Jack O’Sullivan’s mum ‘convinced’ police are wrong and he isn’t in the water

‘Until I get some further information – for me, Jack is somewhere, and I just have to keep looking’

3 months ago

Catherine O’Sullivan, mother to missing Jack O’Sullivan, is convinced that her son is alive as she “hasn’t been shown any evidence” to suggest otherwise.

23-year-old student Jack has been missing for 6 months, last seen at 3.15am on Saturday, March 2nd around Brunel Lock Road/Brunel Way, in Bristol.

Catherine, 52, states her belief that the police have been focusing on the wrong areas, “fixated” on the theory that her son fell into the river on his way home the night of his disappearance. Whilst various items, such as football boots and a wedding ring, have been discovered by divers, there has not been evidence of Jack.

“If he had gone into the water, people with experience have told us: ‘You should have found him by now,’ or found something at least – some evidence he was in the water. However, there has been nothing.”

Credit: SNWS.

From CCTV footage, Catherine believes it is unlikely that Jack fell into the water: “You can see from the CCTV it is not possible he fell into the floating harbour. The footage is quite good. Beyond where he was seen there is a lock, but the harbour master has told us if he had fallen in there, they would have found something.”

“They don’t have anything, and police divers have been in on many occasions. They have found a wedding ring, glasses, football boots so it feels like they have worked through it in good detail – but they’ve found nothing that belongs to Jack.”

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Catherine believes the police’s focus on where Jack’s phone was last used has misled the search. “The police seem to have based all searching on looking where his phone was last used. It does not mean to say he was with his phone.”

“There is a huge suggestion he was not with his phone – and they have got to look everywhere.”

“We feel the police have not put any effort into anything that was not around their water theory. We firmly believe any opportunity to search should have been done.”

“Recently a carrier bag was found floating in the water, so a team was sent to check it out.”

“Anything on land seems to be a lot harder and has to be ‘put for consideration.'”

This has led to her total loss of confidence and trust in the police, amplified when it was realised that vital CCTV clues had been missed and not followed up by the police.

She has since enlisted the services of a specialist dog team and continued her search on her own, saying she spends every waking moment searching for Jack and has come up with her own ‘most likely theory’ of what she suspects happened.

“My theory, although I must stress there isn’t any firm evidence to substantiate, is that he got into a car, knowing or unknowingly. A taxi, or maybe a car he thought was a taxi, has taken him out of the immediate centre – and dropped him somewhere.”

“It is really hard for me – this is the only thing I do. Every minute of the day when I am awake, I am looking for Jack, trying to make sense of it all and keep the momentum going.”

“I am not prepared to accept Jack is not here until someone gives me evidence of where he is.”

“I know that might sound crazy, but the facts are not here. Where is he? Until I get some further information – for me Jack is somewhere, and I just have to keep looking.”

Credit: SNWS.

Reflecting on the early days of the investigation, Catherine explained how initially, they had full confidence in the police, but over time, that trust eroded: “At the very start we had no idea what we were dealing with or what to expect and were in the police’s hands. We would hang on to every word they told us and listened to every bit of information.

“We had no reason to doubt or mistrust anything. It was only as we were progressing and kept asking questions – it started to dawn on us this does not make sense.”

This change began when she personally reviewed CCTV footage and found a key clip that had been overlooked: “I wanted to see CCTV footage and was given some to review myself at home. I found Jack walking along the top of a bridge that had been completely missed by the police.”

“Everything changed from that point onwards. The police seemed to close ranks and communication changed.”

“For us, the fact it was missed was a huge mistake and so detrimental. It was over three months, and the search lost such vital signs and opportunities to secure more CCTV.

“It was then I started to doubt what I had been told. I hoped raising it would see police increase efforts, but it had the opposite effect. Things moved to email correspondence only and it really felt like they were closing ranks.”

As a result of her experience with the police in this investigation, Catherine has made a formal complaint to the IPCC, which remains ongoing. “We wanted help but that was not what we got when we needed it most.”

Despite her frustrations, Catherine describes that the support from the community has been ‘overwhelming’. This is despite the occasional trolls in this investigation, one of which she has since reported to police for demanding money in exchange for information.

“The support has been unbelievable – people are contacting me personally and on the Facebook group daily.

“It is overwhelming how generous people can be and that is so supportive. People have been offering to put together huge search teams.”

“It is hard to get the balance doing things safely – we are not trying to aggravate the police. But we also really need to do our searches and do anything we can get the message out.”

Catherine fears that Jack could be far from Bristol now. “I felt really strongly we should spread the message further than just Bristol.

“We lost so much time, and he could easily be further afield.”

The family has already used specialist dog teams in their search efforts, and more searches are planned. They are also focused on retracing Jack’s last known steps, including revisiting an area of interest along the A370, six miles from their home.

She stated: “We are in the hands of the search team when they can come next.

“We are also still trying to pursue phone data so we can see ourselves. After the mess with the CCTV, we cannot leave anything to chance and want to make sure everything is looked at properly.”

“We are having to get a court order to get our hands on it and it is taking a while.”

“We will just keep going and look into every possible sighting. We know police aren’t taking a lot of them seriously, so we have to follow up ourselves.”

“If there is anything significant our first port is to ring the police, but we just don’t feel assured they would respond the way we want them to.”

“I hope they are still taking it with the seriousness it deserves but we have doubts.”

Avon and Somerset Police have involved over 20 teams and departments in the investigation, reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV, conducting 200 hours of riverbank searches, deploying mounted police and drones, and completing 40 land searches.

Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “Our staff and officers remain committed to doing everything we can to find Jack and we do not underestimate what a distressing time this has been, and continues to be, for his family.

“Throughout our investigation, we’ve been open-minded about what happened to Jack, considering different possible outcomes and scenarios following his last sighting.”

“We have sought reviews from independent agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and experts such as oceanographers and independent Police Search Advisors.”

She continued to say: “Sadly, despite the efforts carried out to date, we have been unable to find Jack and we fully appreciate the anguish this is having on his family and our thoughts remain with them during this hugely difficult time.”

The force stated that a dedicated officer is in regular contact with the family, but added: “In investigations of this nature, there tends to be periods which are more dynamic and fast-paced and others which are longer-running.”

A spokesperson added: “Where the investigation has progressed and activity becomes more prolonged, or there are fewer updates to give, the communication flow will not be to the same extent. However, whenever there are any significant updates, we will always make direct contact with them.”

The family requested Jack’s phone data, which has been met with legality issues, and ACC Joanne Hall responded: “We have taken time to carefully consider the data request to see if there was any way we could agree to it in order for Jack’s family to get the answers they deserve following his disappearance.”

“However, on this occasion, we are restricted by law and have been unable to identify a clear legal basis which would allow for the disclosure to take place.”