Nolan Wells' Close Friend Reveals Chilling Final Plea Before Teen Was Left Behind on Horn Island and Later Found Dead

Nolan Wells' self-described "best friend" says he begged the teen to "get on the f--king boat," before he was ultimately left behind on a Mississippi island during a July Fourth trip with friends.

Wells never returned from that trip, leaving many questions about what happened.

Wells and his buddies spent Independence Day boating out to Horn Island, before he reportedly insisted on staying behind, possibly with a female acquaintance, as his friends went home.

His body was discovered near the island two days later.

Wells' parents have questioned authorities' determination that the teenager drowned, arguing the college football player was a good swimmer and in good health.

The still-unknown circumstances around Wells' death have led to a wave of online speculation that something criminal may have happened to the teen. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white. The so-far baseless accusations have led to several of the friends receiving threats of violence against them.

Meanwhile, Wells' friends have been steadfast that they did nothing wrong, and have just as much grief and as many questions about what really happened.

Warren Hudson, who considered Wells his "best friend," said the boat in question experienced problems with its bilge pump, forcing an unexpectedly early end to the day of revelry.

"My buddy asked Nolan multiple times to get on the boat: 'Nolan, get on the boat, get on the boat, we're leaving. If you're coming, you gotta come now," Hudson told conservative YouTuber Brandon Tatum, adding that another person demanded Wells "get on the f--king boat."

But Hudson said Wells refused, recalling, "And Nolan said no, I'm staying out here… I'm gonna ride in with somebody else."

Law enforcement officials have not yet released an official cause of death for Wells, and a state autopsy is still pending. But that's not good enough for the teen's grieving parents, who have launched their own, separate investigation into what happened, including having a private autopsy performed on Wells' body.

While that independent autopsy ultimately proved "inconclusive," the attending medical examiner did note one "significant" discovery that warrants "further investigation."

According to the report from Dr. Roger Mitchell, a board-certified forensic pathologist, Wells had what he called "a 12 X 8-inch focal area of red discoloration in the deep soft tissues overlying the occipital bone" on his neck.

Mitchell could not explain the cause of the redness, noting that there were "no lacerations of the overlying skin nor fractures of the underlying skull."

He was also unable to "rule out injury to the neck" as a contributor or cause of Wells' death, and urged, "This finding, however, is significant enough to be highlighted in this preliminary report for further investigation."