By admin 
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Read our AI Policy.
- Crump said Wells was found face down and ‘fully clothed,’ which was false.
- Nancy Grace originated the false claim that Wells was found fully clothed.
- United Cajun Navy president Todd Terrell confirmed Wells was wearing blue swim trunks.
Attorney Ben Crump told a national audience on Wednesday morning that the body of 18-year-old Nolan Wells of Ocean Springs was found face down and “fully clothed” on Horn Island, but that’s not true.
Read more This busy, growing Lexington County road is getting a new business. What we know
The false information originated with television journalist Nancy Grace. On her show Monday, she got United Cajun Navy founder and president Todd Terrell on the phone. The group was instrumental in the search for Wells’ body.
Grace said, “As I recall, Todd Terrell, Nolan was face down, still fully clothed, on the beach. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct. He was face down.” Terrell went on to say, “When we say he was found fully clothed on the beach, it was in the same vicinity of where he possibly drowned . . . It was not uncommon for the body to have washed up right there. That being said, that area is full of rip currents really strong right there, goes from 2 to 3 feet to 20 feet pretty much within a couple of steps.
“So, that being said, whatever happened, happened really, really close to where the body was found.”
Terrell, whom the Sun Herald reached by telephone after Crump’s news conference on Wednesday, said that he should have corrected Grace when she said the body was “fully clothed.” He picked up the phone only about three minutes before the show went on the air and was caught off guard, he said.
“I just agreed with her because the body was clothed,” he said. “Maybe I should have corrected her.” A Cajun Navy pilot was in the air when Wells’ body was located. It was clear to the pilot that Nolan was wearing swim trunks, like most other males on the island. So Terrell thought of Wells as “fully clothed” when Grace asked.
Read more Search for missing teenager who might be in danger, Richland County sheriff says
The distinction is crucial because most people don’t get in the water “fully clothed.”
“He was clothed,” Terrell said, “meaning he had his shorts on, from what we could see.” He verified that Wells was wearing blue swim trunks, which is clear from photos of him from earlier in the day.
Wells rode on a boat with friends to Horn Island for the July Fourth holiday, but didn’t ride back to shore with them that afternoon. His body washed ashore two mornings later. Wells was one of the few Black people among hundreds on the island for the holiday. The friends who took him out and most of the people on the island were white.
Wells’ parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley, hired Crump and his team to investigate Wells’ death. Crump, who is from Tallahassee, Florida, said in the news conference Wednesday morning, “My legal team and I, we stand for truth no matter who it implicates or exonerates.”
He spoke to a crowd of thousands who streamed the news conference, held in Chicago at the NAACP’s National Convention.
In addition to Crump, national media outlets have also repeated Grace’s assertion that Wells’ body was fully clothed.
Read more Top federal Murdaugh prosecutor to leave post, become magistrate judge