Missing Teen Giovanni Pelletier Found Dead in Pond a Week After Meeting Cousins – His Desperate Text to Mom Revealed

A week-long search for 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier ended when a private investigation team hired by his family discovered his body near a Florida highway — the same area authorities had searched on the first day of the case.

Eighteen-year-old Giovanni Pelletier had been eager to meet relatives from his father's side. After turning 18 in April, he told his mother he wanted to reconnect with the family he had not seen since early childhood. He was born in Florida but moved to North Carolina with his mother when he was four.

In late July, Giovanni traveled to Florida with his mother, Bridgette Pelletier, her fiancé, Jeremy Brown, and his four siblings. The family was visiting a relative completing chemotherapy. Before leaving, Giovanni joined a group text with members of his father's family and arranged for three cousins to pick him up from Englewood, where he was staying.

Bridgette said she was hesitant about her son going alone but trusted him. When Giovanni left at around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, August 1, Bridgette was asleep, but her fiancé, Jeremy, saw him leave.

Within 30 minutes, Giovanni sent her two messages, including one that read, "Mom, help." He called her at 1:56 a.m., then attempted a FaceTime call a minute later. Unable to reach her, he sent messages to his sister and maternal grandfather.

Bridgette did not see the calls and texts until about 6:20 a.m. She also noticed a missed call from one of the cousins. Later that morning, Giovanni's paternal grandfather left Bridgette a voicemail saying there had been an altercation and that the cousins had left Giovanni on the side of the road in Bradenton.

Using GPS data from his phone, Bridgette began searching for him. After an extensive search, she found his phone and backpack left on the roadside. "He wouldn't have left those behind," she said.

One of the cousins later told her they had smoked marijuana with Giovanni and that he began to panic. The cousin said words were exchanged and that tensions rose, leading to a struggle. He claimed Giovanni then left the vehicle and ran off. However, Bridgette believes the cousins know more than they have disclosed.

Following Giovanni's disappearance, relatives launched an online fundraiser to support search efforts. The GoFundMe page described the case as "deeply troubling and suspicious." It stated that Giovanni had been picked up by relatives and later abandoned on the side of the road in Bradenton, Florida.

Family members wrote that they were devastated and working on their own to locate him, saying official assistance had been limited. The fundraiser explained that donations would help cover costs such as travel, food, housing, and resources to follow leads.

It also noted that Giovanni's siblings had returned home to start school, leaving his mother to manage two households while continuing the search. The appeal closed with a message that the search would not stop until Giovanni was found.

On August 9, Bridgette announced that her son had been found dead. The following day, she posted another message online, stating it was not the police, investigators, search dogs, or helicopters that had located her son. "We found my baby," she wrote.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Giovanni's body was recovered near the location where his backpack had been found. The site was a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and SR 70 in Manatee County.

Authorities had searched the area during the first day of efforts, but the discovery was ultimately made by a private investigation group hired by the Pelletier family. Investigators reported no immediate signs of foul play. A toxicology report is pending and is expected to take about six months.

In Fuquay-Varina, the North Carolina town where Giovanni lived, neighbors described him as someone loved by many, and friends said he and his mother were very close.

Giovanni's girlfriend also shared an online tribute, writing that she was in shock and that he had been an important part of her life for more than three years. She described him as loving, protective, and supportive, and said she was heartbroken by the loss.