New Footage Released in Teen's Mysterious Death

There's no one in this area with. Giovani. There's no one that's chasing. him. He's by himself. We have learned a. lot of new details about what apparently. happened in the moments leading up to a. teen's disappearance during a vacation. in Florida. We're talking about Giovani. Pelier, what he allegedly said to fellow. passengers as they drove from I75 to. what traffic came showed him apparently. doing. We are taking you through the. timeline step by step as the teenager's.

family tries to grapple with their. sudden and enormous loss. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. More than a week after 18-year-old. Giovani Peller was found dead in a. retention pond right off of the. interstate, Florida law enforcement. officers are revealing what has been. uncovered so far in their investigation. and why they still don't have concrete. answers as to what exactly happened to. Giovani. Now, for those of you who are.

new to this story, real quick, here's. what we know so far based on reporting. that back on July 31st, Giovani was with. his mom, Bridget Pelier, her fiance, and. his siblings on a trip to Anglewood, Florida from North Carolina. Now, Giovani, who turned 18 in the spring, was interested in apparently. reconnecting with his birth father's. side of the family. And so, he made. plans with at least one cousin to meet. up while he was in the Sunshine State. In the early morning hours of August. 1st, we're talking around 1:30 a.m.,

three men arrived in Anglewood from. Brevard County, clear on the other side. of the state, to pick up Giovani and. take him with them back to Bard. During. a news conference on Tuesday, Manatee. County Sheriff Rick Wells made a. clarification. This is important. While. one of the men identified as Latrell was. Giovani's paternal cousin, the other two. men were not. They were identified as. Zach and Jaylen. They are believed to be. Latrell's friends. Wanted to clear that. up. Now, not long after Giovani left.

that night, his mom and other family. members say they got some very. disturbing text messages, but they. didn't see them because they were. asleep. When Bridget woke up, she. realized that Giovani was missing. And. the last text that he had apparently. sent her, his mom, just said, "Mom, help." He'd last been seen on the side. of I75 at State Road 70 in Manatee. County. This is where Giovani's cousin. apparently said the teen took off into.

the night. Sheriff Wells recognized how. much this ensuing week-long search. impacted the family and made that clear. during his news conference. I I do want. to to say that our prayers continue. to go out to Bridget, the mother of. Giovani, and the entire family as they. as they struggle during this very. difficult time. And we uh we pray that. uh blessings are bestowed upon them and.

we're here to hopefully give them some. information that will give them closure. at some point. Now, the sheriff provided. a much firmer timeline of what allegedly. happened not long after Giovani. apparently left with his cousin. Take a. listen. >> I think it's important to go back and. start from the beginning. So on Thursday, July 31st, there's communications between Giovani.

and his cousin Latrell Hearn about. Latrell picking up. Giovani who's in Charlotte County and. taking him back to Bard County where. where Latrell lives. They're trying to figure out the. details. At 5:41 p.m., Latril texts that. he's going to have to use his. grandmother's car, which is a white. Malibu. At 8:30, they they're still texting each.

other. They text about smoking weed. Giovani says that I haven't had a smoke. in a while uh because of court stuff. going on in North Carolina. And he goes. on to say, "I definitely need a smoke.". At 10:08 p.m., Latril, Jaylen Washington. and Zachary Cummings start heading. toward Charlotte County. Zack Cummings is the driver of the White.

Malibu at the time. During interviews, Latril tells. detectives that not long into the drive, they start smoking weed and the car and. Giovani starts tripping. They stop the car at an unknown location. along River Road. before they got to I75. because Giovani needed to use the. bathroom. The trail says that Giovani is acting.

out and raging before getting back into. the car. They continue driving north on. I75. And at this point, they're about 26. miles away south of 070. At 1:5 a.m., Giovani sends his mother a text saying, "Help.". At 1:56 a.m., he sends another message that says,

"Help." Followed by me. Jaylen says, "Giovani was tripping, telling them I am a demon, and I will wreck this car." And says he. will kill them all as he tries to open. up the door while the car is still. moving. This happens. while they're in Manatee County close to. State Road 70.

Zachary the driver pulls the car over. onto the side of the road on the. shoulder the northbound I75 on the east. shoulder of State Road 70. Jaylen and Zach are in the front seats. and they hear that Giovani has a knife. Now, we know that he always carried a. knife. He had two knives. had a folding. pocket knife and he had a um a blade, but this knife was still in the sheath. Never took it out. >> So, Giovani is allegedly supposedly.

starting to panic in the backseat of. this car, this Malibu. Possibly a. reaction to the marijuana that he. ingested and could be something else. Police are still trying to work out the. exact details on that. By the way, they're still awaiting toxicology. results. But Zach, Jaylen, and Latrrell, they claim that Giovani basically freaks. out and then starts running into. traffic. >> They say that Giovani gets out of the. car and begins running southbound in the.

southbound lanes of I75. They see him in. the middle of the northbound lanes and. almost get hit by a truck. This is the. last time they see him. He left behind his backpack and cell. phone. So they took that and placed it. onto the side of State Road or I75 at. State Road 70 at the entrance ramp on. the east side. At 2:26.

a.m., Latrell calls his grandfather to. let the grandfather know that that. Giovani got out of the car. At 2:27, Latrrell calls Bridget Giovani's mother, but there's no answer. We know that they continue northbound on. I75. We have them stopping at the Flying. J truck stop in Hillsboro County off of. I4. And you can tell by their phones. that they eventually make it home to.

Bard County. >> I know, just a wild story, but this is. one that we wanted to cover. This is one. we want to stay on top of. And the. reason we can do that, the reason we can. really do a deep dive into stories like. this is because of the amazing support. we get from our sponsor Morgan and. Morgan. This is America's largest injury. law firm. This is a firm with over a,000. attorneys. You know why they have so. many? Because they win a lot. They have. recovered over $25 billion for more than. 500,000 clients. In the past few months,

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clicks. So, if you're injured, you can. easily start a claim at. forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen. Something interesting to note here is. that yes, the cousin calls Bridget, doesn't get an answer, lets his. grandfather know what's going on, but. based on everything we've seen so far, they don't apparently call the police, and they don't stick around to make sure. Giovani is okay. They allegedly just. drive back several hours to Bard County.

Now, some of Giovani's family and. friends, they noted on social media. Tuesday that the cousin had a duty of. care to Giovani and that he shouldn't. have abandoned him. Now, the second time. that Latrell calls Bridget, this is. hours later, according to the sheriff's. office, she picks up. At approximately. 6:50 a.m., Latril calls. Bridget again. She answers and he gives them gives her. the information on what transpired that.

night. At 7:13, Bridget calls the Magic County Sheriff's. Office to look for Giovani on I75. She says from the 911 call that we. collected, I received some mis calls. from my son this morning. He was being. picked up by a relative and I was told. that they left him on the side of the. highway. that there was some type of an. altercation and a knife was involved. She asked if a deputy could do a.

wellness check and make sure that he's. okay. >> And Bridget gives the information she. has so far to a 911 dispatcher. >> She she states, "So, I'm getting this. from people who were there. He said they. were in the car and I guess they had. given my son some weed and my son. doesn't like normally do any drugs. I. guess they had given him some weed and. then he started to freak out and said he. wanted to get out of the car and they. were like, "Hey, just calm down,

thinking maybe it was the drugs he was. taking." They kept saying, "Calm down. and everything will be okay." And then I. guess he got out of the car. to go to the bathroom and that's when I. received the text saying, "Mom, help.". In that time frame, she said. And then he said that they continued to. freak. He continued to freak out and and. didn't know what was going on. They left. him behind on I75. Bridget is heading northbound on I75 to.

try to locate her son. A deputy responds. to that area but finds no pedestrian on. the interstate. >> Okay. And so around this time, that is. when Giovani's backpack with his cell. phone inside is found. But I'll tell you. what, it was the act of a good Samaritan. that actually sent Bridget again. and. Giovani's mother on a bit of a wild. goose chase. Take a listen. >> At 7:21, a truck driver who is checking. the load on his on his truck, he's it's. a sod truck, pulls off in that same area.

on the east side of I75. northbound, sees the backpack, picks it up. He travels to Tampa with the backpack. Bridget sees that the phone is moving. but does not know that it's a truck. driver that actually has the bag and has. the the phone. She eventually calls Tampa PD.

and a officer responds to the area where. the truck driver was doing some work, recovers the the cell phone and the bag. >> Now remember all of this information is. being relayed from one jurisdiction to. another. So there's a lot of agencies. being involved in this. Latrell had. traveled from Bvard County to Charlotte. County to pick Giovani up, then. allegedly left him on the side of the. road in Manatee County. So there was a. lot of coordination that had to happen. And according to law enforcement, Zach, Jaylen, and Latrrell, they were all.

cooperative during the course of this. investigation so far. >> At 9:28, Charlotte County Sheriff's. Office opened a missing person case. And we also learned that Charlotte. County reached out to Bvard County. Sheriff's Office. um and they. were instrumental in interviewing. all the uh passengers in the vehicle and. and as this investigation unfolded, they. voluntarily give Bard County the.

vehicle, the white Malibu that they were. in. Bard County processes the vehicle. and finds no foul play, no blood, nothing, no evidence. whatsoever inside. that vehicle. Charlotte County reaches out to to us. once again to check to see if. Giovani had been admitted to any. hospitals or possibly was arrested and. there was no sign of Giovani in our. system.

On Monday, August 4th, Charlotte County. request the assistance of the Magic. County Sheriff's Office as they search. the area. that the trail says they dropped off. Giovani on I75. They do an extensive. search east of the interstate and wooded. areas on both sides of of State Road 70. and find nothing. On Tuesday, August 5th, Charlotte County.

comes back to Manatee County along with. a volunteer team that have that have. cadaavver dogs. Also, the Charlotte. County aviation unit was flying. overhead. We had three of our detective. detectives assisting them with searching. the areas that they wanted to search. that day. After about four and a half. hours, they told our detectives that. they're not really sure that Giovani is. in this area. Now, why is that. important?

We know that he got out of the car on. River Road before he got onto I75. So, as investigators, they're starting to. think maybe he never made it to. State Road 70. Now, I can't speak for. the Charlotte County detectives. I can't. speak for Sheriff Permel, but they know. that Batpack was there, but there's no. sighting of Giovani in that area at this. time. And something else to point out. here during this very, very critical. period, it's not just deputies, it's K9.

handlers, it's drone operators, it's. helicopter pilots. They're all looking. for this 18-year-old. They're all. looking for Giovani and his family had. launched search parties as well, spreading out across the state to cover. every possibility. But unfortunately, in. a sad turn of events, and something that. we mentioned on a previous sidebar, Giovani's body would be found back where. it all started on the side of I75 in a. retention pond. >> On Friday, August 8th, about 3:15 p.m.,

uh, Mante County Sheriff's Office. receives a call about a body located in. a pond right off of I75 at the exit ramp. to State Road 70. We learned that a a friend of the family. had been searching the area and had. located the body. I sent my entire homicide team out there. along with their sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and major to process the scene.

The medical examiner. investigator also responds to help with. the processing of the body. According to. the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, it. is believed that Giovani's body had only. recently floated to the top of the. water. So that's why searchers hadn't. seen him at first glance. But not long. after the remains were found, despite. authorities not officially saying it was. Giovani, they did release information. saying there didn't appear to be any. bodily injuries.

>> We do a deep x-ray, a scan of uh the. body that the Emmy does that night. There's no signs of any uh any trauma to. the body. There's no indication that he. was shot. There's no indication that he. was stabbed. There's nothing at that. time that helps us determine cause of. death. On Saturday, August 9th, detectives and. crime scene texts go back out to the. scene. They conduct another thorough.

investigation of the area, search of the. area. Our drone unit also flew over the. pond and the surrounding area, but. didn't find anything of any value. On Sunday, the District 12 medical. examiner performed an autopsy of the. body. Preliminary indication was no. signs of trauma or foul play, but the. cause of death is still undetermined. >> So, what do we have? Giovani's remains. They were finally identified using. dental records and deputies interviewed. the men who had been inside the Chevy. Malibu that night. And sheriffs in at.

least two different counties said the. Bvard County family has been helpful and. responsive to the investigation. My. detectives reach out to Bvard County who. help us reach out to Giov Giovani's. cousin. Jaylen Latrell and Zach and we request. that they interview again with us. They. do so freely. We respond to Bard County. and we interview the three. They give us.

the exact same story that they gave. Bvard County. They also agreed to come back to Many. County to help us pinpoint exactly where. they pulled off the side of the road and. where Giovani got out of the car. And I. will tell you, in a groundbreaking. development, according to Sheriff Rick. Wells, deputies were able to pinpoint. Giovani's location on traffic cameras. Although the picture is grainy and. unfocused, Sheriff Wells says Giovani. can be seen in traffic at one point even.

almost getting hit by a truck. point him. out right here. He's coming. He's coming. eastbound. Now he's walking back. westbound. And there's a concrete barrier right. here. And down here is where the pond. is. So then we continue to check cameras. and we get lucky. at a Lowe's. which is located on the west side of. State Road 70. We have a camera that's.

pointing. at the embankment now that he that he. comes down at 2:19 a.m. Play that Ben. I want you to stay focused right here.

Now that's a steep embankment. It's coming down there almost. uncontrollable. sprint. If you ever gone down a hill, you know what I'm talking about. But the. pond is right here at the edge of that. embankment. I mean, the important thing that I want. you to see, there's no one chasing him. There's no no one around him. In fact, when he's coming down that embankment,

the vehicle. is two miles away. So. there's no one in this area with. Giovani. There's no one that's chasing. him. He's by himself. And what we don't know. is what happened when he hit that pond. I don't know. I'm not going to. speculate. We The death is undetermined.

So, we know that. we don't have anyone that that comes. down that embankment after him. They. don't they don't look for him. He he's. there, we believe, until he was located by the. family friend on on Friday the the 8th. We really. don't know what happened once he got.

into the pond. And once again, I think. anything that I said would be pure. speculation. We're still waiting for the. Emmy to determine a cause of death and. we're also still waiting for the. toxicology. So, we don't have all the. answers. We know this is the last. sighting of him that that night. So, for. now, investigators are awaiting. toxicology reports to come back, which. could take the next few weeks. But from. there, the cause of death could. potentially be determined, which would. obviously provide a lot more answers to. this puzzle. And to be clear, no charges.

have been filed in connection to this. case. We'll keep a very careful eye on. it. It's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].