Camera Footage and New Details Released in the Death of Giovanni Pelletier | Crime Alert 11AM 08.20.25

Highway cameras captured the final moments of the missing teen, Giovanni Pelletier's life. 

Tood and Julie Chrisley's son files a $2 million lawsuit. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now, I'm Nicole Parton.
Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells announced that the death of
eighteen year old Giovanni Pelletier, whose body was discovered in
a retention pond a week after he went missing, does
not involve any foul play. During a press conference on
Tuesday morning, Wells provided further details about the ongoing investigation.

(00:23):
Pelletier was reported missing on August one, and a family
friend found his body a week later. Due to the
advanced decomposition and autopsy and further tests were necessary to
confirm his identity. The last known sighting of Pelletier was
near the junction of I seventy five and SR. Seventy
in Manatee County, Florida, where he fled from a vehicle

(00:45):
occupied by his cousins. They recounted to police that he
had been acting strangely during their journey from Inglewood to
Brevard County before he exited the car. The sheriff shared
that Pelletier had been in touch with one of his
cousins prior to the meeting, discussing plans to smoke marijuana,
which Pelleteer said he was not familiar with. After reuniting,

(01:07):
the group began smoking, during which Pelletier reportedly started to
experience a troubling reaction. Around one fifty five am, Pelletier
text his mother, saying, mom, help me. His cousins reported
that he became erratic, claiming to be a demon and
threatening to harm himself and others while attempting to open
the door of the moving car. The driver stopped the

(01:30):
vehicle and Pelleteer dashed onto I seventy five, narrowly avoiding
being hit by a truck. He left behind his backpack
and phone, which his cousins placed at the roadside following
his departure, and said that was the last time they
saw him. After notifying their grandfather of the incident, one
cousin attempted to contact Pelletier's mother around two twenty seven,

(01:52):
but she was unavailable she didn't hear the phone ring.
Sheriff Wells indicated that phone location data confirmed all three
cousin returned to Brevard County the next morning. One cousin
reached Pelletier's mother again, explaining what had happened, prompting her
to contact the Mentee County Sheriff's office to initiate an investigation.

(02:12):
In a nine to one one call, Pelletier's mother informed
the dispatcher that her cousin indicated Pelletier had become distressed
after smoking marijuana and ran off despite attempts to calm
him down. Meanwhile, a truck driver found Pelletier's backpack on
the roadside and took it with him to Tampa. Unbeknownst
to his mother, the phone was with the driver, not
with her son. The Tampa Police Department later retrieved the

(02:35):
phone and backpack from that driver. The Brevard County Sheriff's
office led the interviews with the cousins, who willingly cooperated
and allowed their vehicle to be examined. Sheriff Wells noted
that the cousins returned Tomanatee County to assist detectives in
identifying the exact location where Pelletier exited the car. Investigators
reviewed traffic camera footage and that captured the boy on

(02:59):
I seventy five around two eighteen am, approximately one point
two miles north of SR. Seventy. He was seen running
toward a concrete barrier near where the retention pond is located.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
I mean the important thing I want you to see
there's no one chasing him. There's no one around him.
In fact, when he's coming down that ambankment, the vehicle
is two miles away. There's no one in this area
with the your bond. There's no one that's chasing him.

(03:32):
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 gonna speculate. The death is undetermined, so we know
that we don't have anyone that comes down that embankment
after him. They don't, they don't look for him. He's there,

(03:58):
we believe, until he was located by the family friend.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
A camera positioned outside a Low's recorded Peletier a minute
later as he hurried down an embankment uncontrollably running. At
the bottom of the embankment lies the pond where his
body was discovered. Sheriff Well stated that throughout the recorded
footage from that night, no one was observed following or
chasing him, nor did anyone descend the embankment after him.

(04:23):
Over a week after his disappearance, a family friend located
Pelletier's body, and the medical examiner found no signs of
foul play. No trauma or injuries to indicate a violent death.
A dive team searched the pond following the discovery of
his body, but found no additional evidence. No charges have
been filed in relation to the case. According to Sheriff Wells,

(04:45):
the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is now awaiting the results
of the toxicology report, which could take several weeks. They
hope this analysis will provide clarity on the cause of death.
Poor crime and justice news after this, Kyle Chrisley, the

(05:05):
son of Todd and Julie Christly, famous for their reality
series Chrisly Knows Best, is taking legal action against Rutherford County, Tennessee,
and two deputies, seeking nearly two million dollars in damages.
This comes on the heels of his parents receiving pardons
from President Trump following their convictions for bank fraud and
tax evasion. Kyle asserts that he has been unfairly targeted

(05:30):
due to his family's notoriety and insists he is innocent
of the crime he is accused of. His lawsuit is
being filed in federal court even as he faces his
own ongoing criminal proceedings. It was a terrifying experience, especially
with a wife and two young kids to consider. Kyle said,
although he has distanced himself from his family in the

(05:51):
Family Show, Kyle maintains a close relationship with his relatives, saying,
I get along with everyone. I just prefer to chart
my own course. Kyle mentioned that he still faces recognition
from fans, which he and his attorney, Wesley Clark, believe
could have attributed to his recent legal issues. We suspect
this is tied to who Kyle Christly is. Someone recognized

(06:14):
him and decided to treat him differently because of that,
his attorney remarked. The incident that sparked the lawsuit occurred
last September during a business dist agreement with an individual
at Kyle's home in Rutherford County. A neighbour's ring camera
captured audio of his wife frantically calling nine to one
one reporting that the man was vandalizing their property. According

(06:36):
to Clark, the man not only damaged their vehicle, but
also performed donuts on the lawn before fleeing. When deputies arrived,
the man alleged that Kyle had threatened him with a knife,
a claim Kyle denies. Witnesses at the preliminary hearing testified
they saw no knife, yet Kyle was arrested and subsequently
indicted on aggravated assault charges. They ignored the facts and

(06:58):
went after Kyle Krizly, his attorney said, describing the charges
as ludacris. Clark has filed a one point seven million
dollar lawsuit against Rutherford County and two deputies for infringing
on Kyle's constitutional rights. For the latest crime injustice news,
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