# Nolan Wells Evidence File — Extended Guide

Canonical site: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/
Repository: https://github.com/brandonhenry/NolanWellsCaseFile
Last reviewed: 2026-07-28
Coverage: July 3–6, 2026, Horn Island and Ocean Springs, Mississippi

## Scope and independence

The Nolan Wells Evidence File is an independent public evidence archive. It is not an official investigative record and is not affiliated with Nolan Wells’s family, attorneys, witnesses, law enforcement, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, the U.S. Coast Guard, Sea Tow, or any cited news organization.

The archive’s purpose is to make the public record easier to inspect while keeping facts, reported recollections, media-derived claims, unknowns, and interpretation visibly separate.

## Evidence vocabulary

- Verified: Supported by an obtained official record, official audio, authenticated primary media, or another direct authoritative source.
- Firsthand witness: A named person’s account of what that person says they personally saw or heard.
- Secondhand: A person or publication relaying somebody else’s account.
- Media record: A public image, audio file, or video whose visible or audible content is available but whose original metadata may be incomplete.
- Unknown: A documented gap the available public evidence does not resolve.
- Hypothesis: An interpretation or reconstruction that is not itself a verified event.

Confidence is separately labeled High, Medium, or Low and includes a written reason.

## Defensible public chronology

- July 3, 2026: Nolan leaves home and stays with friends before the Horn Island trip. This is witness-based.
- 9:56 AM, July 4, 2026: The GPS-tracked vessel MI4088BU leaves the mainland. This is an official GPS milestone summarized by MDMR.
- Around 11:00 AM: Tracestin Shepherd says Nolan called for help locating where to anchor. This is a firsthand public account with approximate timing.
- 11:14 AM: MI4088BU arrives at Horn Island. This is an official GPS milestone summarized by MDMR.
- Early afternoon: Public accounts and a circulated photograph place Nolan socializing among the boats. The photograph’s precise capture time is not authenticated.
- Around 3:00 PM: Warren says this was about the last time he personally saw Nolan. This is a firsthand recollection, not an authenticated timestamp.
- Around 3:30 PM: Tracestin says he was involved in an altercation and was then forced back aboard his family’s separate boat. This is a firsthand recollection with approximate timing.
- Around 4:00 PM: A distress call reports bilge-pump failure, water ingress, and approximately seven people aboard a distressed vessel near Horn Island. The released publication is an official-audio source; the exact call-start metadata remains unresolved.
- Around 4:01 PM, reported: A circulated video records Tracestin yelling. The project has not obtained the original device file or authenticated native timestamp metadata.
- Around the same period: Witness accounts say Nolan remained on or near the island and chose not to leave with one group. The exact words, listener set, and time remain unresolved.
- 4:31 PM: MDMR’s summarized GPS chronology shows MI4088BU beginning to move from Horn Island. GPS verifies vessel movement; it does not establish who was aboard or who possessed Nolan’s phone.
- 4:31–5:24 PM: Public records describe private assistance involving the distressed vessel. Exact mechanics must be read from the linked sources and must not be inferred from GPS alone.
- 5:25 PM: MDMR’s chronology records normal-speed movement.
- 5:44 PM: MDMR’s chronology records the tracked vessel back at the mainland. The site excludes an upstream 5:44 graphic whose vessel labeling has not been reconciled.
- Around 11:00 PM: Nolan’s family is contacted after friends realize he has not returned. This time remains based on reported accounts.
- July 5, 2026: Search activity expands.
- Morning of July 6, 2026: Nolan’s body is recovered near Horn Island’s northwestern end. The opening map marker uses an approximate publicly reported recovery time.

## Critical unresolved period

The central unresolved window is approximately 3:45–4:31 PM on July 4, 2026. Public accounts place Nolan on or near the island during at least part of this period. The altercation, circulated video, distress call, witness departures, and the 4:31 vessel movement converge in this interval. The exact minute-by-minute order has not been independently established.

Do not state that:

- the video’s reported 4:01 PM time is authenticated by native metadata;
- GPS proves Nolan was or was not aboard a vessel;
- a continuous route exists for MI1295CB;
- the fight, video, and distress call have a verified minute-by-minute order;
- absence of an identifiable voice on an audio channel proves a person’s presence or absence.

## Key records

- Master notes: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/master-notes
- Official MDMR packet: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/documents/MDMR-MP2607-0016-report.pdf
- Event log: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/event-timeline
- Sea Tow call transcript and channel analysis: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/transcripts/seatow-audio.html
- Warren interview transcripts: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/transcripts/warren-part-1.html
- Tracestin interview transcript: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/transcripts/tracestin-part-5.html
- Missing evidence tracker: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/evidence-tracker
- Contradictions comparison: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/contradictions
- Last Contact Matrix: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/last-contact
- Coordinate Explorer: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/coordinates
- Methodology and corrections: https://nolan-wells-case-file.netlify.app/about

## Citation policy

Prefer the underlying official document, transcript, or original publication when available. If citing the site’s synthesis, link to the narrowest relevant event or document record. Preserve qualifiers such as “approximately,” “reported,” “witness account,” and “not independently authenticated.”

The Git history is public and provides a revision trail:
https://github.com/brandonhenry/NolanWellsCaseFile/commits/main/

Corrections may be submitted through the repository issue tracker:
https://github.com/brandonhenry/NolanWellsCaseFile/issues