Forensics expert clarifies what deleted ‘things’ were on Nolan Wells’ phone

Andrew Garrett, a digital forensics expert hired by Nolan Wells’ family, is clarifying his statements about whether data was deleted from the 18-year-old student-athlete’s phone after Wells last unlocked it on the afternoon of July 4.

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In addition, Garrett, who presented his findings during a press conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Sept. 24, has now addressed what he described as some misinterpretation of his comments about alleged deleted messages found on Wells’ phone after he last accessed it and closed it before his July 4 death.

The press conference came after Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath announced that a grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Wells’ death.

The grand jury also found no evidence that Wells’ friends who were with him on July 4 committed a crime or were involved in his death.

However, the grand jury said that if new evidence surfaced, it could go back before a grand jury to determine if a crime occurred.

Wells, of Ocean Springs, went missing after traveling to Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with a large group of friends aboard three boats to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Two days later, authorities found his body face-down in the water off the northwest tip of Horn Island.

Wells’ parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley, have said that after they retrieved Wells’ cellphone, they noticed that information had been deleted from it.

The grand jury report

Though a Jackson County grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in Wells’ death, the manner and cause remain inconclusive and undetermined.

Both the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office and a forensic pathologist who performed an independent autopsy on Wells made the same ruling.

However, neither the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office nor the independent pathologist could rule out drowning as a possible cause of death.

In fact, the grand jury said in its report that it “finds that the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning.”

Both the state and independent pathologist also documented non-fatal injuries to the back of Wells’ head.

Crump’s team, along with other supporters, including Kristen Clarke, former assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, have called on the Department of Justice to investigate Wells’ death.

Garrett’s examination

At the Sept. 24 news conference, Garrett outlined what he and his team found during a forensic examination of Wells’ cellphone.

Garrett initially said, “There were things that were deleted from the phone,” but said he could not “talk to intent” because the psychology behind the deletions was outside his area of expertise.

“But I can tell you that things were deleted on the phone from the time he had the phone up until the time his parents got the phone,” Garrett said.

At the press conference, Crump also asked Garrett if he thought Wells’ parents were “crazy” to think that messages had been deleted from his phone.

Garrett confirmed that Wells’ parents were correct when they said early on that things had been deleted from their son’s phone.

“I think if you were to look at the phone like we did and look through the message threads and stuff, you could put together that things were deleted,” Garrett said.

Garrett said all 282 Snapchat messages, as well as forensic data related to the phone, were provided to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

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“We gave it to them,” Garrett said. “We gave it to them on a silver platter so they didn’t have to do much work at all.”

Garrett said he was never suggesting that someone physically unlocked Wells’ phone and deleted messages from it after Wells last used it.

In a TikTok livestream on Sept. 24, Garrett said, “When we say erased from the phone, you’ve got to be a little careful with that.”

Instead, Garrett said he was referring to messages that had been deleted remotely.

“What happens is, when you and I are in conversation on Snapchat, and you decide to delete the messages on my side of the phone, you can do that remotely,” Garrett said.

“That was done,” he said. “There are some messages that were recalled and deleted from the phone.”

In a subsequent interview, Garrett said he never suggested that someone accessed Wells’ phone and opened it after Wells last used it.

“The last time Nolan logged into the phone — unlocked the phone — was the last time it was logged into,” Garrett said.

According to Garrett’s findings, Wells’ phone remained locked after he last opened and closed it at 2:18 p.m. July 4 until his parents received it at 3:14 a.m. July 5.

Garrett said the deleted messages he referenced were messages that could be deleted remotely after they were sent.

“I didn’t say somebody unlocked the phone and started playing with the phone and started deleting the phone, because that’s exactly what I would’ve said,” Garrett said.

Instead, he said there were “deletions on the phone” and that people interacted with the device in ways that could include “waking the screen up, you see the messages on the front, that kind of stuff,” but “it’s not unlocking it.”

The Sun Herald reached out to Crump’s team for additional comment, but had not received a response.

McIlrath’s response

After the Sept. 24 news conference, McIlrath addressed Garrett’s comments.

McIlrath first confirmed the information after Garrett first referenced the deleted “things” on Wells’ phone, saying what Garrett referenced involved other “Snapchat users, not someone physically accessing Nolan Wells’ phone.”

“The grand jury report references the cellphone extraction reports our office received and their consideration of them,” McIlrath said.

She said the information provided to her office showed that no one physically accessed Wells’ cellphone after his last known use and before his parents received it.

“The family had been concerned about Nolan’s phone being accessed before they received it,” she said. “When I recently spoke to Mrs. Wonsley, I mentioned how relieved she must have been to learn this.”

The grand jury report said jurors reviewed cellphone downloads and extraction reports, surveillance data, GPS data and a printed report of Wells’ cellphone, among other evidence.

This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 1:52 PM with the headline “Forensics expert clarifies what deleted ‘things’ were on Nolan Wells’ phone.”

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