'Mom, help me': Teen missing for nearly 1 week after going on vacation in Florida

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. -- A North Carolina family is in Florida searching for their missing 18-year-old son, who disappeared while on vacation.

Giovanni Pelletier, an 18-year-old who is described as "smart, kind and full of life," disappeared early last Friday under deeply troubling and suspicious circumstances," according to the family's GoFundMe page.

Pelletier was visiting Englewood, Florida, with his mother and her fiancé and wanted to reconnect with relatives from his biological father's family, his aunt, Desiree Pelletier, told ABC News. While he was unable to see his father, who is incarcerated, he made plans to see three of his cousins on that side of the family, his aunt said.

With only a few days left in his vacation, Pelletier's cousins picked him up at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 1 to take him on the three-hour drive to their house in Mims, Florida, his aunt said. His mother was planning on picking him up the next day, according to Desiree Pelletier.

The family said Pelletier, who graduated from Fuquay-Varina High School in June, sent his mother a text message saying "Mom, help me" about 20 minutes after he left, near Sarasota, Florida.

That was the last time his mother heard from him, according to his aunt. He also sent messages pleading for help to his grandfather and another aunt.

"Somewhere along the ride, something happened," Desiree Pelletier said.

The next morning, Pelletier's mother saw the messages and missed phone calls from her son, could not get a hold of him, and immediately contacted authorities, Desiree Pelletier said. She also reached out to the cousins who were with Pelletier, who said the group had been smoking marijuana, which is when the teen began to panic and pull out a knife.

But his aunt said that alleged behavior "is not Gio" and that it does "not align" with who he is.

The cousins also told police that Pelletier "began to act erratically before exiting the vehicle," according to a statement from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

His family said he was "abandoned on the side of the road in Bradenton, Florida," with his backpack and phone discovered in the area by a truck driver the same day he disappeared. Bradenton is about an hour away from Englewood by car.

Pelletier's aunt said the family does not believe this is a runaway and that "something is not told right."

"It doesn't make sense. Why would he say 'Help me' three different times to three people?" his aunt said.

Since then, the family has been continuing their search for Giovanni Pelletier, with officials saying they have received "many, many tips that unfortunately turn out to be inaccurate."

"We love him and want him home, and we just want him to be OK. As a family, we can't function normally. We're not doing well right now. We just want him home," his aunt told ABC News as she held back tears.

As of Thursday, the sheriff's office said in a statement to ABC News, they "do not have any updates on this investigation and continue to ask anyone with information to come forward."

The family is currently offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the teen's whereabouts, his aunt said.

ABC News contributed to this report.