HORN ISLAND, Mississippi — As a damaged boat prepared to leave the remote barrier island, a panicked voice reportedly cut through the Fourth of July chaos with an urgent warning for 18-year-old Nolan Wells.

“Nolan, get the F on the boat.”

But Nolan refused.

“I’m staying out here,” he allegedly replied. “I’m gonna ride in with somebody else.”

Those words, revealed by Warren Hudson—a young man who describes Nolan as his best friend—could represent one of the last known conversations with the promising Mississippi football player before he vanished.

Two days later, Nolan was found dead in the waters near Horn Island.

Now, Hudson’s account is adding another emotional and troubling layer to a mystery that has gripped the nation, tormented Nolan’s family and generated intense scrutiny of the friends who returned to the mainland without him.

Hudson said the group had arrived at Horn Island, roughly 10 miles off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, for a holiday boat trip. But their vessel developed a serious problem when its bilge pump reportedly malfunctioned, allowing several inches of water to collect inside.

By approximately 4:30 p.m., the boat had to be towed away.

According to Hudson, another member of the group repeatedly pleaded with Nolan to leave with them.

“My buddy asked Nolan multiple times to get on the boat,” Hudson told conservative commentator Brandon Tatum. “‘Nolan, get on the boat, get on the boat, we’re leaving. If you’re coming, you gotta come now.’”

Hudson claimed Nolan made his own decision to remain behind and intended to return with someone else. That account has not settled the controversy, however. It has instead intensified questions about who last saw Nolan, what transportation he expected to take and how an 18-year-old surrounded by holiday visitors could disappear without an immediate alarm being raised.

The group’s troubled vessel apparently did require assistance. Previously released audio captured an urgent request for towing help after the boat began experiencing problems, lending support to claims that those aboard were confronting a genuine emergency. TheGrio reported that the recovered call included assurances that everyone then aboard was accounted for.

But Nolan’s absence—and the delay before authorities were contacted—remains central to the family’s search for answers.

Hudson said he realized something might be wrong later that evening while gathered at another friend’s home. After learning that nobody could confirm Nolan had returned safely, he reportedly obtained the phone number of Nolan’s mother, Christine Wonsley.

Hudson said he spoke with her at approximately 11 p.m. Once they established that she had not heard from her son either, Hudson said he contacted the Coast Guard.

“I was just worried about my friend,” he said. “Stuff happens out there.”

Then there is the mystery of Nolan’s phone and keys.

The belongings reportedly remained with his friends after the boat left Horn Island. Hudson said leaving phones aboard was normal because visitors often stood waist-deep in murky water and feared losing their devices.

“When you’re waist-deep in water, no one’s carrying their phone in their hand,” he explained.

Nolan’s family, however, has questioned why his phone was returned without photographs or videos visible on Snapchat, raising concerns that material may have disappeared. No public evidence has established that anyone intentionally deleted information, and investigators have not accused Hudson or the other friends of wrongdoing.

Still, every uncertainty has taken on enormous significance for a family struggling to understand how a joyful holiday trip ended in tragedy.

Nolan’s body was discovered on July 6, close to the area where he was last seen. A National Park Service ranger located him during a broader search involving boats and aircraft, according to the United Cajun Navy. Local station WLOX confirms the timeline of his disappearance and recovery.

Preliminary findings from an examination arranged by the family listed both the cause and manner of death as undetermined pending further investigation. An unexplained discoloration was noted on the back of Nolan’s head, but the examiner could not determine whether it represented an injury because of the body’s condition and the absence of associated findings.

The official autopsy will remain confidential until the evidence can be presented to a grand jury.

“The pressure for answers does not change what the work requires,” Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said, emphasizing that investigators must protect the integrity of the continuing inquiry. WTVA reported that nearly all non-natural deaths in the county are presented to a grand jury.

At Nolan’s packed funeral, his mother stood surrounded by photographs, memories and the sports jerseys that symbolized the future her son should have had.

Her request to mourners was simple: “Keep Nolan’s memory alive.”

For his family, that means more than remembering the young man they loved.

It means discovering what happened after he said he would stay—and why he never came home.