Inquest: Engineer died in River Frome after going missing

The body of Luis Piovesana, 26, was recovered by police divers from the River Frome in Bristol on March 3 last year.

Avon Coroners’ Court heard that detectives believe there is no evidence of third-party involvement in Mr Piovesana’s death.

Mr Piovesana’s family – including his sister, the Olympic judo competitor Lubjana Piovesana – attended his inquest.

Dr Peter Harrowing, the area coroner for Avon, reached a narrative conclusion after hearing the evidence on Thursday.

The coroner said: "Luis Piovesana died following immersion in water after entering the River Frome in Bristol some time between February 28 and March 3 2025.

"How he came to the water has not been established."

Mr Piovesana, who was born in Sutton Coldfield, had moved to the Frenchay area of Bristol to live with his partner in September 2024.

He had a master's degree in engineering and was described as "deeply loved" by his family and friends.

In a family statement read to the inquest, they said: "Luis had a strong, close relationship with his family, including an extensive extended family.

"We last saw him three weeks before his passing, during his sister’s graduation party.

"He also had large friendship groups in both Bristol and Birmingham.

"At his funeral, over 500 people attended – a testament to the deep connections he had built."

The inquest heard Mr Piovesana met with friends for dinner and drinks on the evening of February 27 before they went to the Jam Jar music venue in St Anne’s, Bristol.

He consumed magic mushrooms, containing the psychedelic compound psilocybin, before and during the event, as well as further alcoholic drinks.

Friends described the mushrooms as being big and contained in a sandwich bag.

They said Mr Piovesana had taken magic mushrooms previously, without ill effect.

In the early hours of February 28, Mr Piovesana became agitated, and his friends arranged an Uber to take him home at 2.55am.

At 2.59am, Mr Piovesana rang his girlfriend and left a "distressed" voicemail in which he said the taxi driver was "trying to kidnap him", his family statement said.

He also rang police on 999 at 3.03am, telling the call operator that he had been drugged and was on the motorway.

At the same time, a motorist called 999 to report a pedestrian walking on one of the motorway lanes.

Police officers attended the motorway at 3.19am but could not locate Mr Piovesana.

Detective Inspector Peter Walker, of Avon and Somerset Police, said the taxi driver had not provided a written statement but told officers he had let Mr Piovesana out of his vehicle by the motorway slipway.

CCTV footage then picked up Mr Piovesana at the Eastgate shopping centre.

The last sighting confirmed by the footage was at 3.24am, with Mr Piovesana pictured approximately 450 metres away from sluice gates for the River Frome, where his body was later found.

Det Insp Walker described Mr Piovesana’s movements as "erratic" and said it was "clear that Luis was intoxicated" from the footage.

He said police had pieced together 12 minutes of CCTV footage, showing Mr Piovesana, and there was "nobody else about" during that time.

Mr Piovesana was reported missing by his partner at 7.37am on February 28, with an extensive search operation then launched by police and his friends and family.

The coroner said: "Despite extensive searches, sadly Luis couldn’t be found until March 3.

"Divers found Luis’s body in the vicinity of the sluice gates at the River Frome in Bristol."

Det Insp Walker told the hearing it was not possible to confirm where Mr Piovesana had entered the water, or when he had done so.

A post-mortem examination gave Mr Piovesana’s cause of death as 1a immersion in water and 2 psilocybin and ethanol.