Giovanni Pelletier GoFundMe: Fundraiser raises over $13,000 for missing North Carolina teen amid family’s desperate search for answers

A GoFundMe set up for missing teen Giovanni Pelletier has raised more than $14,000. The money raised through the online campaign will go towards funding the search for Pelletier, a North Carolina-based 18-year-old, who was visiting his family in Florida when he disappeared without a trace on August 1.

Set up by Pelletier’s aunt, the GoFundMe highlights the plight of Pelletier’s family and loved ones, and notes:

“Giovanni is smart, kind, and full of life. He didn’t deserve this. Our family is devastated, terrified, and doing everything in our power to bring him home — but we’re receiving very little help from officials, and we are being forced to search on our own. Many people have been asking how they can donate to support the search — and because of that, we’ve created this fund to help cover the growing costs. These include travel, food, housing, and resources needed to keep spreading the word and following leads.”

A $10,000 reward is also on offer for anyone who provides any leads with regard to Giovanni’s location, or any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the teen’s disappearance.

What happened to Giovanni Pelletier?

Giovanni Pelletier, who lives in North Carolina with his mother, Bridgette Pelletier, her fiancé Jeremy Brown and his four younger siblings, was visiting a relative undergoing chemotherapy in Florida with his family when he went missing.

As per Bridgette Pelletier, her son was excited about the trip and to getting to know his father’s side of the family, who lived in Florida and with whom he hadn’t had much contact, noted The New York Post.

Giovanni, who had already set up a meet with his cousins from his father’s side, was picked up by them at 1:30 a.m on the night of August 1 from Englewood in Florida, where his own family had been staying.

Within half an hour of leaving, Giovanni sent a text message to his sleeping mother, which read,

“Mom help.”

According to Bridgette’s account, which she shared with People Magazine, her son also attempted to get in touch with her on a FaceTime call and messaged her father and sister when she didn’t pick up. Bridgette only discovered her son’s message and missed call, and another call from Giovanni’s cousin, when she woke up the next morning.

Referring to Giovanni’s cousin, with whom he had left that night, Bridgette said to People Magazine,

"He only called me that one time. And then no effort was made to communicate with me. No effort was made to come back to the house to let me know.”

Her son’s paternal grandfather left Bridgette a voicemail in which he claimed that Giovanni got into a fight with his cousins and was left on the roadside in Bradenton, Manatee County.

As per People Magazine, Bridgette reached the location using a GPS which tracked her son’s phone’s location, and discovered his bag and phone lying there. She said,

"When I got to where it [his phone] was, his bag had been left on the side of the road, it was his phone and his backpack, and he wouldn't have left that. My son eats, sleeps, showers, breathes his phone.”

According to the mother, her son’s cousin informed her that they smoked marijuana with Giovanni after picking him up, but after feeling panicked, Giovanni’s pulled out a knife and ran away from them, noted People Magazine.

The distressed mother expressed disappointment in the law enforcement’s efforts, which is currently working to locate Giovanni.

Bridgette also pointed out that the response from her son’s paternal family was inadequate, and no one willingly came forward with information or to ask after her and her family’s well-being.