"It's as if he's been abducted by an alien": One year on from disappearance of Bristol's Jack O'Sullivan
In 12 months not a single clue has been found to suggest what happened to the 23-year-old
Last updated 3rd Mar 2025
The mother of young Bristol man Jack O'Sullivan, who seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth exactly one year ago, says searching for him remains her full time job.
No sightings of Jack (23) have been reported since he left a house party in the Hotwells area in the early hours of Saturday 2nd March, 2024. That is despite an extensive investigation by Avon and Somerset (AS) Police, which officers say has also involved the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Coastguard and National Police Air Service.
To mark one year since his disappearance Greatest Hits Radio has been speaking to Jack's mum, Catherine O'Sullivan.
"There's just no sense to it"
"We're surviving," Catherine said.
"Every day is a battle, a struggle and it gets harder. It's not got any easier at all.
"We try to have, I don't know if you'd call it a normal existence, but we have an existence...
"My job is looking for Jack and that has never changed."
The last likely sighting of Jack was at 3.38am walking along Bennett Way slip road on the Cumberland Basin, heading in the direction of Bristol city centre.
He had earlier been spotted on CCTV walking around the Cumberland Basin and below the Plimsoll Swing Bridge.
Later on the 2nd March last year Bristol City hosted Cardiff City at Ashton Gate and it snowed; points the police are using to try and jog people's memories of what they might've seen.
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 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."
Since Jack disappeared AS Police have always considered it a missing persons case and have stated repeatedly that there is no evidence of third party involvement. Catherine however, is also asking people to consider if they have seen or heard anything suspicious in the months since Jack vanished.
Not a single piece of evidence has been found pointing in any direction.
"There's just no sense to it," Catherine said.
"There really is nothing. There is no evidence to suggest Jack's not here anymore, so for us we have to keep looking for him...
"I'm not writing anything off as a possibility. I think I've possibly said before in interviews, it's almost as if he's been abducted by an alien.
"One minute he's there, the next minute he's not. And nobody can tell us why or what's happened."
Police divers have searched the River Avon from Avonmouth to Conham River Park with no success, while land searches have been conducted by police mounted sections, dog units and by drone.
“We have kept an open mind throughout this investigation and regularly review our various hypothesis around Jack’s disappearance," ACC Hall said.
“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.”
Jack's family are asking anyone with information to contact them via the website findjackosullivan.co.uk.
You can also provide information to the police by calling 101 and quoting the reference number 5224055172.
A £20,000 reward is on offer for any information which leads to Jack.