MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WTVD) -- The body of 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier, who disappeared while on a family vacation in Florida, has been found, the family told ABC11.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said that the body was discovered Friday near where Giovanni's backpack was located. The area, a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of Interstate 75 and SR 70 in Manatee County, near Bradenton, had been searched by authorities on the first day of search efforts.

Pelletier was a recent graduate of Fuquay-Varina High School. His mother, Bridgette Pelletier, said in a social media post that she was "living every parent's worst nightmare, trying to find the strength to give him the goodbye he deserves."

He had four younger siblings, and his mother asked for privacy as the family

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