The best friend of late college football star Nolan Wells says he was forced to skip the teen’s funeral Monday — and he’s blaming a flood of terrifying threats for his absence.
Warren Hudson, who was with Wells when he vanished on a July 4 trip, broke his silence in a podcast interview released Saturday, revealing why he wasn’t in the pews.
“I’ve gotten thousands of death threats. My family’s gotten thousands of death threats,” Hudson told host Brandon Tatum on The Officer Tatum podcast.
Hudson explained that between the intense social media scrutiny and his own safety concerns, he made the painful decision to stay away.
“I would never want to take the attention off of Nolan and his family,” he said, adding that his personal health and safety had to come first.
“It breaks my heart that I can’t go… I wish I could have been there,” Hudson shared.
Wells’ body was discovered July 6, just days after he disappeared during a boating trip to Horn Island. An independent autopsy has listed his cause and manner of death as “undetermined,” with the date of death also marked unknown.
The 18-year-old was laid to rest Monday in a closed-casket service at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, packed with mourners including filmmaker Spike Lee and NFL legend Terrell Owens.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, fought back tears as she entered the church, later telling the congregation, “As long as we continue to remember him, his light will continue to shine through us all.”
With the investigation still ongoing and conflicting narratives swirling online, one question remains: What really happened that day on the water?
