Jack O’Sullivan disappeared 18 months ago in Bristol and despite more than 100,000 people who have joined the campaign and a £100k reward, his parents are still desperately searching for answers
In the early hours of March 2 2024, 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan left a party in Bristol with the intention of getting a cab back to where he lived with his mum and dad.
He had spent his Friday night having fun with friends and was just one of the thousands of young people up and down the country doing the same things that evening. But Jack never made it home.
Now, 18 months on, his family have no answers and no clues but have vowed to never stop looking for him. In the time since more than 100,000 people have joined the Find Jack campaign on Facebook, more than £59,000 has been raised for the search and, now, a mysterious donor has offered up a £100,000 reward. And yet, his parents feel no closer to knowing what happened to their son and continue to appeal for any information that could help.
After he left the party that night, Jack messaged his parents at 1am to let them know that he would be taking a taxi home. He was later spotted on CCTV walking onto a grass area at the junction of Brunel Lock Way and Brunel Way at 3.17am, seemingly having been unsuccessful in getting a cab, and was seen again at 3.40am heading back up towards Hotwells, near where the party had been. In between these two sightings, Jack had tried to call a friend at the party but the line had disconnected just after he said ‘hello’.
Jack’s parents, Catherine and Alan, noticed he wasn’t home at 5am. However, despite not being seen on CCTV for hours, his phone placed him at an address in the Granby Hill area at 5.40am and it remained active on the network for just over an hour. The phone has never been found.
‘My world has stopped’
Despite searches by police and volunteers, nothing was discovered that gave any indication of what happened to Jack and where he could be. Catherine said the lack of clues make it seem like “Jack has been abducted by an alien”. She told us: “We don’t have any evidence at all so we have to try and keep his name out there, keep his story out there, and keep asking questions.”
For 18 months, Catherine and Alan and their older son, Ben, have been living in the “worst possible nightmare”. “At times it’s hard to believe that it’s actually happening because everything seems so surreal. The world is carrying on around us, but for me, my world has pretty much stopped. We kind of exist really, we don’t live,” Catherine reflected.
Since her son’s disappearance, she has worked tirelessly to keep his name out there, from television appearances to social media campaigning. To Catherine, keeping going is all she can do. “I don’t have an answer, I don’t know what’s happened to Jack and I can’t just accept that that’s the way it is. I have to keep this going because I know if we don’t as a family, it’ll all disappear. As far as the police are concerned, they would like this all to disappear.”
‘Extensive enquiries’
The police’s work has been one of the central themes in Jack’s case, with the family lodging a formal complaint against Avon and Somerset Police last June. They said mistakes were made early on in the search for Jack and these could have proven costly in locating him.
One key complaint was over CCTV footage and Catherine claimed that footage, placing her son in a different location at a different time, was initially missed. A new sighting of Jack was only spotted by Catherine herself after she was finally allowed to watch the CCTV. She told the BBC at the time: “To have footage of my son in their possession the day after he was missing and for someone not to see that is just ludicrous. And we have to live with that … thinking what would have possibly been different here if on that second day, the whole world knew that he was there – and we could have appealed to people.”
The family also found an administrative error within the police force meant Jack had not been added to the Missing People’s Register until more than two months after his disappearance.
Avon and Somerset Police told us it has always taken an “evidence-led, open-minded, and transparent approach, with the shared aim of finding Jack”. A spokesperson said: “We’ve carried out extensive enquiries, including searches of land and water, following up on public contacts, reviewing and re-reviewing all CCTV and other available footage, contacting drivers and taxi companies travelling in the area and conducting a thorough examination of all digital data.
“We’ve had the support of more than 30 different police teams and partner organisations during the investigation, and we’ve sought the very best expert and independent advice, support and guidance from nationally recognised experts, including from the National Crime Agency. Despite this we’ve sadly not been able to find Jack and we fully recognise the devastating impact his disappearance continues to have on his family and loved ones.”
Catherine said that, in her mind, the police “made an assumption within hours of us reporting Jack being missing” because of the area where he was last seen. Hotwells is close to the river in Bristol, and concerns about the safety of drunk people in the area at night have been raised before. “To them, it’s obvious what’s happened. Unfortunately, their assumptions have led nowhere,” she said. Avon and Somerset Police have been contacted for comment.
‘Jack isn’t in the water’
After searches, his family were validated further in their belief Jack had not fallen into the river, after an ex-Harbour master reached out. He said comments on social media from people telling Catherine and Alan their son was in the water drove him to get in touch.
Catherine said: “He wrote a report based on every fact that was associated with the 2nd March and he based it on the weather, the tidal range and flow and lock gate movements and everything that happens around the harbour and the river. And he said on that basis, ‘my conclusion is with certainty that your son hasn’t fallen in the water.’”
Jack’s case had a major update last week, when a mystery donor gave the family £100,000 to offer as a reward for information. The reward can be claimed by anyone who provides information that directly or indirectly leads to Jack being “physically reunited” with Catherine, Jack’s father, Alan, or his brother, Ben.
Ben, who is several years older than Jack, said that the family had been “overwhelmed by the generosity and a bit shocked”. “Hopefully, it can draw some attention to anyone who does know anything significant about what has happened to Jack. We never thought we’d be in the position of doing this but sadly we are.”
At first, Catherine was sceptical about the donation, and wondered if the offer was genuine. However, she explained: “The person verified themselves quite quickly and put us in touch with a solicitor so it’s all been handled by a legal team. It’s amazing to think somebody would really want to support us like that, we’re blown away really, we are so grateful. In our situation, we’ve got to give everything a try.”
‘The kindest guy in the world’
The donation has catapulted the case back into the press but beneath the headlines there is a kind, funny and loyal now-24-year-old who is dearly missed by his family and friends. Just over a year after Jack went missing, several of his friends ran the Bristol Half Marathon in his honour. One, Archie Browne, told us: “I thought it would be a great way of spreading awareness for our best friend Jack. Running through the area where he was last seen. It was such an emotional day, with lots of cheers saying ‘Do it for Jack!’ it really got to us. He was with us every step of the way.”
Another, Oscar Lucas, described Jack as the “nicest and kindest guy in the world”. “He would make time for everyone, all the time. He was always there whenever you needed someone to talk to, and you couldn’t have asked for a better friend,” he said. “When I found out he went missing, it was just heartbreaking. Honestly, it felt like the whole world was moving in slow motion. It’ll be a day I’ll never forget and wish it had never happened. I miss him every day.”
Toby Weale, who has been friends with Jack since they were three, said the pair shared everything “from football away days to rounds of golf and all the laughs in between”.
“The last 18 months without him have been heartbreaking. I think about Jack every day and hold on to the hope that we’ll get answers. He means the world to me and others – kind, funny, loyal, always there for others – and our lives aren’t the same without him being around.” Toby said the anonymous reward was an “incredibly generous act” and hoped it would help to bring Jack home.
Catherine said at the time of his disappearance, Jack was “probably in the best phase of his life so far”. He had performed brilliantly at university in Exeter and had secured a place on a law course with a scholarship.
Just before March, “he had just sat his first exams, which he was so nervous about”, Catherine said. “The results came out after he’d gone, which was a tragedy because he had done so well.
“Everything had just fitted into place. Everything is desperately sad, but it feels even more sad when everything was so good.” Ben echoed his mum’s sentiments over Jack’s potential, saying: “He has such a bright future ahead of him and has done so much work to put himself in that position. We all desperately want him home.”
‘Unacceptable’ police service
After receiving the family’s complaint last year, Avon and Somerset Police made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which in turn concluded the complaint was suitable for a local investigation. The Professional Standards Department (PSD) then completed a full review which included a “detailed and comprehensive examination of the investigation carried out to date”.
The report reviewed the 11 complaints and found that 10 had an “acceptable” service level, while one was “unacceptable” – the issue of Jack’s case not being placed on the Missing People database. The force said while it was not a compulsory obligation, it “fully accepts the learning here”.
Jack’s family asked the IOPC to review the report and while the office agreed with the majority of the findings, it asked the force to reinvestigate an issue relating to the initial viewings of the CCTV footage by officers. While a PSD investigator said it was “understandable” that the sighting on the footage had been missed, the investigator said the service level was unacceptable. The report remains with the IOPC for consideration.
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: “The investigation carried out by PSD has been comprehensive and thorough, and I note the report highlights the officers’ professionalism and dedication to this investigation, despite the significant complexity of the circumstances.”
Key information
At the time of his disappearance, Jack was wearing:
- Green Barbour jacket
- Brown Ralph Lauren trainers
- Navy blue chinos
- Armani watch
- Cream knit jumper
He also had with him:
- Black card holder
- His driving licence
- Air Tag in a brown case
- Monzo debit card
- His house key
- Peugeot 108 key
- Black iPhone 11 in a red case
All relevant information should be provided to any of the following: – findjack23@gmail.com – The Missing People charity at 116000missingpeople.co.uk or by calling 116000 – The Police on 101 quoting reference 5224055172
