A VIRAL pool-party picture has fueled explosive claims that Nolan Wells secretly returned to land before his body was found off a remote Mississippi island – before a friend shot down the claim.

The image was shared by the teen’s family lawyer, Ben Crump, as a possible clue, sparking theories that the 18-year-old made it back to the mainland after vanishing on July 4.

A new picture uploaded to Instagram has gone viral leading online sleuths to assume it had been captured after Wells disappeared

Wells vanished while partying with friends on Horn Island, off the coast of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on July 4

But the photograph was actually taken on June 27, a week before Wells’ fatal boating trip, according to a close friend and metadata reviewed by Rolling Stone.

The picture was uploaded to Instagram on July 5, leading online sleuths to assume it had been captured after Wells disappeared.

One widely shared post claimed it proved Wells had left Horn Island alive before his body was later placed back there.

Wells vanished while partying with friends on Horn Island, off the coast of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on July 4.

His body was found in water near the uninhabited barrier island on July 6 after an extensive two-day search.

The theory gained further attention when Ben Crump, the high-profile civil-rights lawyer representing Wells’ family, shared a post about the picture on Sunday.

“The streets are talking! Now listen, I don’t know if these are facts or rumors because no official statements have been confirmed,” the post shared by Crump read.

“We sometimes have to follow all clues until the truth is found.”

It claimed social media users had uncovered a photograph appearing to show Wells at a “land-based pool party” before 1am on July 5.

But Wells’ close friend Tracestin Shepherd said the party had actually taken place in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on June 27.

Rolling Stone reported that metadata from the photograph showed it was captured at 11.58 pm that night, exactly one week before Wells disappeared.

A separate source also provided the outlet with other group pictures taken during the same party.

“Our friend group had been planning to go to this party way before June 27, before it took place,” Shepherd told Rolling Stone.

Shepherd said he did not attend because he had been working and needed to attend church the following morning, but identified Wells and their friends in the image.

Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, Attorney Ben Crump, and Rev. Al Sharpton, hold a press conference at the National Action Network Headquarters in New York City, on 10 July 2026

Nolan Xavier Wells was partying with his friends on Horn Island, Mississippi on Fourth of July weekend

He said one friend later included the picture in an Instagram dump containing photographs from several recent events.

The post was deleted when people began using it to fuel theories about Wells’ death, Shepherd claimed.

He described watching the picture spread without context as “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking.”

The image is one of several pieces of online content that have driven intense speculation about what happened during Wells’ final hours.

A separate video recorded from a boat was claimed to show Wells arguing on the island and demanding that someone return his phone.

Crump said Friday that Wells could be heard saying, “Give me my freaking phone, what are you freaking doing?”

But Shepherd has insisted the voice belongs to him and that Wells was not involved in the argument.

“That’s me yelling. … there was no talk about a phone in that video,” Shepherd told ABC News.

He said he was telling his friend Jayvon Williams and a family member to release him so he could continue an altercation with another man.

Shepherd separately told Rolling Stone: “Those were not Nolan’s words, they were mine.”

He said he did not believe Wells appeared in the footage and claimed the teenager was out of frame near the water when it was recorded.

Williams also reportedly said a fight took place on Horn Island that afternoon but did not involve Wells.

Shepherd said Wells had left his phone on the dashboard of a boat alongside around 15 other devices before getting into the water.

“When Nolan got in the water, he put his phone on the [boat] dash also with probably 15 other phones,” he told ABC News.

He said it was normal for people attending island parties to leave their phones aboard boats to protect them from salt water.

Crump previously described the phone as a key piece of evidence and said it had been recovered from Wells’ friends.

Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told ABC News that the device had not yet been handed over to investigators.

Crump said the family intended to turn it over after completing part of its independent investigation.

Shepherd has claimed Wells stayed on Horn Island after his original group left because he had met a girl and planned to travel home aboard another boat.

“They met that day, and it’s kind of one of those things,” he told Good Morning America.

“He did come off that day that he really did like her, but that was the only time they ever hung out was at Horn Island on July 4.”

Crump has said the girl claimed Wells left her to locate his friends and return home, describing the different accounts as an “obvious contradiction.”

Ledbetter has said investigators have not uncovered anything “yet” pointing to foul play and believes Wells may have drowned, but the investigation remains active.

An autopsy is being conducted as Wells’ family continues pushing for answers over circumstances they say “don’t add up.”

Shepherd said he and other members of the friend group have received death threats from people accusing them of involvement in Wells’ death.

“Nobody would ever hurt Nolan in our friend group,” he said.

“We would die for him. We would do everything in our power for that guy.”

Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, has also urged people not to spread fabricated or misleading material about her son.

“The internet is unhinged,” she wrote on Facebook. “To my family, friends, and to Nolan’s friends please do not engage and take care of your mental.”

She later renewed her appeal for anyone with genuine photographs, videos, or information from July 4 to contact investigators and the family’s legal team.

“For those of you making light or joking about my son’s death I pray you never have to go through this pain,” she wrote.

“Losing my son is not a joke.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16685977/nolan-wells-pool-party-picture-truth/