United Cajun Navy’s VP Brian Trascher addressed the controversy surrounding the handling of information after 18-year-old Nolan Wells’ body was discovered on Horn Island, clarifying key details that civil rights attorney Ben Crump had disputed during a press conference.
During a TMZ Now interview, Trascher explained why the United Cajun Navy didn’t immediately inform the Wells family about what they observed when the body was found. The situation unfolded after Wells went missing on July 4 during a Fourth of July celebration with friends, with his mother Christine Wonsley last hearing from him on July 3 when he cooked dinner and told her he loved her before heading to a friend’s house for the night. Wells traveled to Horn Island with a group of friends that morning, arriving around 11:14 A.M. by boat. Around 3 P.M., he chose to stay on the island while his friends departed at 4:31 P.M. when their boat began taking on water. His parents immediately began searching after learning he hadn’t returned, with his father, Elmore Wonsley, heading to the island by boat with Nolan’s football coach early on July 5. The Coast Guard and multiple agencies, including the United Cajun Navy, launched a coordinated search effort that morning.
Just before 9 A.M. on July 6, authorities discovered Wells’ body in the water at the northwestern tip of Horn Island, and his family confirmed his death on social media just before 1 P.M. that same day. Trascher and another team member were in a plane hovering over Horn Island when Wells’ body was discovered. He explained that he captured images of the scene while photographing law enforcement personnel and boats.