The preliminary independent autopsy of an 18-year-old Nolan Wells has listed his cause and manner of death as undetermined.
This means forensic evidence alone cannot definitively rule out foul play or confirm an accidental drowning.
The second autopsy, commissioned by his family and performed by former Washington DC Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Roger Mitchell, highlights that severe decomposition and missing internal organs from the state's initial post-mortem severely limited the findings.
Dr. Roger Mitchell explicitly outlined 7 crucial questions that law enforcement investigators need to cover to determine exactly how Nolan Wells died. Firstly, what even led him to enter the water? Second, was he fully conscious or unconscious when he went inside? Thirdly, did he enter the water on his own, or was he forced to do so?
Fourthly, was there water present inside his airway or lungs before advanced decomposition arose? Fifth, what was inside his stomach at the time of his death? Sixth, did he suffer a brain bleed or hidden internal injuries not visible on the decomposed skin? Lastly, was there any neck compression injury given that his anterior inner neck structures were not sent with the body for the second exam?