The family of Nolan Wells has issued subpoenas to multiple social media platforms, requesting his account details as part of the inquiry into the 18-year-old college football player’s unexplained death.
Filed on Tuesday, the subpoenas were directed at Wells’ accounts on Snapchat, WhatsApp, TikTok, Metaplatform, and Life360, a location-tracking application, according to court documents.
The subpoenas demand that these companies provide all related information on Wells’ accounts, which includes his current and past usernames, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers, and display names.
Moreover, the family is seeking all IP addresses linked to the accounts, along with any communications, such as chats and posts.
Wells’ cell phone is a focal point in the investigation into his death, which has drawn national attention earlier this month.
His mother, Christine Wonsley, expressed concern when the phone was returned, noting that she found it odd that there were no photos or videos on his two Snapchat accounts. This absence seemed “suspicious” to her and raised worries that something may have been erased.
Wells had gone to Horn Island off the Mississippi coast on Independence Day, but he did not return with his friends. They brought his cell phone back, explaining that he had stayed behind to talk to someone.
His body was discovered two days later near the island.
Warren Hudson, a friend who was part of the ill-fated outing, stated that he had no knowledge of anyone deleting data from Wells’ phone. “We had no reason to access Nolan’s phone,” he emphasized. “None of us touched it… If we didn’t touch it, there was nothing to delete,” he told a YouTuber named Officer Tatum.
Hudson further clarified that no one interacted with Wells’ phone until it was taken from the boat to the truck, and they lacked access to his passwords. “There was no reason to remove anything… There’s nothing to hide here,” he added, referring to Wells as a “best friend.”
The subpoenas were filed by attorney Gary Bufkin from Mississippi, who is collaborating with the well-known civil rights lawyer Ben Crump on an independent investigation into Wells’ death.
