TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA/WNCN) —A body found near a Florida 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. The teen's family also confirmed the identification on social media.

Pelletier, of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, 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.

Pelletier was visiting Florida to meet up with "his father's side of the family," Jeremy Brown, the teen's stepfather,

See Full Page