Body found during search for missing South MS teen, identification pending
A body was found Monday morning during the search for Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who did not return home after spending Saturday on Horn Island celebrating Independence Day.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said search crews recovered the body around 8:40 a.m Monday around the western tip of the Horn Island, where he was last seen.
However, the identity of the person found is pending confirmation from the Jackson County Coroner’s Office. Crews are taking the coroner by boat to the island to confirm the identity, the sheriff said.
“We have been in touch with Nolan’s family,” Ledbetter said Monday morning, but then stressed that positive identification of the person found dead is pending.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Coast Guard, the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and park rangers with Gulf Islands National Seashore are among the outfits that have taken part in the search for Wells.
A park ranger found the body.
Wells was an Ocean Springs High School graduate and a rising sophomore at Southwest Mississippi Community College. He was a wide receiver on the college’s football team, and an all-Region 4-7A performer in 2024 for the Greyhounds.
“I grew up with Nolan, and he’s one of my best friends,” said Sharroid Whitehead, who was a teammate of Wells on the Ocean Springs High School football team. “He’s the most respectful (person) I know, he loves to help and is always happy.”
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department established a command post at the Lake Mars Boat Launch, at 1200 Lake Mars Ave. in Ocean Springs.
The sheriff’s department is asking anyone who talked to Wells at Horn Island, and have not already talked to law enforcement, to contact it at 228-769-3063. The sheriff’s department says any information may be the key to establishing Wells’ last whereabouts.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 9:36 AM.
