A close friend of Nolan Wells says the Mississippi teenager had been drinking alcohol during a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island but appeared to be “completely fine” before he disappeared.
Wells, 18, vanished while visiting the barrier island, located about 10 miles off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, with a group of friends on July 4. His body was found on the island two days later.
Since the death of the promising college football player, questions have continued to surround the actions of the friends who were with him that day, including why they left the island without him and why they were reportedly in possession of his phone and keys.
One of those friends, Warren Hudson, told that he considered Wells his “best friend.” In the first part of an interview released Wednesday with conservative YouTuber and former police officer Brandon Tatum, Hudson shared new details about the day Wells went missing.
According to Hudson, thousands of people were gathered at Horn Island for the holiday celebration.
“There were probably up to 4,000 people out there and miles of boats,” he said, describing the scene as a large Independence Day party.
Hudson acknowledged that Wells had been drinking alcohol, but said that was common among people in their group.
“Everybody’s drinking, you know?” Hudson said. “It’s Fourth of July. Everyone’s just trying to enjoy themselves, and it’s basically a big party.”
He said he spoke with Wells several times throughout the day and never noticed anything unusual.
“Nolan was drinking. Everybody was drinking, most everybody,” Hudson said. “But Nolan seemed completely fine every time I talked to him.”
Hudson explained that he was not focused solely on Wells because there were hundreds of people on the island that he knew personally. Still, he said the two friends had several conversations during the celebration and that they were “just regular conversations.”
He also said he did not know Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, very well, but emphasized that he and Wells had become extremely close after meeting in eighth grade.
“Nolan was not just a best friend to me, he was a brother,” Hudson said.
Hudson said the two attended elementary school, middle school, and high school together, and remained close after graduating. During their freshman year of college, he said, they talked on the phone “all the time.”
The interview released Wednesday is expected to be followed by a second installment in which Hudson plans to address questions about how Wells became separated from the rest of the group.
Earlier this month, Hudson’s mother, Ashlee Cole, issued a public statement about the trip. Cole, who serves as a judge in Jackson County, said the group returned to the mainland after their boat experienced a problem with its bilge pump.
“Nolan made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends,” she wrote in the July 7 statement.
Cole also rejected allegations that her family had tried to interfere with the investigation. She said her son had been interviewed by law enforcement and had “cooperated fully” with investigators.
The New York Post reported that it contacted civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wells’ family, for comment regarding Hudson’s statements.