NEED TO KNOW
- Giovanni Pelletier was seen sprinting down an embankment near where he was later found dead in Florida, authorities told reporters at a news conference
- “There’s no one chasing him. There’s no one around him,” Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said
- Wells said one of the men who was with Giovanni told authorities that after they smoked weed together, Giovanni started “tripping,” but his mom still wants answers
Florida authorities are sharing new details about their investigation into the strange death of an 18-year-old from North Carolina, who went missing earlier this month while visiting relatives — only for his body to be discovered days later in a pond.
Giovanni Pelletier was seen on video sprinting down an embankment near where he was later found dead, authorities told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 19, while saying they do not suspect foul play in his death.
The teen had traveled from Raleigh to Florida in late July with his mother, Bridgette Pelletier, her fiancé, Jeremy Brown, and Giovanni’s four siblings.
Bridgette previously told PEOPLE that Giovanni planned to reconnect with some of his paternal relatives while in Florida, where he was born and had lived until about age 4.
Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1, Giovanni was picked up in Englewood, where they were staying, by a paternal cousin and two of the cousin’s friends, who were going to take him to Brevard County, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said at the Tuesday news conference.
(All three individuals were previously believed to have been Giovanni’s cousins.)
A video was shown during the news conference of Giovanni coming down a steep embankment leading to the retention pond where his body was located by a family friend searching the area a week after he disappeared.
“He’s coming down there, almost [at an] uncontrollable sprint,” Wells said as the footage was shown. “The important thing that I want you to see — there’s no one chasing him. There’s no one around him.”
Wells added: “He’s by himself. And what we don’t know is what happened when he hit that pond.”
Wells said that the vehicle that Giovanni had been picked up in was two miles away when he was seen coming down the embankment.
The three individuals who had been with Giovanni were “cooperative” with investigators and turned over the vehicle to authorities, who searched it, Wells said.
The sheriff would not speculate as to the cause and manner of Giovanni’s death, which are pending toxicology reports.
An autopsy was conducted and found no signs of foul play or trauma — such as stab or gunshot wounds — Wells said.
At the start of the news conference, he said he hoped this new information would give Giovanni’s family closure.
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Because of the condition of Giovanni’s body when it was recovered from the pond, where the sheriff’s office has said it had been for days before floating to the surface, he had to be identified through dental records, Bridgette has told PEOPLE.
She feels she still needs answers.
Within 30 minutes of being picked up on Aug. 1, Giovanni twice texted and called her but she was asleep and didn’t see the missed calls and messages until later that morning.
Both texts included the word “help.”
Bridgette previously told PEOPLE that when she awoke about 6:20 a.m. on Aug. 1, she had a missed call from one of the people who had been in the car with Giovanni and a voicemail from Giovanni’s paternal grandfather.
The voicemail said an altercation had taken place between Giovanni and the other men and they had left Giovanni on the side of the road in Bradenton in Manatee County, according to Bridgette. (His paternal grandfather declined to comment to PEOPLE.)
When Bridgette spoke to the cousin, the same day Giovanni went missing, she said he told her the group smoked marijuana with Giovanni after they picked him up and he then began to panic.
The cousin also claimed that Giovanni cursed at him, which led to a confrontation on the side of the road during which Giovanni pulled out a knife.
According to what Bridgette said she was told by the cousin, the group wrestled the knife from Giovanni and he took off running.
But Bridgette has been adamant that the alleged behavior is out of character for her son, whom she believes likely felt unsafe and outnumbered.
The sheriff said Tuesday that one of the men who was with Giovanni told authorities that after they smoked weed together, Giovanni started “tripping” and they pulled over because he had to use the bathroom.
While stopped, Wells said, Giovanni attempted to reach his mother. After he got back into the car, they continued driving on Interstate 75 and the individuals said Giovanni told them, “I am a demon” and “I will wreck this car.”
According to the people with Giovanni, he threatened to kill them and tried to open up one of the car doors while the car was still moving, Wells said.
Not long after, Wells said, the three individuals said they pulled over and learned Giovanni had a knife. He got out of the car and began running in the southbound lanes of I-75, discarding his backpack and phone, which the others then left on the side of the road.
The others told authorities that they observed Giovanni run into the northbound lanes and almost get hit by a truck, Wells said.
One of the men called Giovanni’s paternal grandfather to let him know and then called Bridgette but could not reach her, according to the sheriff.
Giovanni’s backpack was picked up by a truck driver who traveled with it to Tampa, unbeknownst to Bridgette, who was tracking its location via Giovanni’s phone.
She called Tampa police and an officer located the truck driver and recovered Giovanni’s phone and backpack.
At 6:50 a.m., the cousin called Giovanni’s mother again, which was when he relayed his account of events.
About 20 minutes later, Bridgette called 911 and asked the operator to have deputies do a wellness check near where Giovanni got out of the car.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m. that day, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office opened a missing person’s case and contacted the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, which interviewed the passengers in the vehicle, Wells said on Tuesday.
Bridgette has said that none of the individuals who picked up Giovanni ever followed up with her after the initial conversation she had with one of them and they did not help search for him.
According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, searches by law enforcement and volunteers of the area where Giovanni’s body was found did not yield any signs of him until he was spotted by a family friend.
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