Reward offered as search for missing Jack O'Sullivan continues
Jack, from Bristol, has now been missing for more than 100 days
The family of a young Bristol man who has been missing for more than 100 days say they hope a £20,000 reward for information will finally help find him.
Jack O'Sullivan (23) disappeared after leaving a house party in the Hotwells area near the city's harbourside, in the early hours of Saturday 2nd March.
Avon and Somerset (AS) Police are working on the assumption he went in the water, but so far searches for him have yeilded nothing, which after this length of time in such a case, is highly unusual.
What do we know about Jack's last movements?
After leaving the party on Hotwell Road that night, Jack was first caught on CCTV trying to flag down a taxi outside, but already on a trip, it turned him down.
Following that we know he walks across the Junction Swing Bridge on Merchants Road and again tries to get a lift by the Chefs Table restaurant, but this time the car he flags is not a taxi.
He is then caught on CCTV again at 3:15am underneath the Plimsoll Swing Bridge near to the BW Cycling shop and for a long time that was the last confirmed sighting of him, the only other known information being that his phone continued receiving messages until 6:44am.
However, having been given access to CCTV footage in the area herself, in April Jack's mum Catherine spotted him twice more on camera that night, firstly walking across the Plimsoll Bridge back towards Hotwells a few minutes after 3:15am and then again at the Hotwells end of the bridge walking along Bennett Way, shortly after that.
Following the revelation that the police had access to that footage ever since Jack was declared missing but failed to spot it, plus other issues including that Jack was not added to a national missing persons register for several weeks, Jack's parents chose to issue a formal complaint to AS Police about how they have handled the case.
What is the situation now?
"We continue to seek any information to his whereabouts and what happened that evening," Catherine told Hits Radio.
"We have unfortunately had to go down a route of putting in a formal complaint against Avon and Somerset (Police), which was the last thing we wanted to do. Really and truly we just want to be concentrating on Jack and where he is and we just want to be supported in our efforts to find him and we feel that we weren't being supported sufficiently."
Hits Radio understands that from the beginning AS Police have been working on the assumption that, one way or another, Jack ended up in the water.
For that reason, the case has always and continues to be considered that of a missing person and not a criminal investigation. However extensive searches of the water have found nothing.
Jack's family are increasingly concerned that there may have been third party involvement in his disappearance.
"We were told pretty categorically on the first weekend that that was their main hypothesis (that he had gone in the water)," Cathine said.
"We're not foolish enough to suggest we know the answers, it's just we've been dealing with experts and we've just asked the police, if you provide us the evidence then we can accept something like that...we just need to base something on fact and there are no facts or there are no evidence that place Jack (in the water).
"We've suggested to the police other hypotheses and their answer is, well there's no evidence that backs this up, but then our response is, but there's no evidence that backs up that he's gone in the water either.
"So we're in a limbo state really."
The reward
In a new attempt to try and get some of that evidence, a reward of £20,000 is now being offered for information that leads directly to finding Jack.
The money comes from a GoFundMe page set up by a family friend.
Jack's dad Alan O'Sullivan said: "Anyone who has put money into the fund, if nothing comes of the appeal then that money can go back to the person who donated it, or they can make a donation to charity.
"The purpose of the reward is to find out if someone has got a piece of information that leads directly to the finding of Jack...
"Now we believe that somebody out there does know something about what happened to him that night and hopefully this might flush that out."
"It's not physically possible for someone not to have seen Jack that night," Catherine said.
"I have seen with my own eyes the number of vehicles that have gone past him and I know it's a long time ago, but somebody must have seen something."
In response to the family's complaint a spokesperson for AS Police said: "We’ve received a formal complaint from the family of missing 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan in relation 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 say they have reviewed and re-reviewed more than 100 hours of CCTV footage as well as carrying out searches on land and water, by drone, with dog units and a specialist dive team.
"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’d like to reiterate our appeal to anyone who was travelling in or walking around Cumberland Basin on Saturday 2 March, anytime between 2.30am and 5.30am, to contact us on 101 and give the reference number 5224055172."