Story of missing Bristol man "gone global" says family
22-year-old Jack O'Sullivan has not been seen since the early hours of Saturday 2 March
Last updated 19th Mar 2024
The family of a young man missing in Bristol say his story is going around the world.
Jack O'Sullivan, who is 22, has not been seen since the early hours of Saturday 2 March on the city's harbourside, where he had been at a house party.
He was caught on CCTV trying unsuccessfully to flag down cars near the Cumberland Basin, before being caught on camera for the final time at 3:15am underneath the flyover, near Noah's fish restaurant.
However, he is known to have both received and made a phone call around 20 minutes after that, while his phone was still receiving messages and connecting to the mobile network as late as 6:44am.
"It's a living hell," Catherine O'Sullivan, Jack's mum, said.
"We are in hell because Jack's not here and there's a part of me that is always going to be in that place, but the not knowing and the not having any definitive (answer) here, is making that situation so much worse, if that's possible."
Jack has now been missing for 17 days, with Avon and Somerset Police having had no further confirmed sightings of him to date.
It is now confirmed that further CCTV footage of a person by the River Avon on Hotwell Road at around 5:40am that morning, is not Jack.
Meanwhile searches of the water and surrounding area have so far discovered nothing.
"It feels at the moment that there really is a blank being drawn," Catherine said.
"To just have any phone information, even if somebody has come across a phone or something has appeared, and they may not have anything to do with Jack not being here, but if that phone could come to light in some way, that would possibly tie up a link there."
Jack's phone is a dark grey iPhone 11, with some cracks around the edges.
The ringer switch on the side does not work and Jack kept it inside a red silicon case.
A plea for witnesses
If you passed through the Cumberland Basin area around the time Jack was last seen or even several hours afterwards, it is urged you get in touch with police.
"I wonder if there were people travelling out maybe to somewhere like Bristol Airport to catch an early morning flight," Catherine said.
"Or possibly people making deliveries to work, early morning drop offs and things like that, or just somebody out with a dog who was up and about.
"My husband and I were down at that point of where our last phone ping was ourselves at five past six in the morning, because I knew that something was very, very wrong...
"I was aware of movement at that time, of vehicles.
"It wasn't completely quiet."
The reaction
Catherine says the family have been "totally overwhelmed" by the support they have received from friends but also total strangers, since Jack was declared missing.
"People have contacted us from all over the world because we've tried to get the story out there," she said.
"I think it's just gone global.
"We are so lucky in terms of the support that we have got around us from our friends."
If you know anything about what has happened to Jack, it is asked you call Avon and Somerset Police on 999 and quote the reference number 5224055172.