this stuff, but you're going to have to experience this. But when you [47:48] experience it, it won't be foreign to you. You'll have some kind of idea of how to navigate through [47:53] it. And I think me and his mother, I think we did a great job with that. That's why it's so hard for me [47:59] to believe that he would choose to stay on the island. It just wasn't his character. It wasn't his [48:04] character. So Nolan is the funniest kid in our family. Speaking of the time she was talking about, [48:17] yeah, we were having a kind of heated moment. And I don't know if you guys remember the little dance [48:25] called Stanky Lit. I think my son created it because we were sitting in that closet looking [48:33] and just like talking. He literally came to the closet door and peeked around and stood in front [48:41] of him and just started doing this little crazy dance. And I was like, we just bust out like whatever [48:46] was talking about. We stopped laughing. Then we called them to us and we just hugged and laughed [48:50] and played. But then maybe, what, six months later, the son is a hit. But we always said he created the [48:58] Stanky Lit dance. But that's my greatest memory of my son. What are you telling your other children [49:04] about this? My son, Ethan, he's hurting. These are the ones that, these are the younger ones. He's like, [49:19] Dad, I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm like, son, you got to keep going because he would want you [49:24] he would want you to be better. His youngest brother, Elmore, the one that really worked out [49:30] with him. He's he was like, I'm hurting dad. But I said, Nolan wants you to be the best he can be. [49:35] He want he would want you to outdo him. And whenever you feel like you're in a bind or or having some [49:44] kind of problem, call on your brother, talk to your brother. My twins, they did the loss of a [49:53] younger sibling is hurting them. They have to figure out how to navigate through life without [50:00] them. And my daughter, Carly, with her being away, it's really hard for her because she's not around [50:05] family now. So she's on her own, you know, doing life and doing life life does. But she's doing it on [50:13] her own. So she's has she has to do this by herself. We're here, you know, by phone, but we're [50:20] not there in person. So she she really has to draw on the people that surround her when she's not home. [50:26] So all together, my family, this is going to be our new norm. He was the jester in my court. And yeah, [50:38] he will be missed greatly, not by us, but by the whole community. [50:41] We will announce the funeral services when it is finalized. And we'll be going to help [50:52] with the our officiator at the funeral in Mississippi. Again, we'll take your questions, [51:00] but identify who you are. And please be respectful to families in mourning. But because they want justice [51:08] for their son, they came to New York to make this appeal. But let's not make this a circus. Yes. [51:17] say that last question. Yeah, you are. The second one is other children who are saying it was Nolan. [52:07] Yeah. So the last time we spoke and saw Nolan was July the third. He actually cooked dinner for me, [52:20] actually for us, because I had gotten off work. It had been it's been really busy. And so he cooked [52:26] dinner. It was salmon. He baked it so proud. And then after that, he was just like, hey, mom, [52:34] I'm about to go. I love you. It was hug, kiss. And he left, which, of course, you know, [52:40] he knew we always looked at the Life 360. So there were times maybe he didn't call us to let us know [52:46] when he made it, but we would see it. He would text at some point. But that was the last time we saw and [52:53] spoke with him. Sir, Dr. Roger Mitchell is doing the independent autopsy on behalf of Nolan Wells' family. [53:27] And we understand that the young men have lawyers. So we will have to have their lawyers agree to let them [53:38] speak to our investigators. And we have not attempted to talk to them as of yet. We have been attempting to [53:45] talk to many of the students and people who are out there that we are aware of. Okay. Right here. [53:56] Oh, okay. Okay. Justin Finch, Inside Edition, asking a question here. First for the family, [54:07] wondering if you recall from your friend, what was said to her by the people who gave her Nolan's [54:14] phone? And for attorney Crump, wondering for you, at some point, will that phone be given to police for [54:20] their investigation? They've expressed interest. Yes. So the exact wording of the exchange, it was [54:29] through phone because again, we were busy trying to figure out who was going to take the missing [54:36] person's report. Just because when it's in water, when it occurs on the island, it's not necessarily the [54:43] city or the county because then it becomes an issue of jurisdiction. So like I said, she went there [54:51] and spoke with, I cannot remember. I'm so sorry. My brain is everywhere. But she went to the house [54:59] and retrieved the phone. She said, I have his phone. The phone was okay. As far as like appearance goes, [55:05] it didn't look damaged or anything. And so then after that, we met with her at the other house where [55:12] he had stayed the night, July the 3rd, where his car was because it was important for us to try to [55:18] retrieve everything of his that we could. But it honestly, for both instances, it was a running [55:25] round because I know she had issues getting his phone as well. And she ended up calling me and I [55:33] think I spoke with the mother. She put me on speakerphone and I was like, Hey, you know, yes, [55:38] I'm Christine. I'm Nolan's mom. We need his phone. We're trying to find him. Yes, I guess. Okay, [55:46] we'll go her and then you. I guess let me answer the second part of the question. Absolutely. After [55:52] our experts be able to examine the phone, we will let the Mississippi investigators examine the phone. [56:02] And it's fortuitous that they have the phone because normally in these investigations, as you know, [56:08] wherever now, they will have the phone and stuff and they will keep it for months. And the family [56:12] just be in limbo. But thank God we have the phone now. We're going to do it expeditiously and give it [56:18] to them to examine it as well. Anna Schechter with CBS News. So you said that he stayed the night at a [56:26] Friends. The first question is, did he stay with the friends that he went on the boat with? Yes. Yes, [56:34] he did. And my second question is, has anyone come forward and provided you with other photographs [56:41] or videos from Horn Island from July 4th that afternoon? They're starting to send them to our [56:51] office. And that's where attorney Park was being so adamant about. Please continue to send whatever [56:57] videos you got, whatever pictures you got. And we're very thankful that some young people have done [57:04] that. Good afternoon. Darla Miles, ABC7 New York. First of all, I would like to extend my condolences [57:12] to you, Mr. and Mrs. Walensley. I know this is very brave of you and we appreciate your transparency. [57:17] Two questions. Also, my regards to you, Reverend Al, Mr. Crump. My first question is, [57:22] this happened in Mississippi and you've traveled here to meet with Reverend Al Sharpton. Why was this [57:28] important to you and how meaningful has this meeting been with you here in New York? So [57:38] we did this because once again, what we're wanting is transparency, right? Although I do absolutely [57:49] respect law enforcement, just the fact that the accidental drowning thing, it made both me and [57:59] his father uncomfortable. Why are we so quick to rush to this? And we just, at the end of the day, [58:07] we want answers. This has been very impactful. And I'm gonna be honest with you, the day they found him, [58:14] um, we were at Port Mars, um, which is one of the boat launches. And I was standing beside the water [58:28] and I had said a prayer and I was like, Lord, this isn't what we wanted. But I just asked him to help [58:39] us get through this, put the right people in our path that could potentially help us. Because at that [58:45] point, we hadn't reached out to anybody. We didn't know where to start. This is foreign. We, we've never [58:52] been through this. No parent should go through this. And then that's when my cousin, um, Keezy, she sent me [59:01] a message with some information. My friend, um, Bianca, her sister, um, knows a contact with attorney Ben. [59:10] And so I said, okay, this, this has to be it, you know, like this has to be God helping us along the [59:17] way. And I am not religious, but I am spiritual. And for that, I was grateful because I felt like [59:25] things were being set up. And at this point, I have always said we are taking any help, any help. [59:31] We don't care, black, white, purple. Like, again, we just want to know what happened. That's all we [59:37] want to know. We just want to know what happened. And my quick follow-up to that, um, can you ex, [59:42] were you able to get a clear explanation as to, uh, the chain of custody of his phone? Like, how that parent [59:48] came in possession of his phone? No. And then explain the resistance. You, you know, you said you [59:54] went to the home to get the keys. I don't understand, like, what kind of resistance? What were the, what [59:58] was that exchange of words like, uh, the resistance that you received when you went to go retrieve his [1:00:03] keys? Thank you. Um, he just act like he didn't know where they were. He just, like, um, he was [1:00:10] like, he was clueless. Like, I don't, he was like, ah, I don't know. I don't like, well, just please, [1:00:16] I was like, just please go in the room and look for me. Because, to be honest with you, at that time, [1:00:21] I was, I was very emotional. No one was giving me any answer. So that situation with me and them could [1:00:28] have went totally left field. But since those other young kids were in there, they, at that moment, [1:00:37] they kept me from doing what I, I wanted to do. So getting them and calming them down, let put, it [1:00:45] helped me focus on what I was really looking for to find the keys. And like I said, when I asked him, [1:00:50] he said he wouldn't look. And so when he said he couldn't find them, I did what I needed. I left out [1:00:56] out of their home. And like I said, five minutes later, he come back out with the keys. And they [1:01:03] didn't come back outside anymore until the police came. Because at that time, police were called, [1:01:12] because we were looking for his wallet. And then they went to the door. But other than that, [1:01:17] when they sent the keys out, they locked, they locked everything. They went, they didn't want [1:01:23] nothing to do with what was outside that door. So that's that right there. It's when you lied to me, [1:01:30] it killed all trust, anything you had to say. All right, I'm going to take the last four. One, [1:01:37] two, three, four. Maria Campanotti with CNN. Two questions for attorney Crump, just to get some [1:01:49] clarification on the timeline of the events. When was Nolan last seen and by whom? And the second [1:01:55] question is, who first reported Nolan missing and when? Well, and I asked his mother to also assist [1:02:02] on the second question. But as it's conflicts, it's conflicts. You know, the young woman say that [1:02:11] he went and got back on the boat with the boys. The boys say no, he said he was going to stay with her. [1:02:20] And that's a conflict. And the troubling thing is if they're saying, well, he made the decision to [1:02:26] stay behind, would an 18 year old college student say, go ahead without me. I don't want my cell phone [1:02:39] or anything. It just doesn't add up. And so that around that three o'clock time seems to be the last [1:02:49] time that we have those statements. However, as Christine said, they're suggesting that they didn't leave [1:02:58] to four thirty though. So, you know, if you said you were leaving at three, why didn't you left at four [1:03:06] thirty? And where was Nolan for that hour? And I think she was asking about the cell phone. [1:03:20] Oh, I asked the last scene. I thought you said something else. I think authorities. Oh, [1:03:25] the mission. OK, so his friend contacted me. It was around 1107. And then I called my friend to ask her [1:03:36] had she seen him because that would be the only other place I would think he would go if he were [1:03:41] back on land. And so then when she told me, no, she was like, don't worry, I'm going to look for him. [1:03:46] And that's when we got on the phone. First, I called. It was either the county or Ocean Springs. [1:03:56] It was either one of them. But whichever I called first, I was directed to call DMR [1:04:02] because they so DMR, if I'm not mistaken, they are they handle cases with the island or the water [1:04:09] in that area. So the young lady took the information down. She's like, I'm going to give you a call back. [1:04:15] I said, OK, so when she called me back, she explained to me, she was like, you know, I've spoken [1:04:21] with the Coast Guard, which his friend had contacted the Coast Guard. Warren had contacted [1:04:27] the Coast Guard to report Nolan missing as well. So I'm on the phone with the DMR. He's calling Coast [1:04:33] Guard. And she said, I spoke with Coast Guard. And, you know, you're going to have to [1:04:40] complete the report with I think it was Ocean Springs. So we go down to the Ocean Springs Police [1:04:46] Department. We're told because it's a jurisdiction issue that they can't file the missing police [1:04:52] report. Jackson County ends up the sheriff's department ends up calling me back. I think [1:05:00] if I remember this correctly, and she was calling to check to see were they able to do it. I told her, [1:05:05] no, they couldn't do it. The young lady on the phone and the officer at Ocean Springs Police [1:05:11] Department spoke. He explained to her why Ocean Springs Police Department could not complete [1:05:17] the missing persons report. She said, OK, he gives the phone back. She's like, look, [1:05:22] I'm just going to go ahead and do it. So there's no more back and forth. So my husband and I, we met [1:05:28] an officer in the McDonald's parking lot. I think at this point it's maybe around 12. Don't quote me on [1:05:35] that. But we explained to him, you know, what he looked like, age, all those things. Last time he [1:05:42] was reported seen, which again, by his friend, he said that the last time he physically saw him was at [1:05:49] 3 p.m. And they were getting ready to leave the island. Israel Rodriguez with the U.S. Sun. Have you [1:05:57] been able to gather additional information made by Warren's mother, Ashley Cole, on social media, [1:06:03] where she said the group left the island after they experienced trouble with the boat and that the [1:06:09] boat began taking in water? Your question is what directly? We know she made that statement. Have [1:06:15] you been able to gather additional information on that? No, we have not. Thank you. Kevin Ortega Rojas [1:06:22] with Here's Why News. I was hoping that the family could clarify Nolan's relationship with the young [1:06:28] men that he traveled to the island with. We've heard different accounts of how long he's known them. [1:06:32] And I was wondering also if you folks have spoken to those families since they lawyered up. High [1:06:40] school friends. Say the second part again. Have they talked to the families? No. Last question they have. [1:06:50] Let's talk to the families. Staying here as a cousin, a first cousin of a victim in 2020, he went out with his [1:07:05] friend and the mother who was white and he went missing. He was found dead, deceased in a field behind [1:07:15] her house. She was arrested. She was charged with failing to report a missing child and contributing [1:07:26] to the delinquent of a juvenile. So your story is very familiar. Your pain, I feel it. And I will continue [1:07:36] to advocate. I'm an activist and I go all across the world. But today I'm here because I stand with you [1:07:46] as a cousin of a victim. I know what you feel when you don't get justice and the system is up against you. [1:07:56] God bless you. Thank you. We will follow up. And when we're ready to form an announcements again, [1:08:03] the funeral service is not to prompt religion. It's to seek justice and unity. And we want everybody, [1:08:10] black, white, everybody, to come and extol what this young man represented. It's not a protest rally. [1:08:17] It will be to really lift up the spirit of this young man and to stand with the family. If we have to do [1:08:23] protest rallies, that will be announced at another time. But the funeral services is to talk about how [1:08:29] Nolan was a great young man to his family and we're there to comfort them. Thank you for your time. [1:08:35] Let us please. So I know I have been seeing some younger people, real adults, older people doing [1:08:46] protests. We actually had a very small one in Ocean Springs. Some young boys that knew Nolan, [1:08:53] actually some of his friends. So what Elmore and I would like to say is, if you do, please be peaceful. [1:09:05] Nolan was not someone who liked fights, physical fights. He really didn't even like arguments. So don't [1:09:13] go out there trying to be tough. Just think about what Nolan would want. And I'm telling you, he would not [1:09:23] want that type of behavior. So let's just make sure that we keep it peaceful and respectful to one [1:09:29] another's and others and just stay away from negativity, but also to all of those who have [1:09:36] sent beautiful messages. We have not gone through all of them, but I want you to know that we appreciate [1:09:43] you your love, your support standing with us and just keep us in your prayers. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.