FL GIOVANNI PELLETIER: Missing from Mims, FL - 1 Aug 2025 - Age 18 *Found Deceased*

'Mom, help': Last text from Fuquay-Varina teen before vanishing in Florida has family concerned

A family from Fuquay-Varina is pleading for help finding a missing 18-year-old after he went missing under suspicious circumstances in Florida.

www.wral.com

'Mom, help': Last text from Fuquay-Varina teen before vanishing in Florida has family concerned​

Two words in a text message will be seared into the minds of Giovanni Pelletier’s family.

“Mom, help.”

The family, from Fuquay-Varina, is pleading for help finding the 18-year-old after he went missing under suspicious circumstances in Florida.

Giovanni Pelletier was last seen August 1 in Mims, Florida, near Orlando. Pelletier’s aunt Desiree told WRAL the family was in Englewood, Florida, on vacation when Pelletier met up with his cousins early Friday morning.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said around 1:30 a.m., Pelletier went to visit his cousins. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the cousins say Pelletier, “suddenly began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle and walking away…”

However, Desiree Pelletier said the family has concerns about the cousins’ involvement.

“How on earth are we supposed to be okay with these three boys saying this is what happened and then they change it,” she said. “Then someone lies about their name as well? How are we supposed to be okay and not go for the possibility of something happened to him?”

On top of their concerns about the cousins’ possibly changing their story, it’s the text message Giovanni sent to his mom, his grandfather and another aunt on his father’s side.

“That makes my stomach feel like all those emotions and feelings of what was he feeling in that moment?” Desiree said. That’s why we’re just so terrified. We just want to find him. We want him home.”

No one in the Fuquay-Varina neighborhood where Giovanni lived would speak on camera, but told WRAL he was popular and had many friends. One person said Giovanni and his mother were extremely close.

A mother who hasn’t heard from her first born in nearly a week after getting an ominous text message. Desiree said Giovanni’s mother had his location on her phone. It was last seen near a highway in Manatee County, Florida. Desiree said a truck driver picked up the bag after seeing it on the side of the road and it was turned over to police.

But the 18-year-old just vanished.

“Something is wrong,” Desiree said. “Something happened.”


Media - GIOVANNI PELLETIER: Missing from Mims, FL - 1 Aug 2025 - Age 18

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Family raises reward to $25,000 for any information in case of missing North Carolina teen

Giovanni Pelletier’s family raised a reward of $25,000 for any information about the missing teen.

www.fox13news.com

Family raises reward to $25,000 for any information in case of missing North Carolina teen​

Giovanni Pelletier’s family raised a reward of $25,000 for any information about the missing teen. "We are not going to stop looking for him."

Friday, Aug. 8, will mark one week since a teen disappeared while going to visit other family members in Florida.

Bridgette Pelletier wants what any mom of a missing teen would want.

"The biggest message for me is that we want our son home," she told FOX 13.

She’s been searching for answers that will lead to her 18-year-old son, and it’s been agonizing.

"We understand there are a lot of people who may be scared to speak up, or maybe there aren’t people who are willing to relay information, but this isn’t just a missing person. "This is our heart, and he’s part of our family," she said.



Last week, Pelletier and his family from North Carolina were visiting a relative in Englewood. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said on Friday, Aug. 1 around 1:30 a.m., he left with cousins to visit additional family in Brevard County. What happened next baffled his family.

"He texted ‘help me’. "My son would not have put me in a place to be scared or worried, because he knows when it comes to my children there are no limits and nothing I wouldn’t do it for him," said Bridgette Pelletier.

Those in the car told Charlotte County Deputies that Pelletier began acting erratically, got out of the car and walked away near I-75 and State Road 70 in Manatee County. His backpack and phone were found on the side of the road.

"If something were to come up where maybe he was experiencing something, they would have been there and not think of somebody leaving somebody on the side of the road. It doesn’t make sense. "There are too many things that don’t make sense. "The narrative that’s being told is not the true story, and it’s disappointing because I believe that’s why we don’t have any more support from law enforcement thus far. "There’s been some amazing people in Charlotte County that have been so helpful, but without information we can’t move forward, said his mom, Bridgette.

The non-profit search group, We Are the Essentials, and Giovanni’s family continue to search parts of Sarasota County leading to Englewood. They’re trying to narrow down the timeline.

"We are going to be focusing based upon the time that he left the family home, based on the text messages and face-time videos that were sent and attempted to receive from his mother," said Shelley Croft of We Are the Essentials.

They’re asking anyone with footage of the white Chevy Malibu Giovanni was traveling in to come forward.

"If you believe that you see them, that video can make a world of difference in knowing where that car was at what time, in what area. "You are maybe the missing piece to the puzzle," said Croft.

"Our family is not the same without Geo. We are not going to be able to stop looking for him, we won’t be able to go home and go back to normal. "We need him home," said Bridgette Pelletier.

 

[noZme]

The cousins' story sounds fishy to me.

 

[Kimster]

The cousins' story sounds fishy to me.

For sure. Reading these reports gives me a sinking feeling.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Giovanni Pelletier, teen missing for 8 days, never came to Brevard County: Sheriff Ivey

Sheriff Wayne Ivey says nothing from the missing person investigation so far indicates that 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier ever came to Brevard County. The teen has now been missing for eight days.

www.fox35orlando.com

Giovanni Pelletier, teen missing for 8 days, never came to Brevard County: Sheriff Ivey​

Giovanni Pelletier, 18, has now been missing for eight days, and his family is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey held a press conference on Friday morning to provide updates, saying that nothing from the investigation so far indicates that Pelletier ever came to Brevard County.

Ivey said he's received a lot of questions about the the Brevard County Sheriff Office's (BCSO) involvement in the investigation of Pelletier's disappearance. He clarified that the BCSO is not the lead agency in the investigation — the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) is. The only connection the case has to Brevard County is that the three men Pelletier allegedly went to meet with are from the area, he said.

Ivey said there is no indication or evidence that Pelletier ever came to Brevard County. In fact, he said evidence indicates the opposite.

Ivey said the BCSO did interview the three men Pelletier was allegedly going to meet at the request of the CCSO. He said the agency also checked on a car at a salvage yard that was thought to possibly be part of the investigation, but the car turned out to not be part of the investigation and had no connection to Pelletier.

Ivey also clarified that there is no area for them to search in Brevard County, and that, as far as he knows, there have been no sightings in CCSO's search so far.

"If we had even the slightest indication that said he was out here, we would be out there searching," he said. "However, we do stand by to assist Charlotte County if needed."


Pelletier was on vacation in Englewood with family from North Carolina when he left around 1:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1, to go visit relatives in Brevard County.

He got into a white Chevy Malibu with a cousin from his biological father’s side of the family, along with two of the cousin's friends, but according to relatives, Pelletier had never met the men in person. He had only spoken to one cousin on the phone before.

Roughly 25 minutes into the trip, Pelletier sent a chilling message to his mother: "Help me." He also messaged other family members with similar pleas. That was the last time anyone heard from him.

According to the CCSO, the cousin and his friends told deputies Pelletier began to act erratically and got out of the car near Interstate 75 and State Road 70 in Manatee County. His backpack and phone were found on the side of the road later that day.

The white Chevy Malibu was seized by the BCSO.

Family members of Pelletier, from North Carolina, began searching off Hammock Road in Mims after reportedly receiving an anonymous tip.


The nonprofit "We Are The Essentials," comprised of retired law enforcement officers and private investigators, has been helping coordinate search efforts alongside Pelletier’s family. They’re urging anyone who was driving on I-75 in the early morning hours of Aug. 1 to check their dashcam footage for the white Malibu or someone walking on or near the interstate.

Pelletier’s mom says the story doesn’t make sense, and that her son wouldn’t walk away unless he was in danger.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Manatee Co Sheriff's Office says male body found near where teen went missing

Manatee Co Sheriffs Office says male body found near where 18-year-old travelling from Englewood went missing.

www.fox4now.com

Manatee Co Sheriff's Office says male body found near where teen went missing​

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office says a male body was located in a pond alongside the interstate in the area where 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier was last seen.

Authorities have yet to identify the body. The investigation is ongoing.

Body found in pond along I-75 near where missing teen was last seen

The sheriff's office says a decomposing body was found in a retention pond near I-75 and State Road 70.

www.mysuncoast.com

Body found in pond along I-75 near where missing teen was last seen​

A body has been found in a pond off of I-75 and State Road 70, near the area where a missing 18-year-old was last seen, the Manatee County Sheriff’s has confirmed.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Randy Warren said a decomposing body that appears to be a male was found in a retention pond near the southbound off ramp of the interstate.

Warren said deputies cannot yet confirm the identity of the body, but the sheriff’s office has been keeping the family of 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier “informed of developments” in the case.

At 6 p.m., Warren said authorities were still working to remove the body from the lake, saying heavy afternoon rains has hampered their work.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Body of missing NC 18-year-old found in pond near where last seen in Florida, family says

The body was found in a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and SR 70, authorities said.

abc11.com

Body of missing NC 18-year-old found in pond near where last seen in Florida, family says​

The body of 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, who disappeared while on a family vacation in Florida, has been found, the family told Eyewitness News.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said that the body was discovered Friday near where Giovanni's backpack was located. The area, a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and SR 70 in Manatee County, near Bradenton, had been searched by authorities the first day of search efforts.

However, the body was ultimately located by a private investigation group hired by the Pelletier family.

Authorities stated that no immediate physical evidence of foul play was found, but a toxicology report is expected to take six months to complete.

 

[Guess Who]

So the cousin's story might have just happened the way they said?
I'm now wondering if he might have had a bad reaction to drugs or the cousin's were up to something he wasn't comfortable with abs he bailed.

Also the possibility of the cousin's putting him there.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Family of 18-year-old found dead in Bradenton pond calls for FBI investigation

WHAT HAPPENED TO GIOVANNI?: Amid frustrations over the current investigation into his death, Giovanni Pelletier's family is calling on the FBI to take over.

www.wtsp.com

Family of 18-year-old found dead in Bradenton pond calls for FBI investigation​

As you exit I-75 in Bradenton, a wooden cross stands near the retention pond where 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier’s body was recovered on Friday evening.

He disappeared on Aug. 1 after leaving Charlotte County at 1:30 a.m. with cousins he’d never met before. Family says his last text messages were pleas for help at 1:51 a.m.

"We understand that he got out of the vehicle and was acting erratic, based on the people that he was with," Randy Warren, a spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, said.

However, Pelletier's family questions that story. They've launched a Change.org petition to get answers and voice frustration with the investigation.

They’re frustrated it took eight days to find Giovanni — calling out that it was a family friend, not law enforcement, who discovered the teen's body. They want the FBI to take over the case.

The sheriff's office says search teams were not out on Friday but did scour the area for days.

"A lot of these areas were searched, but unfortunately, nothing was seen until Friday, when a family member was walking by this pond," Warren explained.

According to the medical examiner, no signs of foul play or trauma were found during the autopsy, and the cause of death is pending toxicology.

However, authorities say the investigation is far from over.

They're still working to find out why Giovanni got out of the car and how he ended up crossing several lanes of traffic before ending up in the retention pond.

 

[GrandmaBear]

They dumped him, then his stuff imo. Just my leaning at the moment. he was texting for HELP from his mother and more. Things weren't kosher imo.

I think I'd get to know family better.

Texting help and crossing many lanes of traffic and ending up in a pond. Seems more likely to me the cousins got their direction wrong to fit the story...?

Sad tale regardless of what happened, still not cousins with best interests at heart clearly.

It's also interesting how no one in the neighborhood will speak on camera...

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Family of Giovanni Pelletier slams investigators, will pay for second autopsy

Pelletier also said the cousins who last saw her son know more than they are telling police.

www.mysuncoast.com

Family of Giovanni Pelletier slams investigators, will pay for second autopsy​

The mother of Giovanni Pelletier, critical of local authorities’ handling of the investigation into his death, said she is arranging for a second autopsy of her son’s body.

“We just secured that (second medical examiner), and we’re taking care of that,” Bridgette Pelletier said Thursday in an interview with WTVD in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Pelletier also said the cousins who last saw her son know more than they are telling police.

“I just want answers,” she said.


An autopsy by the Manatee County medical examiner’s office could not immediately determine a cause of death. No obvious signs of foul play were seen, the sheriff’s office said.

Pelletier says the Manatee sheriff’s office did not put enough effort into finding her son. “If they found him on day two or day three, we wouldn’t need to be having these second opinions, because his body was so decomposed when we found him on that day,” she said.

“If it would have been handled properly early on, we would have had answers already.”

“I didn’t feel like I had the support of the people that I reached out to,” she said. “I didn’t feel like Manatee County or Sarasota helped me. I had to chase the car almost all the way to Tampa to try to get information to where his phone was.”

However, Pelletier did say the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, who first began investigating the case in Englewood, has gone above and beyond. “They’ve been consistently in touch with me. They’ve consistently asked what they can do to help, even though they’re not the ones that are directly responsible for this case,” she said.

While the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says this is still an active investigation, Pelletier says they’re having to hire their own investigators and private medical examiners. “We’re having to now come together to pull funds to be able to continue to fight,” she said. “We can’t let Giovanni’s story end this way.”


Pelletier and her fiancé, Jeremy Brown, say they’re mystified at the actions of Giovanni’s cousins; why they would leave Giovanni on the side of the road or not call anyone.

“There’s too many questions that are unanswered that don’t point in their favor,” Brown said.

“I mean, there’s certain things like that that are hard to understand. They didn’t know what happened. We’re not even getting a ‘hey, we do know this, but we didn’t do this.’”

Pelletier said she’s also convinced they’re not telling the whole truth. “I got a story from one of the cousins, which I won’t repeat, but that story was very drastically different than the story that was given to the police,” she said. “I can only say that I know that they know more, they have more answers than they’re giving.”

She said she trusted them. “I just want answers ... There’s never been anything to lead me to believe that something negative would have happened, or I never would have let Giovanni get in that car. That’s something I have to live with for the rest of my life.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Manatee County sheriff: Traffic cameras show last known moments of Giovanni Pelletier

The case, which involved three different Florida jurisdictions, drew national attention as family members called the 18-year-old's death suspicious.

www.floridatoday.com

Manatee County sheriff: Traffic cameras show last known moments of Giovanni Pelletier​

Following intense pressure from family members, the sheriff of Manatee County on Aug. 19 shared further details about the death of Giovanni Pelletier, including a traffic camera video showing the teen headed down an enbankment near the retention pond where his body would be found a week after his disappearnce.


Traffic cameras recorded the teen "sprinting" along an embankment in Manatee, said Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells in an Aug. 19 press conference.

"There’s no one chasing him. He’s by himself," Wells said. "What we don’t know is what happened when he hit that pond. We don’t know. The death is undetermined. We know we don’t have anybody come down that embankment after him. He’s there, we believe, until he was located by that family friend on Friday, the 8th. We really don’t know what happened when he got into that pond."

 

[Guess Who]

At they have video of him going down the embankment but they don't find him? Was the family the only ones that actually looked down the embankment?


It is sounding like at least part of the cousin's story did actually happen. Not sure if I'm buying that they don't know a lot more of the why though.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

At they have video of him going down the embankment but they don't find him? Was the family the only ones that actually looked down the embankment?


It is sounding like at least part of the cousin's story did actually happen. Not sure if I'm buying that they don't know a lot more of the why though.

And WHEN did they have access that video?
Did any of the cousins FOLLOW him when he ran away erratically? I think it's very possible he had some sort of reaction to whatever they gave him. (Toxicology might provide more details on that.) Did they leave him because they were scared of that? Because I can't imagine a family member jumping out of a vehicle acting erratically and not giving chase.

 

[GrandmaBear]

IF it were drugs then the cousins need to come clean on that, it still comes down to them withholding info as to solving it. Tox will likely show it, just not who gave them.

I wonder if they will release the video since family has seen it.

Spring "alongside" the embankment.

 

[Guess Who]

And WHEN did they have access that video?
Did any of the cousins FOLLOW him when he ran away erratically? I think it's very possible he had some sort of reaction to whatever they gave him. (Toxicology might provide more details on that.) Did they leave him because they were scared of that? Because I can't imagine a family member jumping out of a vehicle acting erratically and not giving chase.

My guess is he has a bad reaction to "something". I think they will definitely have a few more answers when tox comes back.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Medical examiner reveals cause of death for missing teen found dead in Manatee County pond

The medical examiner has announced the official cause of death for a North Carolina teen who disappeared in Florida and was found dead in a Manatee County retention pond.

www.fox13news.com

Medical examiner reveals cause of death for missing teen found dead in Manatee County pond​

The medical examiner has announced the official cause of death for a North Carolina teen who disappeared in Florida and was found dead in a Manatee County retention pond.

The cause of death is listed as drowning, with the manner of death classified as accidental.

According to the District Twelve Medical Examiner’s Office, a forensic anthropological examination found no evidence of trauma or injury, and toxicological testing of liver tissue showed a small amount of ethanol, which is consistent with decomposition.

The medical examiner reported that video evidence of Giovanni Pelletier active and alone in the area where he was found supports the idea that no other person caused his death.



Investigators said they stopped the car along River Road before they got to I-75 because Pelletier needed to use the bathroom.

The cousin told detectives Pelletier was acting out and started "raging" before getting back into the car.

According to MCSO, the four continued driving north on I-75 and at 1:55 am., Pelletier sent his mother a text that read, "Help." One minute later he sent his mother another text that said "help" and then a text that said "me."

Another person in the car told investigators that while Pelletier was tripping, he said, "I am a demon and I will wreck this car."

The sheriff said the people in the car told detectives Pelletier also said he would kill them all, and he opened the car door while the car was still moving on I-75 near SR 70. Wells said Pelletier was known to carry knives.

According to MCSO, the driver pulled the vehicle over, and they said Pelletier got out of the car and started running in the southbound lanes of I-75. Then he ran into the northbound lanes and almost got hit by a truck.

The sheriff said Pelletier left his backpack and cellphone behind and the people in the car took the items and placed them on the side of SR 70.

According to MCSO, at 2:26 a.m. the cousin called his grandfather to let him know that Pelletier got out of the car. At 2:27 a.m. he called Pelletier’s mother, but she didn’t answer.

The trio continued driving to Brevard County.

At 6:50 a.m. the cousin called Pelletier’s mother again and told her what had happened.

At 7:13 a.m. Pelletier’s mother called 911 and asked the operator to have deputies do a wellness check near where Pelletier got out of the vehicle.

Pelletier’s mother told the 911 operator there was an altercation involving a knife before he got out of the car. She said the people in the car gave her son some bad marijuana, and he started freaking out.

The sheriff said a trucker saw the backpack and cell phone on I-75, picked up the items and drove them to Tampa.

Pelletier’s mother, according to Wells, saw her son’s phone moving but didn’t know a truck driver had her son’s phone.

She called Tampa police and an officer located the truck driver doing work and recovered the phone and the backpack.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office opened a missing person’s case and contacted the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So nothing showed up with tox yet the cousins say he was raging, acting crazy and mom said he was given bad marijuana, etc. Why would you leave his stuff on the side of the road? You're cousins, just get it back to him or his mom later... No?

Just don't like this one. Don't know that there was foul play but don't like the circumstances, etc...