00:00The sheriff leading the investigation into the death of college football player Nolan Wells is
00:03pushing back against growing pressure and growing speculation. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter
00:09says his investigators will not rush to a conclusion just to satisfy public demands.
00:13The Wells family has been fervent in the belief that this death wasn't accidental. Now the sheriff
00:19says the family deserves, quote, a thorough and factual investigation and that detectives will
00:23follow the evidence, not the internet. Now the case has become the subject of intense online
00:28speculation fueled by viral videos, social media theories and claims of a cover-up.
00:32The family's attorney, Ben Crump, has raised questions about the timeline and suggested there
00:37may even be a racial bias in the investigation, saying that black families too often see cases
00:42like these swept under the rug. But Sheriff Ledbetter says his office is focused on facts, not rumors.
00:47He's asking anyone with firsthand information to come forward, saying even details that seem
00:52insignificant could help shed light on what really happened. The sheriff also declined to comment on
00:57claims that Wells was drinking or involved in a fight before he disappeared, saying investigators
01:01are actively running down every lead. Meanwhile, another theory appears to have been debunked.
01:08A viral photo that some claimed to show Wells at a pool party after he went missing has now been
01:13challenged by one of his friends, who says the photo was actually taken a week earlier. And the friend
01:17also provided metadata that reportedly supports that timeline. Wells' mother, though, continues to grieve as
01:23she prepares to bury her son. In a Facebook post, she wrote, quote, planning the funeral of our 18-year
01:29-old
01:29does not feel real. We miss you so much, Nolan.
