What happened to Jack O’Sullivan: A family still hopes and a city still searches for missing student

Jack O’Sullivan was just a student trying to get home after a night out with friends before he disappeared without trace. Finding out what happened to Jack, from Flax Bourton, has been a gruelling, year-long challenge for his family, who still retain hope, even now, that answers will be found and they’ll learn what happened to their son.

Police, private organisations and members of the public have carried out numerous searches in Bristol since March 2, 2024, but all have drawn a blank. The 23-year-old was last seen as he tried to make his way home from a night out with friends in Bristol.

A year has passed since he went missing but Jack’s family still aren’t giving up hope of finding out what happened to him. Catherine O’Sullivan, Jack’s mum, said they are continuing their own searches and a private investigator is in contact with Avon & Somerset Police.

Catherine said they are treating the tragic first anniversary milestone as ‘just another day’. She said: “Now every day for us is hell and it won’t be any more significant from the first day he went missing. I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention or be out having vigils, I don’t want to do that.

“We think of Jack every day, so Sunday is not a huge milestone for us. But it is totally unbelievable that 12 months have gone by. It doesn’t feel real.”

Jack was last seen on March 2, 2024 after leaving a house party. He had been on a night out with student friends and went to a home in Hotwells after a night at a pub. After telling his mum that he would take a taxi home – shortly before 2am – he left the party around an hour later.

CCTV footage, shared by police, then shows Jack walking around the Cumberland Basin for 30 minutes. At around 3.24am, he then called a friend still at the party and, when they rang back 10 minutes later Jack said “hello” before the call cut out. Though Jack’s phone disconnected, police believe it did not leave the Hotwells/Cumberland Basin area, and it remained active until 6.44am.

Multiple appeals, from both Avon & Somerset Police and the O’Sullivans were put out to the public, receiving both support and cruel trolling in response. Catherine said the family have even received ransom demandsafter offering £20,000 in exchange for information which could lead to finding Jack.

On September 2, the the sixth-month anniversary of his disappearance, she said: “I have had messages suggesting that Jack is being held and asking for ransom amounts for him. People telling me that awful things have happened to him and where I might find him.”

Jack’s family have spoken publicly of their frustration with police over communication and in June last year, the family put in a formal complaint. Jack’s brother Ben told the BBC at the time: “We’ve been told for weeks and weeks that there is the possibility of the National Crime Agency helping and providing their resources, but despite asking…there still has been no progress.”

Catherine has previously said she felt she had “no support from the authorities that should be helping”.

The heart-breaking mystery of missing Jack O’Sullivan

During those initial months of investigation, police said more than 100 hours of CCTV footage had been reviewed and teams had spend 200 hours searching the river and river banks in the city. Eight appeals were issued and the force says more than 100 possible sightings had been reported by members of the public.

Calls for information were put to dog walkers, taxi drivers, Strava users and snowy-picture-takers. Residents in Bristol were asked to check their local area and the ‘Find Jack’ Facebook group appealed to Banksy at one point, hoping the artist could shine a spotlight on the search.

That was months ago. Since then, Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall has said Avon & Somerset Police has made use of resources from more than 30 different teams and organisations, including independent advice from the National Crime Agency, a search advisor from a neighbouring police force and an oceanographer.

“We have kept an open mind throughout this investigation and regularly review our various hypothesis around Jack’s disappearance,” she said.

Focus turned to Jack’s mobile phone, which was connected to its network until 6.44am on the day Jack disappeared, even though a call with a friend dropped out. Phone company EE released data about Jack’s phone in October after campaigners pushed to share the information that police said they could not reveal due to data protection concerns.

Police chiefs said sharing the data, which showed roughly where he was at the time of his disappearance, would breach data protection laws. Police did the radio frequency survey, saying that Jack’s phone never left the Cumberland Basin area of the city, but said it couldn’t give the results to campaigners, citing data protection laws.

“We know Avon & Somerset did an RF survey and so Jack’s family asked for it to help the analysis. They were refused,” said Jayne Caple, from the Find Jack campaign. “Because they don’t want to have the battle, they have commissioned the forensics company to perform one which takes valuable time. It’s also worth adding that it is far better to have the police version as it is likely to be more accurate than one performed now.”

A spokesperson for Avon & Somerset police said they did conduct the surveys which were later repeated by tech experts commissioned by the family but it didn’t shed any new light on what might have happened to Jack. They said: “In August, we received a request from the Jack’s family requesting a copy of the data. Unfortunately, due to the strict handling and retention requirements laid out in Home Office Communications Data Code of Practice, which applies to data obtained under section 60A of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, as well as GDPR and Data Protection, we have been unable to fulfil this request as the law does not allow us to share it.

“By disclosing this data to a third party, officers would be unable to comply with the requirements set out in law, including having no control over how it is stored, if it is shared beyond the agreed parameters and if it is retained beyond the legally permitted time period. The information also holds private data belonging to other members of the public,” she added.

The remarkable hope the O’Sullivans still retain was tested to its limit at the start of this year when a body turned up on the Welsh coastline. Catherine anxiously spent six days believing Jack was dead. The family were told by police that remains of a man matching her son’s description had been found.

After nearly a week, the family were told that the body was not Jack’s. Catherine, 53, of Flax Bourton, said: “Early in the new year we had a phone call to say some remains had been found on a beach in Wales and we strongly felt they were leaning towards this being Jack. It felt very significant.

“It was six days of utter torture while they tried to work out if it was Jack before it turned out it was obviously not. It was the worst six days so far. It was positioned and explained to us in such a way we could not see how it could not be Jack. We were given a description and it fitted everything; height, age, range, that Jack fitted into but they said the could not be conclusive until DNA analysis. We found out after a few days the process had not even started.

“That was pretty grim. We were hanging on every hour of the day for an update and two to three days in they hadn’t even started. I think the communication was pretty shocking.” Catherine added that she felt ‘relieved’ when she learned it wasn’t Jack.

Avon & Somerset Police said: “We contacted Jack’s family on Saturday, January 4 to inform them that a body had been located at Stout Bay, in Wales. Detectives worked with colleagues at South Wales Police to fast-track the DNA process to identify the remains and provide answers to the family.

“We were able to provide an update to the family on Friday, January 10 in which we were able to confirm the remains were not Jack’s. During this six-day period, the Superintendent overseeing the investigation made contact with the family on several occasions to give what update we could.”

On the first anniversary of his disappearance, Jack’s family are still left wondering what happened. Catherine said: “It has been a whole year and we have no idea what happened to him. We are still completely none the wiser. We get messages of hoaxes, ransoms, people telling me the have got him, but nothing has ever been proven.

“It is totally unbelievable all that time has gone by. For me every day is consumed by it. My husband and son have tried to work and go back to relatively normal lives, but for us as a family nothing is normal or even close to it. It has been incredibly difficult to focus on anything else.

“It is hard to think beyond today and I never plan too far ahead now. I take every day as I can. It would be unforgivable to even think about stopping. It wouldn’t be fair to Jack until we know what happened or where he is. If I am not going to do it as his mum then no-one else will.”

Police are reigniting its appeal for information, hoping the anniversary will spark a memory in someone who saw something that night. Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: “It has been one year since Jack’s disappearance, and I want to recognise the pain his family continues to go through. Our collective thoughts remain with them during this very difficult time.

“Anniversaries provide an important opportunity to look back and reflect. A lot can happen in a year and things which may not have looked significant at the time may look different with the passage of time.

“Do you remember what you were doing that cold, snowy day in March 2024? You may recall seeing something which, on the surface, seemed unimportant, but may be an important piece of information for us to know. Do you remember seeing anything on your journey, whether you were walking in the area or travelling on the roads.

“Our investigation has been extensive, with resources utilised from more than 30 different teams and organisations, including support from colleagues within the fire service, HM Coastguard and the National Police Air Service. This includes seeking independent advice, support and guidance from experts at the National Crime Agency, an experienced Police Search Advisor from a neighbouring force and an independent oceanographer.

“Our dive team has searched the river from Avonmouth through to Conham River Park. Officers, including those with our mounted team, dog unit and drone unit, have searched in water and on land, especially in the wider area where Jack was last seen, including the Hotwells, Ashton and North Somerset areas.

“We have kept an open mind throughout this investigation and regularly review our various hypothesis around Jack’s disappearance.

“As the year has progressed, we’ve exhausted multiple lines of enquiry and we’d like to thank the public for their help so far in coming forward with information. We ask you again to please, cast your mind back to this time last year and think about any detail which may help us.”