The father of Nolan Wells’ “best friend” announced he’s offering a $50,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Wells’ mysterious death — as the teenage athlete’s family took a swipe at another of their son’s pals.
Dr. Benjamin Hudson, the father of Warren Hudson, who described himself to The Post as Wells’ “best friend,” told TMZ he was putting up the five-figure reward because “we still don’t know what happened.”
However, the dad denied that any of the people Wells traveled to Horn Island with the day he vanished are responsible.
“We don’t know that anyone had any involvement, but we care about Nolan and want to find out what happened,” he told the outlet.
Hudson said his family has received thousands of death threats since Wells’ disappearance and death made national headlines, he said.
The high-profile nature of the case has made it difficult for more people to come forward and give investigators the information they need, prompting them to put up the $50,000, Hudson said.
Meanwhile, Wells’ family took a dig at another one of their son’s friends, Tracestin Shepherd, who, along with Warren, recently appeared on a popular podcast defending himself and his friends from allegations of racism or any wrongdoing in the case.
Shepherd had expressed his frustration that Wells’ death has become so racialized in the media and by Wells’ family.
But Wells’ parents, who are conducting an independent investigation into their son’s death with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, questioned Shepherd’s friendship with their son.
“It sounds more to me like he’s more focused on getting people to know him, and getting away from the fact that his so-called best friend is not here anymore,” Wells’ father, Elmore Wonsley, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday.
“Our son should be in college right now,” he said. “We should be receiving phone calls from him about how his day went. But we can’t. And we just want everybody to focus on what the real subject matter is.”
The grieving mother, meanwhile, has issues with investigators quickly ruling out “foul play” and suggesting Wells died from accidental drowning, despite concerns that witness accounts “are not lining up.”
Wells, 18, had boated to Horn Island off the Mississippi Coast to party on the Fourth of July but never came back with his friends, who returned to the mainland with Wells’ cellphone and told police they left him there to talk with a girl.
His body was found in the water off the island two days later.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not charged anyone with a crime.
