Drowning or Foul Play on Horn Island? Inside the Conflicting Stories in the Nolan Wells Case

Drowning or Foul Play on Horn Island? Inside the Conflicting Stories in the Nolan Wells Case

From Rotten Mango by Stephanie Soo

July 31, 2026 · 2h 2m · Episode 536

About this episode

The episode explores the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Nolan Wells, a missing college football player, and the conflicting stories from witnesses.

July 6th, at the northwestern tip of Horn Island, a body washes ashore face down in the water. It’s the body of a missing 18-year-old, college football player Nolan Wells who disappeared after taking a boat with friends to celebrate the Fourth of July. Since then, there have been more questions than answers. Witnesses share vastly different accounts of what happened on the island with Nolan. Some of his friends shut down their social media, some opt to do interviews, and some quietly post tributes on Instagram. But Nolan Wells’ loved ones are still looking for answers that investigators aren’t providing… Were there things on his phone that were deleted from the day he went missing? If he stayed behind on the island, why didn’t he have his phone or keys with him? And what’s with this circulating audio that netizens swear they can hear people shouting, ‘Nolan’s freaking dead!’ Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com

People in this episode

Host: Stephanie Soo

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Places: Horn Island

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