Dr. Bernice King Draws Parallels Between Nolan Wells’ Death And Uncle Rev. A.D. King’s Mysterious Passing

Dr. Bernice King is lending her support to the family of Nolan Wells as they continue seeking answers about the 18-year-old’s unexplained death. Wells, a student-athlete from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was found dead on July 6, two days after he went missing during a Fourth of July outing to Horn Island with friends.

Dr. Bernice King drew parallels between the case of Nolan Wells and that of her uncle Rev. A.D. King.

The daughter of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said the family’s search for answers struck a deeply personal chord, bringing back painful memories of her uncle, the Rev. A.D. King, her father’s only brother, “who was found dead in his swimming pool in July 1969,” according to her Facebook post shared Oct. 8.

Dr. Bernice King reflected on the decades of uncertainty her own family had endured, writing, “Fifty-seven years later, my family still carries unanswered questions about the circumstances of his death.”

The 63-year-old activist drew parallels between the two cases, pointing to what she described as “questions painfully familiar” to her family’s experience. She also noted that both her uncle and Wells were “strong swimmers.”

“Uncle A.D. had a bruised forehead and no water in his lungs. Nolan also had bruising on his head and no water in his lungs or airways. Like Wells, “his cause and manner of death remain undetermined,” she continued.

King closed her message with a plea for investigators to provide Wells’ loved ones with clarity and accountability.

“I pray Nolan’s family receives a thorough, transparent investigation and the answers they deserve. I pray they do not have to live with decades of unanswered questions as my family has. Grief is already a heavy burden. Families deserve truth, and their loved ones deserve to be remembered for the fullness of their lives.”

Read more about the case of Nolan Wells on the next page.