2026年7月10日 / 美国东部时间上午9:55 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）
作者：马克·奥斯本
密西西比州青少年诺兰·威尔斯7月4日在霍恩岛外出游玩后失踪，最终被发现身亡。他的父母表示，他们不相信儿子会在朋友们乘船离开时主动留在岛上。
“不，他不会这么做的。诺兰永远都会和大家待在一起，”诺兰的父亲埃尔莫尔·温斯利在接受《CBS早间新闻》采访时说道，“要是跟我一起出门，就得跟我一起回来。所以我实在无法理解这件事。作为一名父亲，如果我当时在场，我会跟他们说：‘你们都得跟我一起上船，我可不想因为你们出了事，还要去跟你们的父母交代。’”
当被直接问及是否认为诺兰是被留在岛上时，他的父亲回应道：“是的。我不相信他会自己决定留在岛上。这完全说不通——那不是他的性格。”
诺兰·威尔斯，18岁，在密西西比州霍恩岛与朋友们庆祝独立日后被发现身亡。杰克逊县警长办公室 供图
18岁的威尔斯最后一次被人看到是在7月4日的霍恩岛，当时他和朋友们乘船出海庆祝节日，官员们表示。杰克逊县警长约翰·莱德贝特称，威尔斯周六和朋友们一同前往该岛，但当天下午并未随他们返回大陆。
据律师本·克伦普的办公室透露，人们最后一次看到他是在当天下午3点的岛上。他的母亲当晚晚些时候报案称儿子失踪，搜救工作随即展开。
在美国海岸警卫队、密西西比州海洋资源部和国家公园管理局参与的联合搜救行动后，周一在该岛附近海域发现了他的遗体。该岛距离密西西比州大陆以南约10英里。
杰克逊县验尸官布鲁斯·林德告诉CBS新闻，通过牙科记录确认了遗体身份为威尔斯。林德表示，周二已进行尸检，但结果尚未立即公开。
据克伦普透露，威尔斯的遗体已被空运至华盛顿特区，以进行独立尸检。克伦普表示，前美式橄榄球联盟球星、民权活动家科林·卡佩尼克协助安排了此次空运。
莱德贝特告诉美联社，威尔斯的朋友们正在配合调查。
“存在太多明显的矛盾之处，这也是全美各地这么多人都在发声的原因，大家都说这件事不合常理，”克伦普在《CBS早间新闻》中说道，“我的意思是，他的朋友们说他当时在和一名女生聊天，而那名女生称诺兰说过‘我要和兄弟们一起上船回去’。但那些男孩们却说，诺兰当时表示‘不，我要留下来陪她’。到底哪个才是真的？”
威尔斯的母亲克里斯汀表示，儿子的手机当时在一名已经从岛上返回的朋友手中，他们随后取回了手机。她认为手机上的Snapchat聊天记录已被删除，因为账号里没有任何照片或视频。
“我知道孩子们参加这类活动时，都会用Snapchat发消息，”克里斯汀·温斯利说道，“他们会拍视频、拍照，我就纳闷‘那些东西都去哪了？’距离我们开始搜寻还不到24小时，而Snapchat的内容通常一过24小时就会消失。”
莱德贝特此前告诉CBS新闻，调查人员希望确认一段视频的原始发布者，这段视频的背景中可以听到争吵声。克伦普表示，独立调查人员正在核实，视频中与他人因手机发生争执的声音是否属于威尔斯。
克伦普和阿尔·夏普顿牧师预计将于周五中午与威尔斯的父母举行新闻发布会，讨论这起案件，并呼吁开展全面调查。
威尔斯曾就读于海洋斯普林斯高中，当时是西南密西西比社区学院橄榄球队即将升入大二的球员。克伦普表示，威尔斯游泳技术很好。
斯凯勒·亨利和安娜·谢克特对本文亦有贡献。
Parents of Nolan Wells, teen found dead on island, don’t believe he chose to stay behind: “That’s not his character”
July 10, 2026 / 9:55 AM EDT / CBS News
By Mark Osborne
The parents of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells, who was found dead after going missing following an outing on Horn Island on the Fourth of July, said they don’t believe their son would’ve stayed behind on the island by choice when his friends left by boat.
“No, he wouldn’t. Nolan always stays with the group,” Elmore Wonsley, Nolan’s father, told “CBS Mornings.” “If you be with me, you come back with me. So that I don’t understand, and with me being a parent, if I was in that situation, I would have told them, ‘You’re going to get back on this boat with me because I don’t want to answer to your parents if something happens to you.’”
When directly asked if he believed Nolan was left behind on the island, his father responded, “Yes. I don’t believe he decided to stay on the island by himself. It just doesn’t— that’s not his character.”
Nolan Wells, 18, was found dead after spending the Fourth of July celebrating with friends on Horn Island, Miss. Jackson County Sheriff’s Department
Wells, 18, was last seen on July 4 on Horn Island, where he had taken a boat trip with friends to celebrate the holiday, officials said. Wells traveled to the island with his friends on Saturday but did not return to the mainland with them that afternoon, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said.
He was last seen on the island at 3 p.m., according to attorney Ben Crump’s office. His mother reported him missing later that night and a search began.
His body was discovered Monday off the coast of the island, which is about 10 miles south of the Mississippi mainland, following a search that involved the U.S. Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the National Park Service.
Dental records confirmed the body was Wells, Jackson County coroner Bruce Lynd told CBS News. An autopsy took place Tuesday, Lynd said, but the results were not immediately made public.
Wells’ body has now been flown to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, according to Crump. Former NFL star and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick facilitated the flight, Crump said.
Ledbetter told The Associated Press that Wells’ friends were cooperating with the investigation.
“There are so many glaring contradictions, that’s why so many people all across America are chiming in, saying this is not adding up,” Crump told “CBS Mornings.” “I mean, you have his friends say he was talking to a young lady, and she said that he said, ‘I’m going to get back on the boat with the boys.’ The boys say, ‘He said that no, I’m going to stay with her.’ I mean, which is it?”
Wells’ mother, Christine, said her son’s phone was with one of his friends who had returned from the island and they went and retrieved it. She believes Snapchat messages were deleted from the phone because there were no photos or videos on the account.
“I know when kids get together for events like that, they’s Snapping,” Christine Wonsley said. “They are making videos, taking pictures, and I’m just like, ‘Where is it?’ Because it hadn’t been 24 hours when we started looking, which usually, with Snapchat, it goes away once you hit that 24-hour mark.”
Ledbetter previously told CBS News that investigators were hoping to identify the original poster of a videohttps://www.instagram.com/reel/Dadt2WrBZVL/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet in which arguing can be heard in the background. Crump said independent investigators are looking into whether a voice heard on the video arguing with someone about taking his cellphone is the voice of Wells.
Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton are expected to hold a press conference with Wells’ parents at noon on Friday to discuss the case and call for a full investigation.
Wells went to Ocean Springs High School and was a rising sophomore on Southwest Mississippi Community College’s football team. Crump said Wells was a good swimmer.
Skyler Henry and Anna Schecter contributed to this report.