GEOFF BENNETT: Family members are pressing for answers in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi.

Wells disappeared during a Fourth of July boat trip with a group of high school friends to an island off the Gulf Coast.

Wells, who was Black, was the only member of the group who did not return to the mainland.

His body was found in the water days later.

The friends he was traveling with are white.

Authorities say there are no signs of foul play and that Wells drowned, though the investigation remains ongoing.

His family is seeking an independent autopsy and calling for a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

CHRISTINE WONSLEY, Mother of Nolan Wells: I would hope that any parent who, God forbid, would be in our situation, I would hope that you would do the same thing.

I would hope that you would ask for any help, receive any help to get answers, because, at the end of the day, that's all we want.

We just want to know.

We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn't come home.

Like, that that's our biggest thing.

GEOFF BENNETT: We're joined now by the family's attorney, Ben Crump.

Mr.

Crump, thank you for being with us.

What's the latest you have heard from state or local officials about where the investigation stands and what they believe happened to Nolan Wells?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, Attorney For Family of Nolan Wells: The only thing we have heard is what was suggested at the very beginning before any forensics was done, seemed like before any interviews or interrogation of any of the witnesses who were on the boat, and that is, they don't believe it's any foul play.

They think it was an accidental drowning.

That has been the suggestion.

And that's very troubling for Christine and Elmore, the parents of Nolan Wells, and many of us in the Black community, because we believe that they are trying to sweep this matter under the rug, especially when you think about the history of the state of Mississippi when it comes to Black people being killed in highly questionable situations, and nobody ever having any accountability.

GEOFF BENNETT: Local officials said that the friends are cooperating with the investigation.

Is that true?

And what explanation, if any, have his friends given for leaving the island without him?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: You know, we don't know the level of cooperation the friends are engaging in because they all have retained attorneys.

But what Nolan's family and friends feel like, had the roles been reversed, and these had been three young Black men, and there was only one young white man, and he ended up dead, that the investigation would be much more zealous.

There would be interrogations.

They would be separated.

They would be held for all kinds of crimes and misdemeanors until somebody started to talk, that they would challenge the narrative that has been presented, and that being that Nolan voluntarily said he's going to stay behind, and his parents and friends outright reject that.

They said that is not of Nolan's character or disposition.

And had he done so, would he have ever not wanted his cell phone?

We're talking about an 18-year-old kid.

And, so, so many things are troubling and in conflict when they listen to these narratives try to explain why Nolan Wells went out with them on the boat, they all came back alive, and Nolan was washed up on the shore unalive.

GEOFF BENNETT: You shared a photo on social media that appears to show Nolan Wells at a land-based pool party in Jackson County on July 5.

We have the photo there on the screen, and there's a red circle, and he is in one of those red circles.

And, now, this was a day before he was found dead.

How does this photo call the timeline into question?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: Well, so many people -- and that's the thing that gives us hope that we will finally get to the truth of what really happened, because so many young people are talking and they're sharing photographs and they're sharing videos, and they're calling our call center and telling us that they were on Horn Island.

And so I think the photograph that you're displaying is one that was presented to Nolan's mother and to my office that we shared on social media to simply say that, if people have any information about who's in this photograph, when it was taken, where they were located at when they took this photograph, it would be very helpful, because there are many things in that photograph that we think can help build to what was the atmosphere on that July 4 weekend.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are certainly at this point more questions than answers.

What does his family, what does Nolan Wells' family want the public to understand about him beyond the circumstances of his untimely death?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: You know, everybody, not just his mother and father, but everybody who's talked about Nolan Wells, talks about what angel of a person he was, how he was this gifted college football player, student athlete, how he was so considerate during school that he would always try to help people no matter who they were.

They said Nolan's smile would just bright up - - brighten a room.

They talked about how Nolan was a person who was responsible.

So that's why they dispute him saying, I'm just going to stay on the island.

And we think about the conflict and statements between the young lady he was talking to, who said she he told her that he was going to get back into the boat with the boys, and then the boys said that Nolan said he was going to stay and talk with her.

Obviously, the statements conflict with one another, and that's one of many contradictions and conflicts that are glaring in this case.

And so we're just trying to ferociously search for the truth.

GEOFF BENNETT: Attorney Ben Crump, thank you for joining us this evening.

We appreciate it.

BENJAMIN CRUMP: Thank you.