Three friends of Nolan Wells, the college student who disappeared from a Fourth of July celebration on a Mississippi island and was later found dead, have sued former NFL star Terrell Owens for defamation.The friends — Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour — accused the Hall of Fame wide receiver of defaming them after he posted on X: "ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!"The fathers of the three friends filed the federal lawsuit on their sons' behalf Monday.All three are under 21, making them minors under Mississippi law.Hudson, Pitalo and Seymour were among a large group of friends who traveled by boat with 18-year-old Wells to Horn Island on the Fourth of July.
The three all said Wells did not return to mainland Mississippi with the group because he was talking to a girl, an account his family has disputed.Wells' body was found two days later off the island's coast.Morgan Seymour, left, Warren Hudson, center, and Jax Pitalo, right, all friends of Nolan Wells, sued Terrell Owens on Oct.
5, 2026, for allegedly defaming them on social media.("Saturday in America"/Screengrab)NOLAN WELLS' FRIENDS CLEARED BY GRAND JURY AS THEIR LAWYERS VOW TO HOLD ONLINE ACCUSERS ACCOUNTABLEImages showing Wells, who was Black, with his white friends before his disappearance circulated widely online, with some social media users viewing the circumstances surrounding his death through a racial lens and directing suspicion toward his friends.Owens joined the public criticism in a Sept.
26 post that remains online.The post links to an Instagram reel by content creator Trent Out Loud that accused the three young men of deleting Snapchat messages from Wells' phone after his death while also suggesting they may have been responsible for killing him.However, Andrew Garrett, a digital forensics expert hired by attorney Benjamin Crump, examined Wells' phone and concluded that no one accessed it between 2:18 p.m.
on July 4, when Wells last unlocked it, and 3:14 a.m.on July 5, when his parent...