More than a week after vanishing, the 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, who texted “Mom, help” before going missing, is believed to have been found by authorities. A decomposing body, preliminarily determined to be Giovanni’s, was found at a retention pond.
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As reported by Gulf Coast News, the body was found by Giovanni’s family at a retention pond near Interstate 75 and State Road 70 on Friday, August 8. A preliminary investigation determined the body to be Giovanni’s.
According to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office release obtained by WRAL, the Sarasota Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to officially identify the decomposing body believed to be Giovanni.
The autopsy performed by a medical examiner determined that no evidence of foul play or trauma was found. The cause and manner of death, as well as toxicology report results, are pending.
‘Mom, Help’
According to Giovanni’s aunt, Desiree Pelletier, the family was on vacation in Englewood, California. As reported by WRAL, during the early morning of Friday, August 1, Giovanni met up with his cousins. They were family from his estranged father’s side.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office reported at the time that Giovanni’s cousins claimed that he “suddenly began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle and walking away.” He was last seen in Mims, Florida.
However, Giovanni Pelletier, that very same day, sent an alarming text to his mother, grandfather, and aunt. It read, “Mom, help.”
As a result, Desiree, Giovanni’s aunt, contests the cousins’ claim that the 18-year-old suddently walked away.
“How on earth are we supposed to be okay with these three boys saying this is what happened and then they change it,” Desiree said. “How are we supposed to be okay and not go for the possibility of something happened to him?”
After the body believed to be Giovanni’s was found, his mother, Bridgette Pelletier, posted on Facebook.
“I am living every parent’s worst nightmare,” she said. “We ask that you please respect our privacy at this time as we try to navigate this for his 4 younger siblings.”
Then, Bridgette clarified in a separate post that the authorities were not the ones who found Giovanni. By asking to “stop spreading lies,” the grieving mother insisted that the family was the ones who found the body. She added that she “will never be the same.”