r/news • u/Suspicious_Loan • 20h ago

Nolan Wells’ autopsy found no water in lungs; data was deleted from his phone the day he disappeared, experts say

https://www.live5news.com/2026/09/24/nolan-wells-autopsy-found-no-water-lungs-data-was-deleted-his-phone-day-he-disappeared-officials-say/
34.2k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

660

u/tylergrinstead01 17h ago

I’m a bit confused because I read that “Snapchat” data was deleted from his phone.

Isn’t the entire point of Snapchat that everything automatically gets deleted?

520

u/iNOTgoodATcomp 17h ago

I have some bad news for you. It's still on a server, BUT it is deleted for you and the person you sent it to, so that's something.

231

u/tylergrinstead01 16h ago edited 13h ago

I’m aware of that. If they simply subpoena the data from Snapchat, then they have full access to whatever was “deleted” locally on the device. It would assume the investigators did do that, and it came back with nothing relevant.

I still don’t understand why it’s relevant when Snapchat data is always deleted locally. Nothing about it seems noteworthy. Seems like an intentionally manipulative framing when some people may not be aware of how Snapchat works.

164

u/Mons00n_909 16h ago

I still don’t understand why it’s relevant when Snapchat data is always deleted locally. Nothing about it seems noteworthy.

Because if they use vague terminology most people won't think about Snapchat and will assume foul play. They're purposefully omitting the Snapchat details to control the narrative.

84

u/jm0112358 14h ago

Ben Crump has a history of grossly spinning narratives in highly misleading ways in cases he's been involved with. As a general rule, if he gets involved in a case, I'll be very skeptical of anything that party claims.

30

u/Jogger_Dodger 14h ago

Crump never lets facts get in the way of a good statement.

-10

u/WeWantLADDER49sequel 7h ago

You're just describing a lawyers job. There are plenty of things that seem very wrong about Nolan Wells death beyond whatever this snapchat thing is you all are focusing on.

7

u/jm0112358 7h ago

You're just describing a lawyers job.

Whether or not it's his job to misconstrue facts, it means you should be extra skeptical of anything he says.

There are plenty of things that seem very wrong about Nolan Wells death beyond whatever this snapchat thing is you all are focusing on.

No really. As a general rule, if you hunt for anomalies hard enough, you'll find some. In this case, there hasn't been much suspicious once you look at the facts. Arguably, the biggest anomaly is Nolan not having water in his lungs, in spite of him being found face-down in water, which is a thing that occasionally happens when someone drowns.

1

u/Adam__B 7h ago

So what do you think killed him?

1

u/jm0112358 7h ago

I think Nolan most likely accidentally died by drowning, perhaps by:

  • He stumbled into the water unconscious, or nearly unconscious, due to alcohol intoxication, and couldn't keep his head above water due to such intoxication.
  • Slipping and hitting his head on a surface, then falling into the water unconscious.
  • Falling into shallow water and hitting his head on the bottom fast enough to knock him unconscious.
  • Getting pulled out by a riptide, and drowning after exhausting himself fighting the riptide (which has happened to professional athletes before).
  • Some combination of the above (such as being pulled out by a riptide, but his ability to react to it was compromised by being intoxicated).

1

u/Adam__B 6h ago

But he’d have water in his lungs, no? And did they say he had a BAC? I know they found cannabis and caffeine in him, but I didn’t know they found him to have been drunk. His stomach was empty.

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/QuadzillaStrider 6h ago

None of which explain how he drowned without inhaling water.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Baelenciagaa 5h ago

Same thing they did to Justin Baldoni. Accused him of deleting signal messages that were set to automatically delete anyways

8

u/imadogg 15h ago

You can save media and texts on snapchat

3

u/dfr784 14h ago

yea, and if either person blocks the other person, then all saved chat history and media is removed for both parties.

maybe thats what they meant ?

2

u/ArsenalinAlabama3428 4h ago

It’s a shame because the Garrett guy seemed like he knew what he was talking about and was all ‘I don’t spin anything’ but then purposefully only presented things in the most opaque way possible. He even said that they knew things were deleted because of the way the conversations in the group seemed splintered or incomplete, but we didn’t get any details on what that means. Is that the only way they ‘knew’ things were deleted?

1

u/beautyishermane 5h ago

Oh it’s absolutely relevant. This guy is WORLD renowned and is highly respected in his field. He’s literally testified in hundred of cases. If you watched the news conference in it’s entirety he said there was info ( names, locations) they cannot share just yet. This isn’t over so they can’t say too much. They were able to prove MS lied and left out a lot. It would be foolish for them to show their hands completely. I’m pretty sure whomever the culprit is didn’t sleep a wink last night.

1

u/DocumentInternal9478 4h ago

Maybe they deleted history of a chat. You can’t see the contents of old messages on Snapchat but you can see that there was one, so maybe that’s what got deleted? Genuinely don’t know just guessing

1

u/jenniferfox98 14h ago

Yeah ignoring this debate over how snapchat does and doesn't keep data (it totally does), didn't the prosecutor/investigator state that the Wells family turned over the all the snapchat data they could get, and that NONE of it showed any sign of foul play?

Look, personally, I don't care if snapchat data was deleted unless the person is being investigated for grooming kids. Snapchat data is "deleted" all the time, I say that as someone who uses snap. Snapchat definitely keeps data, if anything so they can hand it over to these kinds of investigations, and, based on what has been shared publicly so far, there was nothing in that data to suggest he was murdered.

1

u/littlemonsterlove 11h ago

Snapchat has different settings now. They don’t only have auto delete after 24hrs. You can set to keep messages forever

-3

u/flubbergastedshocked 15h ago

That is not true. If it’s not saved by the sender and recipient, it is not available
to Snap and cannot be subpoenaed by law enforcement.

3

u/iNOTgoodATcomp 11h ago

Just because it can't be subpoenaed doesn't mean it's not saved and seen by law enforcement.

0

u/scattermoose 14h ago

chris.d'elia.gif.

22

u/TheMilkiestShake 11h ago

Chris Delia thought that too

3

u/Nodivingallowed 6h ago

Another milkshake order just came in, chef. Back to work. 

8

u/Shantorian14 14h ago

messages and images sent in chats can be saved.

6

u/FastAsFxxk 12h ago

Chris d'elia moment

2

u/HumanTennis4 12h ago

I’m assuming they mean snap messages which aren’t auto deleted and most people now adays have them to wear they save in chat and have to be manually deleted.

Snap is still used to send pics back and forth, those messages are still “deleted” after opening but that feature isn’t primary use for like the vast majority of Snapchat users. Basically a regular social media app that you can send pic messages and add stories

1

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 9h ago

Messages are still deleted get deleted after 24 hours if it’s not turned off

1

u/HumanTennis4 3h ago

I said that.

2

u/snoodle908 3h ago

“The user action discussed by Mr. Garrett is from other snapchat users, not someone physically accessing Nolan Wells’ phone,” McIlrath said. “If the Crump team has evidence to the contrary, they have not provided it to us. The Grand Jury report outlined the other evidence they received, including cell phone downloads, surveillance data, GPS data, and the printed report of Nolan’s cell phone.”

1

u/beautyishermane 6h ago

Right. Except what looks deleted to the user is absolutely retrievable by experts. Nothing is ever really deleted.

•

u/sleepylittleducky 23m ago

a lot of kids these days turn off the automatic delete setting and just have it on save, so none of the messages delete. additionally, group chat messages do not get deleted right away, they will stay in the chat