The heartbroken parents of missing 23-year-old student Jack O’Sullivan have lodged a formal complaint against the police force investigating their son’s disappearance.
Catherine and Alan O’Sullivan’s son, who was 22 when he vanished, has not been seen since he went to a house party in Bristol on March 2—some 101 days ago.
The family claims that Avon and Somerset Police have exacerbated their frantic search for answers by overlooking important CCTV and delaying adding Jack to the national Missing People’s Register until after he had been absent for over two months as a result of an administrative error.
Speaking on BBC News, Catherine said: ‘I wouldn’t want anyone on earth to be faced what we have dealt with in last 100 days, because it’s horrific. To think people who you would possibly depend on most in the world have totally let us down.’
She added: ‘It is hell; daily, it’s a challenge to get up through the day. We have to somehow keep going and find strength to get to the bottom of this.’
According to Jack’s family, the force erred from the beginning, missing CCTV evidence that showed the student in a different place at a different time.
Catherine didn’t realise it until she was allowed to view a portion of it for herself.
‘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,’ she added.
‘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.’
A GoFundMe fundraiser, set up by a family friend, says that Jack’s family have decided to offer a £20,000 reward for ‘information leading to the discovery of Jack is needed to help spark new leads and reignite the search efforts.’
Jack went to school in Bristol, graduated from Exeter University, and then went back to his hometown to finish his education.
When he disappeared after a night out, he was living again with his parents and close to his older brother Ben.
When Jack departed early in the morning, he had been at a house party with friends from his course.
Hours after he was last spotted on CCTV, the student’s phone was still in use, but his family claims they still don’t have answers.
The law graduate last spoke to a buddy a little after 3:30 in the morning, but according to the police, his phone was still using the Find My Friends app at 6:44 in the morning.
Catherine added: ‘The errors that have cast so much doubt in our mind about what was done, when it was done and whether it continues to be done has caused us untold damage.
‘We have to live with the fact that Jack’s not here, but to find that the people who could have been looking for him haven’t done it properly is just devastating.’
Jack was last seen on Saturday, March 2, starting his journey home following a night out with friends in Bristol’s Hotwells neighbourhood.
He had taken the bus from his town, Flax Bourton, to a Wetherspoons bar in the city at 8:20 p.m. on a typical Saturday night out, where he met up with pals.
At 10.45 pm, he texted his mother that they had moved on to a house party and safely arrived at the new location. ‘All good, keys are safe,’ he wrote.
Finally, at 1.52 in the morning, he texted her to let her know he was well.
Then, shortly before 3 am, Jack left the party alone, CCTV captured part of his journey through the city.
At 2.53 in the morning, he is seen crossing the Junction Swing Bridge. At 2.57 in the morning, he turns down Brunel Lock Road. At roughly 2.57 in the morning, he passes a parking lot close to McAdam Way. At 3.08 in the morning, he is seen walking across Plimsol Bridge. At 3.25 in the morning, he is seen walking up Bennett Way.
With the last formally verified sighting of Jack on CCTV being at 3.13 am, Avon and Somerset Police have stated that the final two sightings are “likely” to be of him.
He called a friend who was still at the party at 3.24 am. When the friend returned the call ten minutes later, Jack answered the phone and said ‘hello’ but nothing else. The call lasted for 58 seconds before being disconnected.
Catherine said the friend left the party soon after and added: ‘She tried and tried to get hold of him but couldn’t. She sent messages to him saying, ‘Please let me know where you are, please let me know you’re OK’ and ‘Please let me know when you get home’.
His family have now taken to walking his final route every day and at different times of the day just to try and experience what it might have been like for Jack, and any indication as to what could have happened.
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: ‘We’ve received a formal complaint from the family of missing 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan to our investigation into his disappearance, which remains ongoing.
‘The complaint has been recorded by our Professional Standards Department and will now be thoroughly assessed by a trained investigator. We’ll be updating his family as this assessment progresses.
‘Detectives have carried out an extensive investigation over the past 100 days since Jack went missing. He was last seen in the Cumberland Basin area of the city in the early hours of Saturday 2 March after leaving a house party in nearby Hotwells.
‘This investigation has included reviewing and re-reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage, carrying out expert-led searches by land and water involving multiple teams, including the dog unit, drone unit and specialist dive team, proactively seeking and acting on advice from national policing specialists, and issuing multiple appeals to the public and media for information.
‘Sadly, despite these efforts, we’ve been unable to find Jack to date. We fully recognise the distress and anguish this has had on Jack’s family and our thoughts remain very much with them. We’re determined to do all that we possibly can to find the answers they so desperately need.
‘We’ll continue to keep them updated on the investigation, as well as on the ongoing assessment being carried out by our Professional Standards Department.
‘We’d like to reiterate our appeal to anyone who was travelling in or walking around Cumberland Basin on Saturday 2 March, anytime between 2.30 am and 5.30 am, to contact us on 101 and give the reference number 5224055172.’
Jack has short brown hair, is Caucasian, is 5 feet 10 inches tall, and has a slender body. When last seen, he was sporting a beige woollen sweater, blue trousers, brown shoes with a white bottom and a quilted Barbour jacket in shades of green and brown.
These days, it is evident that the police force does not hire the best candidates for the position, and as a result of political ideology, all services are rapidly declining.
On the streets, I witness the most inexperienced police officers, both in terms of years of service and common sense, and the private sector is no better, and they think they’ve done well, even with taxpayer subsidies. This is the curse of inclusivity and diversity.
We should never give up hope, but this is a nightmare for any parent. It is terrible for this family that doesn’t feel supported, and it’s crucial to keep missing people in the press and other media outlets. Any knock on the door and every phone call is enough to make them tremble with terror.
When it comes to gathering CCTV footage, the police are blatantly indolent. The police wouldn’t have any interest in gathering information from CCTV footage, even if someone had been assaulted directly in front of one.
Although it is often believed that our police force is professional, this incident serves as a stark reminder that they are not. The days of doing door-to-door inquiries, etc., are long gone. These days, every inquiry is completed while seated at a desk. It is horrifying that the mother was the one who independently discovered important, missing evidence.
How has this not been a major story before now? This is somebody’s child. A young, healthy man with his whole future ahead of him. If this had been an attractive young woman from a certain type of family, it would have hit the headlines immediately, and as a mother, my heart breaks for these parents; they must be frantic.
Jack called a friend who was still at the party at 3.24 am. When the friend returned the call ten minutes later, Jack answered the phone and said ‘hello’ but nothing else. The call lasted for 58 seconds before being disconnected. Did the police not find this suspicious?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 