The family of Luis Piovesana, whose body was found in Bristol earlier this week, have paid tribute to him. The 26-year-old, found dead in the River Frome, has been described as a “gift” by loved ones.
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.”
His family have requested that their privacy be respected at this time and also that people do not speculate about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Luis was last seen around 2.55am on Friday, February 28, after a night out with friends at the Jam Jar in Little Ann Street in St Judes. He left the club in a taxi, and at 2.59am made a call from inside the taxi to his partner and left a voicemail.
At 3.03am, Luis called police on 999 but the call was ended after 34 seconds. Attempts to call him back were made, but they were unanswered, so a text asking him to confirme he was safe was sent.
At 3.04am police received a call from a concerned member of the public who saw a man walking in the area near junction 2 of the M32. Officers were sent to the area, but did not find the man.
Luis was then seen on CCTV footage walking around 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.
Luis was reported as missing at 7.37am and a missing person investigation was launched. Luis’ family said that his going missing was out of character.
On Monday, March 3, a major search operation launched in the area where Luis was last seen. Police, underwater search units and police drone teams as well as a group of volunteers were involved in the search for Luis.
Around 6pm on Monday Luis’ body was found by the dive team in the River Frome close to where he was last seen. Luis’ cause of death is at this time unexplained but a post-mortem examination will take place. A report will be prepared for the coroner ahead of an inquest that will investigate the circumstances surrounding 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.”
Please contact police if you have any information which may assist the investigation.