Nolan Wells’ mom says she doesn’t have the luxury of falling apart and urges hateful commenters to stop
“I miss my baby,” said Christine Wonsley
NEED TO KNOW
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Nolan Wells’ mom shared how she is navigating her colossal grief after her son’s death following a July 4 party on Mississippi’s Horn Island
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The family commissioned an independent autopsy as a mystery swirls around the teen’s final hours
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The 18-year-old’s mom asked for support and positivity as she mourns under a national spotlight
Nolan Wells‘ mom says her grief feels “different” every second as she mourns her 18-year-old son, whose death following a July 4 party in Mississippi has sparked national intrigue.
“This grief is just different,” said Christine Wonsley in a video posted to social media on Friday, July 24, three weeks after the teen vanished during an Independence Day party on Horn Island and was found dead in the water two days later. “I miss my baby.”
She said she misses her son coming into the room she shares with her husband to lie across the bed and talk about his day. She also yearns for his hugs and smiles.
“I miss hearing him say, ‘I love you, Mom.’ I just miss all of those things. And I know that we will not have that again,” she continued. “I will not be able to hear those words. I will not be able to put my arms around him. Like, I know that. And we’re just trying to make it through.”
Wonsley thanked the people who have shown support and love to their family. She also urged strangers to stop leaving hate-filled comments.
“Me and my family, we don’t owe anybody anything,” said Wonsley. “The only thing we did initially, we just asked a question. We just asked a question. We asked, ‘What happened to Nolan?’ That’s it. That’s the question we asked and everyone went crazy.”
Friends of Wells have since spoken out following the party that was packed with hundreds, if not thousands, of people on the island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast on July 4. They maintain that he stayed on the island to spend time with a girl after a group of their friends left. They’ve said that Wells left his phone behind on the boat, just as others did to prevent it from getting wet.
His parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, have said such behavior is out of character for their son, whose final hours continue to remain a mystery.
They allege that Wells’ phone did not contain many scenes from the party, making loved ones wonder if something nefarious had occurred that prompted evidence to be deleted from the device before it was returned to the family.
Local officials initially said they didn’t see signs of foul play and thought Wells could have drowned. The teen’s family has said this was a rushed judgment that did not involve a thorough enough investigation.
In a desire to find answers, Wells’ family commissioned an independent autopsy. Ben Crump, the family’s attorney, shared the preliminary findings at a press conference on Wednesday, July 22, and revealed that the manner and cause of death could not yet be determined without further investigation.
Dr. Roger J. Mitchell, who conducted the independent autopsy, said he could not rule out foul play but did not find any fractures or deep tissue injuries on the teen’s body, PEOPLE previously reported. But he noted that there were multiple limitations that inhibited his findings.
Meanwhile, autopsy and toxicology results have yet to be released from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office.
As so many unknowns remain, Wells’ mom is learning how to mourn her child under a national spotlight.
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“At the end of the day, this may be a joke to you, this might be funny to you, but it’s not to me and my family,” said Wonsley in the social media video as she asked people to stop spreading negativity. “We lost a piece of our heart. And so I would recommend you stop because the hate is showing. If you’re not giving uplifting, encouraging words to me and my family, just stop.”
The grieving mom said that speaking out has helped her process her pain — and find answers about what happened to her son.
“I don’t have the luxury of falling apart. I don’t,” she said. “When you are trying to find out what has happened to your child, to your loved one, you don’t get that grace and luxury. Or at least I don’t.”
Read the original article on People