A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It's been a month since Nolan Wells was found dead on an island just off the Mississippi coast. The 18 year old and some friends went out for Independence Day. Wells was the only one who did not make it back, and he was the only one who was Black. His body was found two days later on the island. A criminal investigation has been underway for several weeks. Elise Gregg with Mississippi Public Broadcasting and The Gulf States Newsroom is following this. Elise, where does the investigation stand?
ELISE GREGG, BYLINE: Morning. So the official investigation itself is still largely under wraps, but no suspects have been arrested in the case. But in the meantime, federal authorities have arrested several people who are not Mississippi residents for allegedly making violent threats on social media and through harassing phone calls towards witnesses. Remember, this case has just ignited a lot of tension and speculation about what happened and why. Reading through the unsealed complaints, it appears like these are all separate incidents. An Illinois man allegedly making death threats to multiple people, an Ohio woman allegedly made similar calls to a George County clerk's office and also called in bomb threats to that office and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. A California man who has been indicted, allegedly made violent threats on social media to Ashlee Cole, a local judge and the mother of one of Wells' friends.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. Now, OK, so none of these arrests, though, are directly related to what may have happened to Nolan Wells, but do we know anything more about the day he went missing?
GREGG: Yeah. So there is a new report by the United Cajun Navy analyzing video, GPS data and social media posts of that day. The Cajun Navy is a volunteer emergency response group that helped in the initial search for Wells. The report puts together a lot of photos and information from Horn Island on July 4, but unfortunately, there's still a lot of missing critical information like when Wells was definitively last seen and his movements after the boat he came on left around 4:30 that day. Here's the group's Vice President Brian Trascher.
BRIAN TRASCHER: This is not an investigative report by any means. This is a compilation of data that we received that we put into a format that we hope will be helpful to somebody.
GREGG: And he adds that this report is not by any means a, quote, "smoking gun."
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, any idea when we may hear from officials about what they found?
GREGG: No, not really. I've been checking in with the sheriff and the DA's office, but all they'll say is that they'll reach out when they have updates. We're all in a sort of holding pattern. USA Today did quote a spokesperson for the State Department of Public Safety late last month that the state autopsy is complete, but that's about all we know. Here's Jackson County DA, Angel Myers McIlrath in a video statement from about two weeks ago.
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ANGEL MYERS MCILRATH: Our restraint in communicating facts and evidence is not an effort to keep the truth from the public. It is an effort to protect the integrity of this investigation in the grand jury proceeding.
GREGG: Now, she's indicated that investigation results will go to a grand jury, but we don't know if they've been shared and when a grand jury would convene.
MARTÍNEZ: You mentioned the tension earlier. I mean, how have people been dealing with the lack of updates, lack of information?
GREGG: There's a lot of frustration. The case itself already has so many missing pieces, and a lot of people feel like there's something that law enforcement could be doing to provide the public with more of an update. This lack of information is just compounded by continued misinformation online. Some of that social media commentary is sparking new legal action with one Ocean Springs family issuing a cease and desist letter to a Louisiana social media influencer. She was making posts implying their son was involved in Wells' death.
MARTÍNEZ: Alright. That's Elise Gregg with Mississippi Public Broadcasting and The Gulf States Newsroom.
Elise, thanks.
GREGG: You're welcome.
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