As BOSSIP previously reported, Nolan disappeared after a July 4 boating trip with friends, and his body was discovered in the water near Horn Island on July 6. His parents have repeatedly raised questions about what happened during those missing hours, including conflicting accounts surrounding the night Nolan disappeared and how quickly authorities responded to their frantic calls for help.

The call for federal involvement comes as questions surrounding Nolan’s death continue to linger, while his state autopsy remains unreleased and an independent autopsy commissioned by his family has reportedly been unable to determine a definitive cause of death.

While this grieving family has been working around the clock to find answers, their name has been disparaged by not only the public but also law enforcement officials like the district attorney.

According to WLBT 3, Ben Crump and his team are pushing back hard against any suggestion that the Wells-Wonsley family has been a hindrance to or “uncooperative” with investigators attempting to solve the case.

During a July 15, 2026 meeting between the family and District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, both parties agreed to a joint forensic investigation into the contents of Nolan’s cell phone. However, at the last minute, the DA’s office requested that the phone be turned over to them on a timeline that was not feasible due to family travel. Moreover, despite the initial agreement, there had been no discussion of the details like access, chain of custody, or preservation of information. As a result, family lawyers released the following statement, as obtained by WLBT 3.

“Nolan’s family has not refused to cooperate, and the correspondence with the District Attorney’s Office is proof of that. We agreed on July 15 to examine this phone together, with their experts, our experts, and possibly the FBI. We have continued to expect that the forensic examination of Nolan’s phone would happen exactly as agreed on July 15. In order to preserve the evidence, we asked for a protocol, a chain of custody, and an agreement on what happens to the data. We have yet to receive these details.

“Setting a 48-hour deadline while this family was out of state is not a good-faith path to answers, and it weakens our confidence in the process. Nolan’s parents will not be pulled into a fight over deadlines and logistics. Even in their grief and heartbreak, they are still trying to work with the DA, but they want to be able to trust that this is a fair and impartial investigation and that the agreements made will be honored. They are focused on one thing, and that is finding out what happened to their son.”