Accidental drowning confirmed in Manatee disappearance

An assertion that foul play was not involved in the death of a teenaged traveler alongside Interstate 75 was supported by an autopsy report released Friday by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Giovanni Pelletier was found in a retention pond Aug. 8 near I-75 and State Road 70 a week after he was reported missing. On Aug. 1 Pelletier was traveling from Englewood to Brevard County on the east coast with a cousin and two friends to visit family. Witnesses in the car told police that Pelletier smoked marijuana and began “tripping, telling them, ‘I am a demon, and I will wreck this car.’”

They reported that Pelletier said he would kill them and then exited the car. They said they saw Pelletier running in the northbound lane of I-75, and he was almost hit by a truck.

In a news conference in August, Sheriff Rick Wells said video evidence showed no one chasing Pelletier. Cell phone data shows the individuals he was riding with are north of the location at which Pelletier was captured on video.

The autopsy performed by the District 12 Medical Examiner’s office listed the cause of death as drowning and the manner of death as accidental. No evidence of trauma or other injury was found, the report says.