Related video: Search intensifies for missing teen, last seen in Manatee County
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) —A body found near a retention pond is confirmed to be that of a teenager who went missing last week while visiting family.
According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, preliminary evidence collected from the scene has identified the body as 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier.
Giovanni was last seen walking away from a vehicle along Interstate 75 in Manatee County on Aug. 1, prompting a statewide search for the teen.
On Friday, law enforcement located the body in a retention pond at the southbound off-ramp of I-75 and State Road 70.
An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. The cause of death is still unknown.