Edward James Porter, 40, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly threatening to kill a man and stuffing his remains in a suitcase

NEED TO KNOW

A grand jury in Mississippi has indicted an Illinois man accused of making death threats to witnesses in the wake of the disappearance and subsequent death of Nolan Wells.

Wells, 18, was found deceased on a beach on July 6 on Horn Island, off the coast of Mississippi, two days after he went missing during a fourth of July celebration with his friends.

His family members, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, have disputed the accounts of Wells’ friends, who have maintained that Wells had voluntarily decided to stay back on the island. No one has been charged in connection with Wells’ death or disappearance.

However, three people have been arrested after those close to the case allegedly received threats.

Edward James Porter, 40, was arrested in late July and has been formally indicted on transmitting a threatening message in interstate commerce, according to court records cited and a federal agents’ account cited by the Clarion Ledger and the Herald Sun, respectively.

Porter is accused of telling a witness he had plans to “come kill” that person and their family, according to the court documents. He then allegedly sent the witness their home address in a text message and said he was outside the house.

The recipients of these alleged threats have been identified by their lawyer as Bart Edmiston Jr. and his father, WLOX 13, the Sun Herald and the Clarion Ledger reported.

Edmiston Jr. was on the boat to Horn Island with Wells on July 4 and helped tow the boat when it malfunctioned, according to a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources report cited by the Sun Herald.

The family’s attorney Russell Latino further alleged Porter said he would kill Edmiston Sr. and stuff his body in a suitcase, per the Clarion Ledger and the Sun Herald.

Wells was the only Black individual in the group of friends, and his untimely death garnered major national attention.

Porter is one of three people charged in connection with alleged threats made to Wells’ friends or their families.

On July 30, Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of California was hit with the same charge as Porter, for allegedly threatening Judge Ashlee Cole, whose stepson Warren Hudson was on Horn Island with Wells for July 4 celebrations.

“There will be a package coming to your guys office in the next few days,” Dumarce allegedly wrote in a Facebook message to Cole, according to a federal complaint. “It’s gonna blow you away when you see it. LoL. probably best to have the boys there to see as well.”

The same day, Michelle Francine Edwards from Ohio was slapped with the same charge for allegedly making more than 20 phone calls to the chancery clerk in George County, Miss., to say “the clock is ticking” and “die,” according to a federal complaint.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any of them have entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.

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Meanwhile, Wells’ parents have also been subjected to online vitriol.

His mother Christine Wells, a nurse, has received a barrage of online negative reviews, according to Crump.

“Sick people have been going on [Christine’s] company’s website giving her negative reviews,” Crump previously told NewsNation. “They are just sick, evil people who would attack this mother and this father for simply saying, ‘We want to know what happened to our child.’ Don’t worry, Christine, we are standing with you.”