NBC News35%

Growing questions in Mississippi teen’s death 40%

By NBC News36%

7/9/2026, 11:22:11 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Confirmation Bias, and Recency Bias, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 25% saturation with 94 hits. Analysis detected 914 faulty-reasoning hits from 376 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 44.9% and a BS Rank of 40% (13,244 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 60.50% of the article peer group.

Tonight there’s an urgent search for answers as the mystery grows over what happened to 18-year-old Nolan Wells. 
The college athlete died over the Fourth of July. 
Authorities say he was last seen boating with friends. 
NBC News’ Aaron Gilchrist has the story. 
His body, recovered from the water near Horn Island off the Mississippi mainland on Monday morning. 
Authorities say Wells took a boat to the island with friends on Independence Day. 
This photo may be one of the last taken of him. 
Wells was reported missing by his family that evening after the friends returned home without him. 
It’s unclear if any of the people in the photo were with him when he disappeared. 
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump has suggested race may be a factor in the investigation. 
“Nolan was the only African American in the group. 
And so, it is making people harken back to the sins of the past in the state of Mississippi. 
And so, I think that’s why people are so concerned with getting to the truth of what happened to Nolan Wells.” 
Some have speculated that videos circulated on social media show Nolan in an argument with other people, but even the person who shot it says she doesn’t know who’s talking or what it appears to show. 
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is asking people on the island that day to turn over any unedited video or photos, specifically those depicting alleged altercations or containing images of or believed to include Nolan Wells. 
“The rumors are out there. 
But the truth is what we want to get to law enforcement.” 
A local judge posted on Facebook that her son was on the boat with Wells, writing that he cooperated with investigators and that her son decided to leave because of boat damage and that Wells made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends. 
“I think the family deserves the truth, and that’s what we’re here to provide for them.” 
Tonight, the family waiting on state and independent autopsies as Nolan Wells is being remembered by a former coach as an outstanding athlete who carried himself with humility and led by example. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 19.4%NBC News: 1.7%NBC News: 2.1%Confirmation Bias19.4%This article: 4.3%NBC News: 0.6%NBC News: 0.8%Anchoring Bias4.3%This article: 12.5%NBC News: 3.1%NBC News: 2.9%Availability Heuristic12.5%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.4%NBC News: 0.8%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.6%NBC News: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 2.9%NBC News: 1.7%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 5.9%NBC News: 5.9%NBC News: 6.4%Framing Effect5.9%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.4%NBC News: 0.2%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 3.2%NBC News: 0.5%NBC News: 0.3%Status Quo Bias3.2%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.6%NBC News: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 5.6%NBC News: 2.7%NBC News: 1.8%Optimism Bias5.6%This article: 13.3%NBC News: 1.8%NBC News: 1.2%Pessimism Bias13.3%This article: 17.0%NBC News: 10.7%NBC News: 7.0%Negativity Bias17.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%NBC News: 1.2%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 1.1%NBC News: 0.8%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%NBC News: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 2.4%NBC News: 1.5%NBC News: 1.5%In-Group Bias2.4%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.4%NBC News: 0.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 8.5%NBC News: 2.8%NBC News: 4.0%Halo Effect8.5%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 18.1%NBC News: 2.1%NBC News: 1.3%Recency Bias18.1%This article: 5.1%NBC News: 1.0%NBC News: 0.5%Primacy Effect5.1%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 13.6%NBC News: 4.0%NBC News: 3.2%Appeal to Authority13.6%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 1.3%NBC News: 1.2%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.2%NBC News: 0.5%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%NBC News: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 2.4%NBC News: 3.2%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 1.3%NBC News: 0.4%NBC News: 0.2%Red Herring1.3%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 17.8%NBC News: 3.6%NBC News: 4.9%Appeal to Emotion17.8%This article: 5.6%NBC News: 0.7%NBC News: 0.8%Begging the Question5.6%This article: 5.1%NBC News: 2.4%NBC News: 1.9%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.1%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 3.2%NBC News: 0.6%NBC News: 0.5%Burden of Proof3.2%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%NBC News: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 23.4%NBC News: 1.1%NBC News: 1.5%Anecdotal23.4%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 9.6%NBC News: 2.1%NBC News: 1.6%Ambiguity (Equivocation)9.6%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 4.3%NBC News: 0.1%NBC News: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy4.3%This article: 17.3%NBC News: 4.1%NBC News: 1.8%Unattributed Quote17.3%This article: 1.9%NBC News: 2.0%NBC News: 1.3%Quote-first Misdirection1.9%This article: 25.0%NBC News: 4.4%NBC News: 4.1%Biased Writer Voice25.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.6%NBC News: 1.1%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.5%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%NBC News: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%NBC News: 1.1%NBC News: 0.5%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

376 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers29%attributed speech268writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 100.0% coverageNBC News • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageBen Crump • 16 words • 0.0% coverageBen Crump • 9 words • 100.0% coverageBen Crump • 19 words • 0.0% coverageBen Crump • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 36 words • 100.0% coverageJackson County Sheriff’s Office • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 52 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Ben Crump

100%flagged-word coverage
65 attributed words60% of attributed speech91% writer coverage
0%20.0%40.0%Biased Writer Voice-35.1 ptsWriter: 35.1%Ben Crump: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-7.0 ptsWriter: 20.9%Ben Crump: 13.8%13.8%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.