Man charged with threatening Mississippi judge whose son is tied to Nolan Wells case

A California man has been charged with threatening a Mississippi judge whose son is tied to the Nolan Wells case, according to a recently unsealed federal complaint.

Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, 27, allegedly messaged Jackson County Chancery Court Judge Ashlee Cole on social media, threatening to send a bomb to her office that will "blow you away when you see it."

"Once that package is opened, the timer will start. And then you have maybe 10 seconds or less to ask God for forgiveness," the message said, according to a court document filed in federal court. "So much blood everywhere. Hard to clean. Especially from a boat."

Wells, 18, vanished after going on a Fourth of July boat trip with friends to Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles from the Gulf Coast, officials said. Cole's son, Warren, was among those on Horn Island that day, too, the judge has said.

Wells' body was recovered on July 6, and authorities said they suspect he drowned. The investigation into his death is ongoing. His official state autopsy has been completed, officials said Thursday, though the results have not been made public.

The messages to Cole were sent on Facebook messenger days after Wells' body was recovered under the name yaeyae962, which an FBI agent traced to Dumarce, according to the complaint. He also allegedly called her court's office on July 11, according to the complaint.

Dumarce has been charged with sending a threat to injure another person. Online court records do not list any attorney information for him.

Cole posted a screenshot of the messages contained in the complaint to her own Facebook account on July 9, days before Dumarce was charged.

In the Facebook post, she said she will not be speaking to the media at this time, saying it is "not the appropriate forum to further elaborate on the facts of July 4, 2026."

"We realize that the truth will not stop the calls for the death of our small children," she added.

Cole said her family will "do everything within our power to assist Nolan's family in their quest for answers."

"We also want to know what happened to Nolan," she said.

Cole has previously said her son last saw Wells around 3 p.m. on July 4. According to Cole, her son left Horn Island with others a short time later, at which point Wells was still on the island. Her son was interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department "and cooperated fully," she said.