Body of Mississippi student-athlete recovered; parents seek answers

The parents of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells called for a thorough investigation into their son's death during a Friday interview with "Good Morning America." Christine Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley told anchor Michael Strahan they want honesty and transparency from investigators. "We just want honesty and transparency. We want a thorough investigation," Christine Wonsley said.

Background on disappearance Wells, a football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, went missing during a Fourth of July celebration with high school friends on Horn Island near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. m. on July 4, and Wells' mother contacted the sheriff's office around midnight.

A body believed to be Wells was recovered on July 6. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said nothing from collected evidence indicates foul play so far, though the investigation remains ongoing.

Family raises questions The Wonsleys questioned accounts that Wells chose to stay on the island alone. "We always told him, if you go with a group, you stay with a group," Elmore Wonsley said. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said an altercation was recorded by students on the boat.

He also said some messages were deleted from Wells' phone after friends took it with them when they left the island. The family plans to conduct an independent autopsy in Washington, D.C. The sheriff's department has urged anyone with photos or videos from the island, especially those showing alleged altercations, to come forward.