Body believed to be missing NC 18-year-old found in pond near where last seen in Florida

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WTVD) -- The body of 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, who disappeared while on a family vacation in Florida, has been found, the family told ABC11.

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 on the first day of search efforts.

Giovanni was a recent graduate of Fuquay-Varina High School. His mother, Bridgette Pelletier, said in a social media post that she was "living every parent's worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves."

He had four younger siblings, and his mother asked for privacy as the family makes final arrangements.

The body was ultimately located by a private investigation group hired by the Pelletier family. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office says the body is too decomposed to make a positive ID. They are working to determine a cause and manner of death.

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

Retired FBI Special Agent Frank Brostrom spoke to ABC11 on Saturday night about what might come next.

"But now they've got evidence to possibly gain from his body, from the point of him getting out of the car to where his body was found, finding evidence, DNA evidence. How did he die? What's the cause and manner of death?" Brostrom added.

Giovanni's cause of death is likely to provide clues. Investigators can match up with the version of events given by the cousins that he got in the car with. Twenty minutes after getting in the car, he sent an ominous text to his mom asking for help. His cousins told investigators Gio was acting erratically and pulled a knife, before leaving him on the side of the road.

"Maybe he had some kind of episode and panicked, ran out of the car, and you know, fell into the water somehow," Brostrom said. "It just sounds very hokey that that would be the situation, but the fact that he called asking for help several times with different family members is something that they really are probably focusing on."

Experts say one way or another, the cousins he was with will either have to be fully investigated before ruling them out.

"My question would be, why didn't you call the police? Why didn't you call the family? Brostrom said. "How long was it before they actually talked to the family to say he's not missing? 'Here's what happened.' The timeline is going to be crucial on that."

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