Searches continue for missing brother of judo Olympian

Yahoo

03-03-2025

Searches are continuing for the brother of a judo Olympian who went missing in Bristol in the early hours of Friday morning.
More than 100 police officers have been involved in the search for Luis Piovesana, 26, who was last seen at around 3am on Friday at Eastgate retail park having travelled there via a taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude's, a 10-minute drive away.
Officers from Avon and Somerset police, and Mr Piovesana's sister – who competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team – Lubjana Piovesana, 28, have appealed for people to check their CCTVs, doorbells and dashcams.
Those living in the St Werburgh's, St Agnes, Eastville and Fishponds areas are asked to check the period between 3am until 7am, with a police spokesperson saying it 'could be vital in helping us trace Luis' next steps'.
Mr Piovesana's family, who have spent the weekend searching for their loved one, have also asked for people to check their gardens and sheds in case he has become trapped.
Mounted officers and police drone teams have also been involved in the investigation, with police divers searching the River Frome near the M32.
Detective Inspector Pete Walker said: 'We remain incredibly concerned for the welfare of Luis and despite extensive and extremely thorough searches have unfortunately yet been able to find him.
'We are extremely grateful for the support of Luis' family and friends and also the search and rescue and helicopter teams who have helped us so far and continue to do so.
'More than 100 officers, detectives and police staff are involved in this investigation and everyone is working tirelessly to find Luis.
'We are releasing CCTV clips showing Luis' movements in case it jogs anyone's memory who could have encountered him.'
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Piovesana's partner, Laurin Bohler, said they have searched tirelessly for Mr Piovesana since he went missing, with family and friends having come from Birmingham to help search.
'We are looking for places where we could find him alive,' he said.
'What's quite frustrating is we haven't seen him on any CCTV since that night.
'He kind of disappeared, and we have covered the route from Ikea towards his home millions of times.
'Anybody who is in this area please check your backyards, your sheds, places where it's hard for us to get access to.
'After three days (of being missing) he's not lying on a public street, people would have seen him, it was nice weather this weekend, people out and about all the time, he's not in an obvious location.'
He said they were joined by a private search team on Monday, who have been hired using crowdfunding site Just Giving.
Mr Piovesana was last seen wearing black baggy jeans with a diamond patterned stitching on them, cream-coloured trainers, a black and grey Rapha gilet and a black Rapha cap.
Friends saw him getting into a taxi at 2.55am at The Jam Jar in Little Ann Street, St Jude's.
While in the taxi, at 2.59am he made a call to his partner and left a voicemail.
Four minutes later, he called 999 but hung up after 34 seconds, with attempts to call him back having gone unanswered.
At 3.04am, the police received a call from a member of the public concerned for a man walking in the area close to junction 2 of the M32.
Officers attended that call and carried out inquiries, but did not see the man in question.
The last confirmed sighting of Luis is on foot 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 Luis' phone.
Subsequent CCTV inquiries showed Luis discarded those items.
He was reported missing at 7.37am and an investigation was launched.