Third Person Arrested Over Death Threats Tied to Nolan Wells Case
A third person has been arrested on federal charges accusing them of threatening witnesses connected to the investigation into the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Mississippi college freshman whose disappearance during a July Fourth trip has drawn intense national attention and online speculation.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Edward James Porter, of Berwyn, Illinois, is charged with transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce after prosecutors say he made phone calls and sent text messages threatening to kill two witnesses connected to the case, along with their families.
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Christopher Kloc said Porter threatened the two witnesses on Friday, July 31, in one instance allegedly telling a witness he had their home address and was "going to come kill" them and their family before texting that address to them. In a separate call, Porter allegedly threatened a second witness, saying he would kill them, cut up their body and put them in a suitcase.
Porter is the third person charged in connection with threats tied to the Wells investigation. Those allegedly threatened include Jackson County Chancery Judge Ashlee Cole and members of her family; her stepson, Warren Hudson, was among the group of friends who spent time with Wells on July 4 before his disappearance. A previous defendant, 27-year-old Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of California, was arrested and charged last week after prosecutors say he sent Cole multiple threats via Facebook Messenger, some including images of her children. Investigators say they identified Dumarce through the email tied to his Facebook account.
A Case That's Drawn Intense Public Scrutiny
A separate friend of Wells, 21-year-old Bart Edmiston Jr., has also said he received a threat his attorney described as credible, warning that he and his family would be harmed. Edmiston's name became connected to the case after appearing in a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources report tied to GPS data pulled from a boat he helped tow after friends called Sea Tow for a malfunctioning bilge pump; that assistance was ultimately called off, according to the towing company. Edmiston has said he plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit over false accusations made against him online since the case became public.'
The friend group's families have also taken steps to address the backlash. Benjamin Hudson, Warren Hudson's father, launched a fundraiser describing his son and other friends as having been "targeted" since Wells' death, saying it was created "for the sole purpose of fighting these individuals" and to help cover legal costs, including the possibility of pursuing lawsuits of their own.
Family Speaks Out Amid the Speculation
Wells' father, Elmore Wonsley, addressed the tension surrounding the case directly. "We can't grieve the way we need to because we're being disrespected, we're being called all kind of racist, bad parents. We were not raised like and we did not raise our children like that, so we just want the truth," he said.
Wells' grandfather also spoke out in a Facebook post reflecting on the loss. "Nolan Xavier Wells deserved to have a life, a career, a family and the opportunity to be great," he wrote. "He was robbed of that." He also criticized what he described as people using the case for personal gain while stoking division, writing that he hopes "the clout chasers" stop using Wells' death to fuel racial tension in Mississippi and the country.
Separately, Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has said a toxicology report purporting to show Wells' results, which has circulated online, is fraudulent, though authorities have not released additional details about the actual findings of Wells' autopsy.
The underlying investigation into Wells' death remains ongoing, and no charges related to the death itself have been announced as of this report.
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