Missing Wake County teen confirmed dead in Florida retention pond, officials say

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA/WNCN) — Manatee County deputies confirmed Saturday that they located the body of a missing North Carolina teenager in a retention pond Friday.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office on Friday night, the body of Giovanni Pelletier from Fuquay-Varina was located at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and State Route 70.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday afternoon, evidence collected from the scene has identified the body as Pelletier, who went missing last week while visiting family.

An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. The cause of death is still unknown.

The family seemingly took to social media earlier Saturday to announce that the body recovered from the pond belonged to 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier. Investigators said Pelletier was last seen walking away from his cousins in a vehicle in the same area over a week ago.

Giovanni Pelletier, from Fuquay-Varina, was the oldest of five. According to a social media post, his mother, Bridgette Pelletier said she asks for privacy while dealing with this loss.

“I am living every parent’s worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves,” she said on Facebook.