An 18-year-old boy from North Carolina disappeared on August 1 while the teen was visiting his cousins out of state. According to PEOPLE, his mother shared his final message that has left her in shock.
Videos by Suggest
Teen Goes Missing While Visiting Cousins
18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier visited Florida in late July to see a relative undergoing chemotherapy. He traveled alongside his mother, 34-year-old Bridgette Pelletier, her fiancé, Jeremy Brown, and his four siblings.
Despite the strange disappearance, Giovanni seemed happy about attending this trip. Bridgette also recalled him becoming interested in meeting his biological father’s family in Florida. Giovanni was born and raised there until he was 4, which was when he moved to NC with his mother.
“He was craving the culture and the background from his dad’s side of the family, and I couldn’t give that to him,” Bridgette admitted. While she is of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, Giovanni’s father is African American.
Her son joined a group chat with some relatives on his father’s side just before leaving for Florida. He planned to have three cousins on his dad’s side pick him up from Englewood. This was where he would be staying with his mom’s side of the family.
Bridgette was rightfully worried about him traveling alone. Still, she let it happen, and the fiancé watched Giovanni’s cousins come to pick him up around 1:30 AM on August 1. Bridgette hadn’t joined as she was studying for an upcoming pharmacy board exam.
Giovanni’s Haunting Final Message To His Mom
While she was still asleep, 30 minutes after they picked up Giovanni, he left her a haunting text message: “Mom help.”
His mother hadn’t noticed until 6:20 AM that he had tried calling her at 1:56 AM. He even tried texting Bridgette’s sister and her father for help. The mother also missed a call from one of the cousins who picked up Giovanni, which was around an hour after they picked him up.
“He only called me that one time,” said Bridgette while crying. “And then no effort was made to communicate with me. No effort was made to come back to the house to let me know.”
Things got even more worrying when Giovanni’s paternal grandfather left Bridgette a voicemail. He claimed that there was some sort of altercation between the men. Apparently, the cousins had left Giovanni on the side of the road in Bradenton, Manatee County.
Bridgette was still unable to reach Giovanni through his cellphone. She then tried looking for him through GPS data on his phone. “When I got to where it [his phone] was, his bag had been left on the side of the road,” she explained.
“It was his phone and his backpack, and he wouldn’t have left that. My son eats, sleeps, showers, breathes his phone.”
Conflicting Stories And Lack Of Search Efforts
Finally, Bridgette managed to get in contact with Giovanni’s father’s family. According to one of the teen’s cousins, the group began to smoke marijuana after picking him up. Giovanni then began to panic, and he claimed that the 18-year-old cursed at him.
Giovanni then allegedly pulled out a knife on the side of the road during the confrontation. “When that happened, they said they wrestled the knife from him, and then my son took off running,” she said.
Bridgette explained how this kind of behavior was not usual for her son. She believes the cousins know more than they are letting on. They became even more suspicious when the cousin’s story differed from the one he told the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
The office’s statement on August 2 mentioned that “Giovanni suddenly began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle and walking away near SR70.”
The mother was stunned that the cousins didn’t even try helping. “None of these kids that were with him have tried to call me and ask me if I found him, asked me if he’s okay, asked me anything,” she said.
Bridgette was also displeased with the “lackluster” response from law enforcement. She believed they would’ve acted differently if her son were underage.
The family has launched a GoFundMe to help with search efforts. There is also now a $10,000 reward for anyone with information leading to Giovanni’s location.