A body discovered near a retention pond in Florida has been identified as a teenager who disappeared last week while visiting relatives.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office announced that preliminary evidence at the scene identified the body as 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier. His family also confirmed this news on social media.
Giovanni Pelletier, who was from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, was last seen leaving a vehicle along Interstate 75 in Manatee County on August 1. This incident led to a statewide search for him.
On Friday, law enforcement located the body in a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of I-75 and State Road 70.
Giovanni had traveled to Florida to spend time with his father’s side of the family, his stepfather Jeremy Brown told WFLA. Although he was initially excited about the visit, he sent a text to his mother, Bridgette Pelletier, immediately after joining his cousins.
“He was picked up by three cousins from Mims, Florida,” said Shelley Croft, a volunteer and licensed private investigator, while searching efforts were ongoing. “He wanted to get acquainted with that part of his family with whom he’d only communicated through text and FaceTime previously. They picked him up from Englewood, and just 21 minutes after departing, he texted his mom saying, ‘Mom help me.’”
The cousins informed Charlotte County deputies that as they traveled north on Interstate 75, Giovanni suddenly started behaving unpredictably and got out of the car near State Road 70 in Manatee County, walking away on foot.
Later that night, Giovanni texted his mother and other family members. His cellphone and backpack were ultimately located in the same area he had last been seen.
“I am living every parent’s worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves,” Bridgette wrote on Facebook, according to Nexstar’s WNCN.
An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. The cause of death is still unknown.
WNCN’s Starletta Watson and Rodney Overton contributed to this report.
