A body has been found in the search for 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, the North Carolina teen who vanished after sending his mother a chilling text that read, \u201cMom, help.\u201d Pelletier had been on vacation in Englewood with his mother and relatives before leaving with three cousins in the early hours of August 1 to visit his estranged father\u2019s family in Brevard County. According to the Charlotte County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the cousins claimed he began acting erratically and pulled a knife after they stopped their car on the side of the road.<\/p>\n
Around that time, Pelletier sent two urgent messages to his mother, including the desperate plea for help, and attempted to call and FaceTime her. He also reached out to other relatives with distressed messages. Later that day, his backpack and phone were found by the roadside, but he was nowhere to be seen, prompting a large-scale search effort.<\/p>\n
Tragically, on August 8, his decomposed body was discovered in a retention pond off I-75 in Florida by a private investigator hired by the family. His mother, Bridgette Pelletier, expressed her heartbreak on Facebook, saying she is \u201cliving every parent\u2019s worst nightmare\u201d and is determined to give her son \u201cthe goodbye he deserves.\u201d She noted that the location had reportedly been searched by authorities earlier in the investigation.<\/p>\n
An autopsy was scheduled for August 10 as the investigation into his death continues. The family remains devastated but is grateful for the community\u2019s support during what they describe as the most painful chapter of their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A body has been found in the search for 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, the North Carolina teen who vanished after sending his mother a chilling text that read,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n