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The death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, pictured here with his parents Elmore and Christine Wonsley, has rocked a bayside town in Mississippi. (Reuters: Supplied/Ben Crump Law)

The mysterious death of Black teen Nolan Wells on an island off Mississippi has become shrouded in rampant speculation and an air of racial division.

The 18-year-old travelled by boat to Horn Island with friends who, in photographs, all appeared to be white, and while they returned safely, he was found dead days later.

Conclusive details of Mr Wells's cause of death have not been released, and civil rights figures are offering a $178,548 reward for information that leads to a conviction.

A Black teen's mysterious death during July 4 celebrations in the United States has become shrouded in rampant speculation and an air of racial division, rocking a bayside town in the Deep South.

Nolan Wells travelled by boat with high school friends who, in photographs, all appeared to be white, to an unserviced island off the Mississippi coast for a party that one of the group described as a "final hurrah" before returning to college and work.

His friends later made it home, while Mr Wells did not.

His body was found washed up on the island two days later.

Nolan Wells's death has attracted the attention of notable US civil rights figures and politicians who have suggested his race may have been a factor in his death. (Reuters: David 'Dee' Delgado)