predecessor FBI Agents shared how Snapshot authorities can use it to resolve nolan wells‘Death case.
Wells, a community college football player from Mississippi, was last seen on Horn Island on July 4. His body was discovered on July 6. While police do not yet believe foul play was involved, they have not ruled out the possibility. Meanwhile, the results of the autopsies – neither those of the authorities nor those of the family – have yet to be released.
The circumstances of Wells’ death, however, have raised questions, and given that he was a black teen with white friends, a racial angle permeated the matter. Wells’ family said they believe his Snapchat messages from the day of his disappearance may have been deleted, although investigators are looking at digital evidence in the matter.
ALSO READ | Nolan Wells update: GPS data tracks movement of boat carrying teen to Horn Island, family meets with D.A.
Meanwhile, NewsNation’s Brian Entin and Former FBI agent Kieran Ramsey explains how Snapchat could still help solve the Nolan Wells case. Here’s what a former FBI agent said.
How does Snapchat solve the Nolan Wells case? Former FBI explains
Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, told “Good Morning America” ​​last week that she suspected the July 4 Snapchat messages had been deleted because her son frequently used the app but had not heard from him since the day he disappeared.
The former law enforcement official said that should not prevent police from seeking digital evidence from his Snapchats. The former FBI agent said investigators should be able to recover “several layers” of data from the 18-year-old’s phone, even if the messages were deleted.
Ramsey shared his expert opinion that authorities could send a hold letter to Snapchat to obtain information on the company’s servers. As a result, investigators had access to cell phone data, including Snapchat geolocation information, which they could use to track not only Wells but anyone else who was with him on the Fourth of July.
“I think they’re going to be looking at a lot of it … because there’s a lot of inconsistencies in the timeline,” the former FBI agent told the publication. Notably, Wells’ friends said they returned from the boat trip from Horn Island without Wells around 3 p.m., and Wells allegedly told them he would find another ride home.
The FBI is reportedly helping analyze the digital experience, and the former agent noted that it may have issued “a large number” of preservation letters, noting that they could follow up with grand jury subpoenas if needed.
The state of Mississippi and Ben Crump, the attorney representing Wells’ family, both agreed to conduct a “mutual review” of the late teen’s cell phone.
The Nolan Wells case: Was there a racial component?
There’s been so much discussion about the possible racial element in Nolan Wells’ case that Pastor Al Sharpton has weighed in. “He was a black man with three young white men who happened to have his cell phone and who happened to have his keys,” the prominent pastor, who attended a news conference with Crump and Wells’ parents last week, said.
He also noted that it was Wells’ mother who found his phone and that his friends never proactively disclosed that they owned the phone or had his keys.
“So some people say, ‘Pastor, are you going to introduce race?’ Well, we’re not going to introduce race, but we’re also not going to discount race because we don’t know what it is. It doesn’t smell right,” Sharpton added.
