The family of Giovanni Pelletier says the Fuquay-Varina teenager's body was found in Florida this weekend near an area where his cellphone was last pinged.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida confirmed the body found on Friday was the missing teen. The sheriff's office said the ID on the body was preliminary.
Other WRAL Top Stories
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, family members said they were the ones who found Giovanni.
"My son was recently found after a desperate search by our family alone, and we are still facing an active investigation into his death," Bridgette Pelletier, his mom, wrote. "I am living every parent's worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves."
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said the teenager's body was discovered Friday in a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and State Route 70. Manatee County is about 30 miles south of the city of St. Petersburg and about 45 miles south of the city of Tampa.
WRAL News spoke with members of We Are the Essentials, a group of former law enforcement and military members who were heavily involved with the search for Pelletier along with his family.
Billy Lane, president of We Are the Essentials, said the group wanted to focus on the Englewood area where he was last seen when family members picked him up.
"We started our search there," Lane said. "We worked up from the house. We tried GPS to see what path they could have taken. We identified an area with roads they would have traveled."
He said the family fought through pain and tears for days while searching for the teenager.
"This is horrible,” Lane said. “And even for those people who aren't trained and haven't dealt with death before, this is traumatic. And this shouldn't have happened. They should not have been the ones to have to locate their loved one.”
Lane said at times he did see law enforcement searching, but he said their resources are often limited. Questions about what happened to Giovanni are still unanswered.
Deputies say identification is pending further testing and an autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. The cause of death is still unknown.
The investigation is ongoing.
'Mom, help': Last text from Fuquay-Varina teen before vanishing in Florida has family concerned
Giovanni Pelletier was last seen on Aug. 1 in Mims, Florida, which is near Orlando. Pelletier’s family was in Florida searching for him.
On Aug. 1, Giovanni texted his family, “Mom, help.”
His aunt, Desiree Pelletier, told WRAL News the family was in Englewood, Florida, on vacation visiting with Giovanni's mother's fiancée's family when Giovanni met up with his cousins early Friday morning.
The cousins are family from Giovanni's estranged father's side.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Giovanni went to visit his cousins. According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, the cousins said he “suddenly began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle and walking away.”
However, Desiree Pelletier said the family has concerns about the cousins’ involvement.
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 Pelletier said. "That’s why we’re just so terrified. We just want to find him. We want him home.”
Desiree Pelletier said Giovanni’s mother had his location on her phone, which was last pinged near a highway in Manatee County, Florida.
Desiree Pelletier said a truck driver picked up Giovanni's bag after seeing it on the side of the road, and it was turned over to the police.
Anyone with information can contact the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office at 941-639-2101.