US3 min(s) read
Published 13:09 09 Jul 2026 GMT
One of the many people involved in the search mission for a young football star who disappeared during Fourth of July celebrations has revealed some of the tragic details about the rescue operation.
During a boat excursion with friends to Horn Island, a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Nolan Xavier Wells went missing, and a major search operation was launched on Independence Day.
After he failed to return home that evening, Nolan’s mother, Christine Wonsley, reported her son as missing to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and pleaded for people on social media to share any information or pictures they had of the trip with her.
On Facebook, the distraught mother wrote: “We have so many questions. Our hearts are breaking; we keep waiting for Nolan to walk through that door with his beautiful smile and a joke of course.”
Hours after Nolan was reported missing, Wonsley contacted United Cajun Navy volunteer Josh Gill and asked for the organisation's help with the search.
The heroic volunteer told the U.S. Sun: “When I got notification of him missing from the family and then from the mother, we had surface vessels, that’s boats that were in the area starting to search.
“We also had two drones that were in the air, as well as boots on the ground on the island doing a manual walk to look for Nolan there.”
According to Gill, the island where the promising 18-year-old football star who was due to play at Southwest Mississippi Community College in the fall went missing is a very popular destination for boaters, fishermen, and recreational boaters.
While there were thousands of people around and the sea was fairly calm, the northwest of the island where Nolan was reportedly last seen sometimes had “increased tidal” activity.
Gill said: "There is a pretty heavy tidal surge and tidal movement on that portion of the island where they were at. It’s a pass between two islands. So, there’s increased tidal influence there, along with wind and wave action.
“Conditions can change rapidly there. It’s not exceptionally deep, which calls for the ability for conditions to change quickly.”
Nolan was last seen on the island at around 3PM on Saturday after his friends went back to the mainland, leaving him behind.
Sadly, the rescue operation came to a halt on Monday morning when a National Park Service member found a body that resembled Nolan.
While an autopsy is needed to determine the identity of the body, Wonsley confirmed the body was her son’s on social media in a heartbreaking statement thanking the emergency services.
She tragically also wrote: “His father, our family, friends and I are absolutely devastated.
“My heart is broken for our sweet son who was always willing to cheer and uplift others. Nolan was a special soul, God took his time creating our son.”
