{"id":782543,"date":"2026-07-24T21:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/782543\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:03:11","slug":"nolan-wells-pal-begged-him-to-get-the-f-k-on-the-boat-before-teen-vanished-best-friend-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/782543\/","title":{"rendered":"Nolan Wells’ pal begged him to ‘get the f–k on the boat’ before teen vanished, ‘best friend’ claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pal of tragic teen Nolan Wells begged him to \u201cget the f\u2013k on the boat\u201d before he was left behind<\/a> on Horn Island, his self-described \u201cbest friend\u201d has claimed.<\/p>\n

Wells, 18, went missing during a Fourth of July boat trip<\/a> to the barrier island 10 miles off Mississippi\u2019s Gulf Coast before his body was found in the water just two days later.<\/p>\n

Questions from Wells\u2019 parents and online amateur sleuths have dogged the promising football player\u2019s pals \u2014 about why they left him behind and why they were allegedly in possession of his phone and keys.<\/p>\n

Warren Hudson went on \u201cThe Officer Tatum Show,\u201d where he told Brandon Tatum that Nolan was repeatedly asked to get on their boat before they took off. YouTube \/ The Officer Tatum<\/p>\n

Warren Hudson \u2013\u2013 who exclusively told The Post Tuesday that he considered Wells his \u201cbest friend\u201d<\/a> \u2013\u2013 said that after the boat he went to the island on experienced issues, Wells was repeatedly asked to get on.<\/p>\n

He said that one of his \u201cpanicking\u201d friends yelled at the teen, \u201cNolan, get the F on the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Nolan said no I\u2019m staying out here\u2026 I\u2019m gonna ride in with somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy buddy asked Nolan multiple times to get on the boat: \u2018Nolan, get on the boat, get on the boat, we\u2019re leaving. If you\u2019re coming, you gotta come now\u2019,\u201d Hudson told conservative YouTuber Brandon Tatum.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hudson explained the boat was towed away from the island around 4:30 p.m. as it had taken on about 6 inches of water due to a problem with the bilge pump.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Wells\u2019 family said that when the teen\u2019s phone was returned to them, they had concerns<\/a> after finding no pictures or videos on his Snapchat \u2013\u2013 suggesting they may have been deleted.<\/p>\n

Addressing questions about why Wells\u2019 phone was left on the boat during the trip, Hudson said visitors to Horn Island go there to get away from their phones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re waist-deep in water, no one\u2019s carrying their phone in their hand, especially at Horn Island \u2013\u2013 the water\u2026 has been very, very murky because of the rain and\u2026 it\u2019s just very risky,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a lot of the pictures you see are on the boat for a reason\u2026 We were all waist-deep in water, no one\u2019s sitting there scrolling on their phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hudson said he and his friends realized Wells might have been missing on the night of the Fourth of July while hanging out at a friend\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

He claimed that he asked another friend for the phone number of Wells\u2019 mom, Christine Wonsley, because he hadn\u2019t heard from Nolan.<\/p>\n

After allegedly speaking with her at around 11 p.m. and establishing that she had not heard from Wells either, Hudson said he called the Coast Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would assume that was the first phone call she got from anybody,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I was just worried about my friend, you know? Stuff happens out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warren Hudson and Nolan Wells posing in black tuxedos. Instagram\/Nolan Wells<\/p>\n

The Post asked attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wells\u2019 family, for comment on Hudson\u2019s claims.\u00a0Wells was laid to rest Monday<\/a> at a packed hometown funeral \u2014 exactly two weeks after his body was found.<\/p>\n

His heartbroken mom begged mourners to \u201ckeep Nolan\u2019s memory alive\u201d during the service, surrounded by framed photos of her son and his sports jerseys.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the disappearance and death of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells: <\/p>\n

Preliminary findings from an independent autopsy<\/a> were released Wednesday, with the teen\u2019s cause and manner of death listed as undetermined pending investigation, and the date of death also unknown.<\/p>\n

However, Dr. Roger Mitchell noted that Wells had\u00a0a 12-by-8-inch red discoloration to the back of his head.<\/p>\n

Christine Wonsley, Nolan Wells\u2019 mother, speaks while being consoled by attorney Ben Crump, Wells\u2019 father Elmore Wonsley and Rev. Al Sharpton. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The red discoloration in the soft tissue of the back of Wells\u2019 head could indicate head trauma \u2014 however, decomposition and a lack of associated injuries meant the findings were inconclusive, the report states.<\/p>\n

But the official autopsy results<\/a> will stay sealed until after a grand jury reviews evidence into Wells\u2019 mysterious death, Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the public\u2019s urgency to know what happened to Nolan, but we are not taking time for time\u2019s sake. We are taking the time required to complete the work this investigation demands,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pal of tragic teen Nolan Wells begged him to \u201cget the f\u2013k on the boat\u201d before he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,9599,3,320556,21,19,22,20,25,194,24],"class_list":["post-782543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-mississippi","tag-news","tag-nolan-wells","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}