‘Deeply troubling and suspicious circumstances’: Missing teen sent haunting text to mom before vanishing
“Help me.”
That was the last message a North Carolina teenager sent to his mother before he vanished during a trip to Florida a week ago “under deeply troubling and suspicious circumstances.”
Giovanni Pelletier, 18, was visiting Englewood, Florida, with his mother and her fiancé, with the hope of reconnecting with some family members from his father’s side, his aunt, Desiree Pelletier, told ABC News.
He was unable to meet with his father, who is currently incarcerated, his aunt explained, but he had plans to meet three cousins for the first time.
On August 1, around 1:30 a.m., the cousins picked Giovanni up for a three-hour drive to their home in Mims, Florida. His mother had planned on picking him up the next day, Desiree said. But a week later, he is still missing.
But just 25 minutes later, Giovanni texted his mother the chilling message, pleading for help. He also sent similar texts to his grandfather and another aunt.
“Somewhere along the ride, something happened,” Desiree said.
Later that morning, Giovanni’s mother Bridgette Pelletier saw the texts and missed calls, but could not reach him so she called the police.
“My son would not have put me in a place to be scared or worried, because he knows when it comes to my children there are no limits and nothing I wouldn’t do it for him,” his mother Bridgette Pelletier told FOX13.
When she questioned the cousins, they claimed they had been smoking marijuana when Giovanni “began to panic and pull out a knife,” Desiree said.
But Desiree insisted that “is not Gio” and “does not align” with who he is.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, the cousins told investigators Giovanni “began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle” on I-75 near State Road 70.
A truck driver later that day found Giovanni’s backpack and phone, leading the family to believe that he was “abandoned on the side of the road in Bradenton, Florida.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Desiree said. “Why would he say ‘Help me’ three different times to three people?”
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office says they have received “many, many tips that unfortunately turn out to be inaccurate.”
The family is offering a $25,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the teen they describe as “smart, kind and full of life.” A GoFundMe has been created to help pay for the search.
“We love him and want him home and we just want him to be OK,” Desiree said through tears.
“As a family, we can’t function normally. We’re not doing well right now. We just want him home.”
