NEED TO KNOW
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Teenager Giovanni Pelletier’s cause of death has been determined, according to an autopsy report obtained by PEOPLE
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Pelletier, 18, was last seen alive in Florida on Aug. 1, shortly after arriving from North Carolina
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His body was found a week later
Teenager Giovanni Pelletier‘s cause of death has been determined months after his body was found in Florida.
According to the North Carolina teen’s autopsy report, which was obtained by PEOPLE, he drowned in the retention pond where his decomposed remains were found in Manatee County on Aug 8. His manner of death was listed as accidental.
“Although some autopsy findings may be obscured due to the advanced decomposition there was no evidence of significant antemortem trauma,” the medical examiner wrote, adding that video evidence also supported the idea “that no other person caused his death.”
A toxicology report did find a “small amount of ethanol” in his liver tissue, but as the medical examiner noted that was “consistent with decomposition.”
Additionally, the autopsy found that Pelletier, 18, had an “extremely rare congenital coronary artery abnormality” that is “disproportionately associated with heart failure or sudden cardiac death, particularly during physical exertion.”
“Although the contributions of possible toxicologic substances not found during testing, and the coronary artery abnormality cannot be completely excluded, in view of these findings, it is my opinion that the cause of death is most likely drowning,” the medical examiner wrote.
When his body was discovered on Aug. 8 — a week after he went missing — an alligator was reportedly scavenging his remains, according to the report, and the medical examiner noted claw marks and other markings “consistent with alligator scavenging.”
Additional details about what led to his death remain unknown.
Pelletier was last seen in Florida on Aug. 1, when he was picked up by his cousin and two of his cousins’ friends from Englewood, Fla., where he was staying with his mom, siblings and his mom’s fiancé, his mother previously told PEOPLE. He had been visiting the area with his immediate family, and while in Florida, arranged to spend time with relatives from his biological father’s family.
The three men were set to drive him to his grandfather’s home some three hours away in Brevard County, Bridgette Pelletier said.
Within 30 minutes of being picked up, Giovanni texted his mother, who had been studying for an upcoming pharmacy board exam and was asleep: “Mom help.”
Bridgette told PEOPLE her son’s paternal grandfather left her a voicemail suggesting the boy’s cousins had left him on a roadside in Manatee County after an altercation.
After speaking with other relatives, Bridgette said one of the cousins who picked up her son the day he went missing said their group had smoked marijuana before Giovanni panicked and cursed at him.
The cousin allegedly added that Giovanni pulled out a knife, but ran away after it was wrestled away from him. Bridgette said the behavior sounded unlike her son.
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At an August news conference, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells showed a video of Giovanni coming down a steep embankment leading to the retention pond where his body was found by a family friend searching the area a week after he disappeared.
“The important thing that I want you to see — there’s no one chasing him,” Wells said at the news conference. “There’s no one around him.”
Bridgette did not immediately reply to a request for comment after the report was released.
Read the original article on People
