Can any of us imagine the agony of not knowing where your child is? A year on, the family of 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan remains in anguish after Jack never returned home from a night out at a party in Bristol in the early hours of March 2 2024.
Many will recognise Jack from the posters and billboards across the city and around North Somerset, all simply pleading ‘Find Jack’. For his mother Catherine, father Alan and older brother Ben, these last 12 months have been ones no family should have to endure.
A history graduate from Exeter University, living with his parents in Flax Bourton while studying for a law conversion degree, Jack was at a party at a flat in Hotwells on March 1. He called his mother at 1am to say he would get a taxi home, and was thought to leave the party 3am on March 2. After unsuccessfully calling a friend at 3.24am, the friend returned the call at 3.30am, but the call disconnected after Jack said “hello”. CCTV images showed Jack at the top of a slip road near the Cumberland Basin at 3.40am, after failing to get a taxi. This was the last known sighting of Jack. He has not been seen or heard from since. However, his phone was still active, placing him at an address near Granby Hill at 5.40am, and continuing to be live until 6.44am.
Since that time, Jack’s 23rd birthday has passed; Christmas has been and gone in an unbearable limbo and the family are no closer to answers as to what has become of him. His mother, Catherine, recently said: “To see my other son and my husband, the amount of pain that they’re in, is at times too much. But we have to somehow find the strength to get up and keep going because we owe that to Jack.”
Their agony is compounded by their continued belief that they have been let down by Avon and Somerset Police, who they feel have long held on to the assumption that Jack fell into the water, despite no evidence or indication that this was so.
Three months after Jack’s disappearance, Catherine was given access to CCTV footage in which she discovered two sightings the police had missed.
In October, the phone company EE finally provided data about his phone, after the police said they could not share any information accessed from the phone with his family. Data has been sent to cyber experts who continue to analyse its contents. The family have filed an official complaint about the police handling of the case.
“For me, it’s become a full-time job,” says Catherine. “From the time I get up to the time I go to bed, I’m doing something related to this. I don’t think anything on earth could prepare you for some of the things we’ve gone through. We somehow keep going but it’s taken a massive toll on us as a family.”
Crowdfunding has paid for search teams, dogs and private investigators. Facebook groups, a website– findjackosullivan.co.uk – and an email address – findjack23@gmail.com – keep the appeal in the public eye.
Back in December, a police spokesperson said: “We’re grateful for the public’s ongoing support of this investigation. Our priority remains focused on finding out what happened to Jack and giving his family the answers they desperately need.”
Now, at an anniversary this close-knit family never wanted to see, the search continues relentlessly to solve the mystery of a kind, loving young man who didn’t reach home.
By Rosie Watson