Missing NC Teen Who Was Vacationing In FL Found Dead

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — A body found in a retention pond off Interstate 75 in Manatee County on Friday is believed to be a North Carolina teen who was reported missing more than a week ago while he was vacationing in Florida, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said they believe the body found in a pond near the southbound off-ramp of I-75 was 18-year-old Giovonni Pelletier, who was last seen in that area on Aug. 1.

Final identification of the body and the cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, scheduled for Aug. 10.

Pelletier left Englewood, where he was staying with family, around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 1 to visit other family members in Brevard County, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post.

His cousins told investigators that Pelletier “began to act erratically” while they were traveling north on Interstate 75 before getting out of the vehicle and walking away near State Road 70 in Manatee County, the sheriff’s office said.

His mother, Bridgette Pelletier, told People a different narrative about his disappearance.

• RELATED: ‘Mom Help’: NC Teen Vacationing In FL Sent Brief Text Before Going Missing

She was asleep when cousins from his father’s side picked up the teen to bring him back to their home across the state for a visit.

Bridgette didn’t notice until after 6 a.m. that she had two missed texts, including one that said “Mom help," and a missed phone call and FaceTime attempt from her son just a half hour after he left, she told the media outlet. (Read her full interview with People here.)

One of the cousins he left with also tried calling her, and she later learned that her son also called her sister and father for help. Additionally, Giovanni’s paternal grandfather left Bridgette a voicemail saying there had been an altercation between the teen and his cousins, who left him on the side of the road in Bradenton, she told People.

She used the GPS data from his phone to track him down and found his backpack and phone on the side of the road.

“He wouldn’t have left that,” Bridgette said. “My son eats, sleeps, showers, breathes his phone.”

When she spoke to the cousin who tried calling her overnight, he told her that the group smoked marijuana after they picked up Giovanni, who panicked, cursed at them and pulled out a knife while they were on the side of the road, People said. He allegedly ran off after they got the knife away from him.

A GoFundMe fundraiser was launched by Pelletier's aunt before he was found.

"I am living every parent’s worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves," Bridgette wrote in an update. "Any funds raised now will provide crucial support to cover funeral, medical, and legal costs as we struggle to honor his memory through this unimaginable heartbreak."