Family 'devastated' as body found in missing man search

Police searching for Luis Piovesana found a body in the River Frome on Monday evening

The sister of a missing Bristol man has said her family is "devastated" after confirming his body was found by police divers on Monday.

More than 100 officers had been involved in the search for Luis Piovesana, 26, along with friends and family.

Avon and Somerset Police said the family had been updated after the body was found by officers searching the River Frome in the Napier Road area of Eastville at 18:00 BST on Monday.

In a social media post Lubjana Piovesana said: "Luis has been found. We are completely devastated, but he has passed away."

Ms Piovesana, a judo Olympian, added: "I am grateful for everyone's support. I am so sorry this has happened.

"Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone.

"He will be remembered by us all."

Avon and Somerset Police said: "At around 6pm today (Monday 3 March), a dive team was searching the River Frome in the Napier Road area of Eastville, Bristol, when they located a body.

"While formal identification has not yet taken place, detectives have met with Luis' family and updated them.

"Our thoughts remain with them during this incredibly difficult time and they continue to be supported by specialist officers."

Timeline of events

02:55 on Friday 28 February – Mr Piovesana was last seen by friends getting into a taxi outside the Jam Jar in Little Ann Street, St Jude's.

03:03 – He then made a 999 call to police, lasting 34 seconds. Attempts were made to call him back, police say, but these went unanswered and so a text was sent to his phone asking him to confirm if he was safe. Officers then tried to establish where the call had been made from.

03:04 – Police received a call from a member of the public concerned about a man walking near Junction 2 of the M32. Officers went to the scene but did not find the man, and police say they are "keeping an open mind" about whether this relates to Mr Piovesana.

03:15 – 03:30 – CCTV footage released by police shows Mr Piovesana in multiple locations at Eastgate Retail Park. The last confirmed sighting of him was near the Click and Collect facility at the back of the Tesco Extra car park. His bag, phone and wallet were later found discarded at the retail park by a friend using a tracking app linked to his phone, with CCTV footage later showing him abandoning the items.

07:37 - Mr Piovesana is reported missing and an investigation is launched.

18:00 on Monday 3 March - A police dive team find a body while searching the River Frome.

Ms Piovesana lives in Austria but flew to Bristol when her mother called her to say her brother had gone missing

Mr Piovesana, originally from Birmingham, was last seen on CCTV at about 03:00 GMT on Friday at Eastgate Retail Park having travelled there via a taxi from the Jam Jar venue Little Ann Street, St Jude's, a 10-minute drive away.

His family had spent the weekend searching for him and asked people to check their gardens and sheds.

Ms Piovesana, 28, flew from Austria to Bristol to join the search efforts for her brother on Monday, alongside 50 friends and volunteers.

Mounted police officers and police drone teams were also involved in the investigation with police divers searching the River Frome near the M32 and Bristol's IKEA store.

Ms Piovesana's partner Laurin Bohler said family and friends had travelled from Birmingham to help.

Volunteer searchers scoured the areas around where Mr Piovesana was last seen

"I wish he could see how many people came to look for him" said Ms Piovesana.

"He's so loved by everyone. He's such a warm character."

Ms Piovesana told the BBC her brother "left his girlfriend a distressing voicemail" where he can be heard asking to be let out of the car.

"We believe he was travelling in the direction of home. He had made a call to police to say he was in danger. We do think he was in distress," she said.

Sophie Usborne, a close friend of Mr Piovesana, said a large group of their university friends had travelled to Bristol as soon as they heard the news.

A close friend of seven years, Harry Wall, described Mr Piovesana as an "incredible guy who could light up a room".

He told the BBC: "His energy could just be felt, he never struggled to get on with people. We love and miss him dearly".

Mr Wall explained the disappearance was "completely out of character for Luis", who "hadn't displayed any behaviour to show he was feeling in a bad way".