Nolan Wells: Three people charged with threatening judge, witness and officials tied to investigation

Key Points:

• Three individuals have been charged with threatening a judge, a witness, and local officials involved in the investigation of Nolan Xavier Wells' death, an 18-year-old found dead after a July Fourth boat trip near Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
• None of the accused appear to have any connection to Wells, his family, or the boating group, and the threats have arisen amid public distrust and speculation surrounding the case.
• Wells, a Black teenager, was last seen on an uninhabited island with white friends and was found dead two days later; authorities have made no arrests, and an independent autopsy ruled his cause of death as undetermined.
• Edward James Porter of Illinois allegedly made violent threats to witnesses and family members connected to the case, while Michelle Francine Edwards from Ohio is accused of making bomb threats to local offices, and Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce from California reportedly sent a bomb threat to a judge involved in the investigation.
• Judge Ashlee Cole, whose son knew Wells and is cooperating with the investigation, expressed fear for her family's safety but emphasized that they are not obstructing the investigation.