Search continues for student who vanished after house party

Renewed appeals are being made to find a student who vanished six months ago after a night out.

Jack O’Sullivan, 23, was last seen in the area of Brunel Lock Road and Brunel Way in Bristol at around 3.15am on Saturday March 2 after leaving a house party.

His mother, Catherine O’Sullivan, told the BBC she goes out searching every day for her son, and that her aim in life is to find him.

“My day is planned around which direction I’m going to look next, until I run out of areas I can feasibly check,” she told the broadcaster.

“We basically climb fences, jump into ditches… it gives me the peace of mind that I know that area’s covered.

“I’m Jack’s mum, and my aim on this Earth at the moment is to find Jack.”

The family are unhappy with the way Avon and Somerset Police have handled the search, and have turned to private investigators to help find Mr O’Sullivan.

On Monday, the force made renewed appeals to mark six months since he vanished, calling on any witnesses or anyone with doorbell, dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from that night which might feature Mr O’Sullivan to come forward.

After 3.15am, there are two further sightings which are likely to be him – on the Plimsoll Bridge at around 3.25am heading back towards the city centre, and on the Bennett Way slip road on the northern side of the River Avon at around 3.38am.

He is white, around 5ft 10in and of slim build, with short brown hair, and that night he was wearing a quilted green or brown Barbour jacket, a beige woollen jumper, navy chinos and brown leather trainers with white soles.

Avon and Somerset Police said that since his disappearance investigators have looked at more than 100 hours of CCTV, and more than 200 hours of searches have been carried out on the river and its banks, along with 40 land searches.

More searches are due to be carried out as part of the ongoing investigation.

Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: “Our staff and officers remain committed to doing everything we can to find Jack and we do not under-estimate 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 advisers.

“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.”

– Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting the reference 5224055172, or by completing an appeals form on the force website.

Published: 02/09/2024 by Radio NewsHub