MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – A missing teen with ties to Brevard County who was found dead in a Manatee County earlier this month was spotted on traffic cameras running across I-75 before apparently falling down a steep embankment and into a retention pond, Sheriff Rick Wells said Tuesday.
Wells detailed the case of Giovanni Pelletier, whose body was found Aug. 8 in the retention pond near a Lowe’s hardware store. The body was preliminarily identified as Pelletier the next day before the results were confirmed last week, according to officials.
Pelletier disappeared Aug. 1 from Charlotte County under suspicious circumstances.
Wells said Pelletier’s cousin, who lives in Brevard County, and two others arranged to pick him up and take him to Brevard.
Wells said Pelletier and others in the car smoked marijuana when, according to the others, he began “tripping” and “raging,” even claiming at one point to be a “demon” while threatening to kill them.
Pelletier twice texted his mother the word “help,” the second time following it with a text that said “me,” according to Wells.
[VIDEO BELOW: Sheriff says missing teen never in Brevard]
When the driver learned Pelletier had a knife, he pulled over along I-75 in Manatee County and Pelletier got out of the car, officials said.
Wells said detectives scoured traffic camera videos that show Pelletier running across southbound I-75, where he was nearly struck by a semitruck.
A surveillance camera at a nearby Lowe’s, about 2 miles away from where the vehicle was now located, shows the same person running down a steep embankment, with Pelletier apparently ending up in a pond at the bottom of the hill.
Wells said Pelletier’s body was found in the pond about a week later.
The trio that was traveling back to Brevard made it home safely, and Pelletier’s cousin contacted two family members, including the mother of Pelletier, who contacted authorities that her son was missing, Wells said.
[VIDEO BELOW: Sheriff shares video showing missing teen running along I-75, down steep embankment]
Brevard County sheriff’s detectives and Manatee County sheriff’s officials interviewed the cousin and friends, whose story was consistent throughout the investigation, Wells said.
Before Pelletier’s body was located, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey held a news conference to address questions about the case, saying there was no evidence the 18-year-old was ever in Brevard.
No foul play is suspected, according to Wells, who added that there was no trauma to Pelletier’s body.
Wells said authorities are awaiting toxicology results to see if there were any other drugs in Pelletier’s system.
No charges have been filed in the case at the time of this report.