Manatee County Sheriff’s Office gives update on Giovanni Pelletier’s death

BRADENTON, Fla. — Authorities in Manatee County on Tuesday provided more details in the case of Giovanni Pelletier, the missing 18-year-old from North Carolina whose body was recently found in a Manatee County retention pond.

He was last seen on Aug. 1 near Interstate 75 in Manatee County. Days later, his body was discovered in a retention pond in the same area. At the time, investigators said they did not suspect foul play.

The cause of Pelletier’s death is still undetermined, but authorities have now released new details about the events leading up to it.

The sheriff’s office says that on July 31, Pelletier was riding in a car with his cousin and two others to visit family in Brevard County.

Witnesses say Pelletier had been smoking marijuana in the car and was carrying a knife.

At some point, Pelletier got out of the car and began running southbound on I-75, according to investigators. That was the last time the witnesses saw him.

The sheriff’s office later confirmed that Florida Department of Transportation traffic cameras captured Pelletier running down a hill toward the retention pond, which is where his body was found.

The sheriff’s office emphasized that there was no foul play involved and that no one was chasing him. On Aug. 8, a family friend located the body. The next day, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the identity of the remains.

“There is no one in this area with Giovanni. There is no one that is chasing him. He is by himself,” Sheriff Rick Wells said Tuesday. “What we don’t know is what happened when he hit that pond. I don’t know, and I don’t want to speculate. The death is undetermined.”

The sheriff’s office hopes this information can provide the family with some closure. The case remains under investigation as they await results from the medical examiner regarding the cause of death and toxicology.