BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — An autopsy report has determined that 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, who disappeared on his way to Brevard County in August, probably drowned accidentally.
The District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office report notes that, because of Pelletier’s body decomposition, a definitive cause of death can’t be determined. However, Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Suzanne Utley indicated that drowning is the most probable cause.
“It is my opinion that the cause of death is most likely drowning,” Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Suzanne Utley wrote in the report.
Pelletier went missing on August 1 during a family vacation in Englewood. He was traveling with three cousins in a Chevy Malibu from Englewood to Brevard County to visit relatives.
Authorities reported that the cousins told investigators Giovanni started acting erratically before he exited the vehicle, which had stopped on I-75, and then walked away near the State Road 70 interchange.
Just before 2 a.m., Giovanni sent a text to his mother, saying, “Mom, help.” His mother, Brigitte Pelletier, noticed the message around 6:20 a.m. and traced his phone and backpack, which he had left on the side of the interstate.
A statewide search for Giovanni took place, and a family friend discovered his body on August 8 in a retention pond near the I-75/State Road 70 interchange in Manatee County.
The autopsy report found no signs of trauma or injury and detected no drugs in his system, although ethanol was present in his liver tissue, consistent with decomposition.
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