Family pay tribute to ‘loved’ Luis Piovesana

The family of Luis Piovesana have described him as “a gift” after it was confirmed that the body of a man found in Bristol earlier this week is his.

The 26-year-old’s body was recovered by the police dive team from the River Frome on the evening of Monday 3 March and the formal identification process was completed on Wednesday (5 March).

In a tribute, his family said: “Luis was a gift to everyone in his life and was loved by so many people. That was made clear by the people who came out to help search for him.

“He was such a sociable and friendly person, was loved by everyone and will be missed by them all.”

Since Luis was reported missing on Friday 28 February, witness statements have been taken, and CCTV footage studied showing Luis alone in the Eastgate Retail Park area. Detectives are continuing to review any other CCTV opportunities to ensure we can provide Luis’ family with all the possible information there is to explain his last movements.

Luis’ disappearance, as stated previously, was out-of-character.

We have though found no evidence to suggest there are any suspicious circumstances that led to Luis’ death, nor links to any other missing person investigation. This investigation continues, and if anyone has any information, please contact us.

He was last seen at 2.55am on Friday 28 February at the end of a night out with friends at The Jam Jar in Little Ann Street, in the St Jude’s area of the city where he left in a taxi.

While in the taxi, at 2.59am he made a call to his partner and left a voicemail.

At 3.03am he made a 999 call to police which he ended after 34 seconds. Attempts to call him back were made but these were unanswered and so a text message was sent to his phone requesting he called back to confirm he was safe. In the meantime, efforts were made to try to establish the location the phone call was made from.

At 3.04am we received a call from a third party concerned for a man walking in the area close to junction 2 of the M32. Officers were dispatched and carried out enquiries in the area but did not locate the man in question.

CCTV footage was then collected by officers showing Luis alone in multiple locations at Eastgate Retail Park between 3.15am and 3.30am.

The last confirmed sighting of Luis is on foot near the Click and Collect facility at the back of the Tesco Extra car park.

He was reported missing at 7.37am that same morning and a missing person investigation was launched.

A significant police operation, supported by Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue and the National Police Air Service, was stood up to try to locate Luis, with police officers, detectives, PCSOs, mounted officers, specialist search officers, and police drone and dive teams involved.

At about 6pm on Monday, Luis’ body was found by the police dive team while it was searching the River Frome, near to where he was last seen.

A post-mortem examination will take place in due course to determine the precise cause of death, which at this time is unexplained until that is completed. A full report will be prepared for the coroner as part of any inquest into his death.

Luis’ family have requested that their privacy be respected at this incredibly distressing time and also that people do not speculate about the circumstances of his death.

Detective Inspector Pete Walker, the senior investigating officer, said: “Our thoughts remain wholly with Luis’ family and friends as they continue to process events of the last week.

“I would like to thank them for their support of our investigation and also all of the police officers, members of police staff and our partner agencies who helped us find Luis.

“Our investigation began as soon as Luis was reported missing and has found no evidence to suggest there are any suspicious circumstances that led to Luis’ death, nor links to any other missing person investigation and we too ask for everyone to respect the privacy of his family at this time, while the investigation continues.

“We are really conscious of the impact of speculation, particularly on social media, around Luis’ death and the impact such inaccurate commentary has on his devastated family. We’d urge people to consider the consequences of spreading unfounded rumours especially when there is a grieving family at the heart of this whose lives have been turned upside down over the past week.

“We are also preparing a file for the coroner to will also support with any inquest which will examine the circumstances of Luis’ death.”