Authorities report that Giovanni Pelletier vanished on Friday, August 1, during a family vacation in Englewood, prior to heading out to visit more family members in Brevard County.
MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators have “preliminarily” identified a body found off I-75 in Manatee County on Friday evening as that of Giovanni Pelletier, an 18-year-old missing from North Carolina, who disappeared under “suspicious circumstances.”
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office stated that a positive identification awaits further testing, and the cause of death has not yet been determined. An autopsy has been scheduled for August 10.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office initially reported on Sunday, August 3, that Giovanni Pelletier went missing while vacationing with relatives in Englewood before leaving to visit more family in Brevard County.
The last time he was seen was around 1:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1, when his cousins, whom he had never met before, picked him up in Charlotte County.
Relatives say the group was traveling north on I-75 when Pelletier’s cousins reported that he “suddenly began to act erratically” and then exited the vehicle, walking away near State Road 70 in Manatee County.
Following Pelletier’s disappearance, his aunt initiated a GoFundMe campaign, which had collected over $16,000 by Friday afternoon. She described his vanishing as “deeply troubling” and noted the “suspicious circumstances” involved.
She said Pelletier sent a “chilling text” to his mom before his disappearance.
“The first message came in at 1:51… ‘Mom, mom help,’” Shelley Croft, part of the search and rescue team with nonprofit We Are The Essentials, said.
We Are The Essentials began a days-long search for Pelletier on Monday.
After that, relatives say Pelletier sent similar messages to others and tried to FaceTime his mother, but she was asleep. He hadn’t made contact since.
The search for Giovanni Pelletier
The family had said Pelletier’s backpack was left on the highway.
“The problem with the search area is it goes from here all the way back to Mims, Florida,” Billy Lane with We Are The Essentials previously said. “It’s not as much looking as it is smelling and listening.”
Pelletier’s mother, Bridgette, has been part of the search every day.
“She is strong, she is determined, this is her baby and she’s going to go to the ends of the earth to get answers and she’s not gonna quit,” Croft previously said.
“You’ve got to pray for the best, prepare for the worst,” he added.
Bridgette spoke to People Magazine and explained that her son was in Florida to learn more about his dad’s family. Pelletier was reportedly born in Florida and lived in the state until moving to North Carolina with his mom when he was four.
“He was craving the culture and the background from his dad’s side of the family, and I couldn’t give that to him,” she told the outlet. “So I wanted him to have those opportunities with his dad’s side.”
An investigation is ongoing.
10 Tampa Bay’s Bryce Johnson, Kristen Barbaresi and Hadia Moosvi contributed to this report.
