Witnesses told investigators that 18-year-old Nolan Wells had been drinking heavily with friends on Horn Island in Mississippi before he went missing on July 4, according to a preliminary document from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources obtained by ABC News.
The document was an email sent on July 5 by the Marine patrol as part of the search effort for Wells. It listed basic information including his physical description for searchers scanning the island. Wells was found dead on July 6. His cause of death remains unknown.
The official autopsy from the state Medical Examiner's Office and toxicology results are still pending. A private autopsy commissioned by Wells' family preliminarily ruled the cause and manner of death as undetermined pending further investigation. Authorities have said they suspect he drowned.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said there was no initial indication of a crime but stressed that investigators were "working diligently to determine exactly what occurred." He also said the sheriff's office welcomed the family's independent investigation.
A separate police report from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources described what Wells' friends told investigators about why he was not on the return boat trip that afternoon. The report said "several friends that traveled to the island on the vessel with Nolan" told authorities "that when they left he was in the company of an unknown female and that he chose to remain at the island."
Friends have said they did not abandon Wells but needed to return to shore because their boat was taking on water.
GPS data obtained by ABC News from the boat Wells traveled on shows it departed for Horn Island at 9:56 a.m. on July 4 and arrived at 11:14 a.m. The boat remained stationary until 4:30 p.m. At 4:31 p.m., the boat left Horn Island, moving slowly at no more than 4.2 knots for nearly three miles. At 5:25 p.m., it regained normal operation at speeds of 30 to 35 knots and arrived on shore about 20 minutes later.
Both the official autopsy and toxicology results remain pending.
