Jack O’Sullivan: Parents say every day without missing son is like ‘hell’

• By Emma Elgee & Laura Jones
• BBC News, Bristol

The parents of missing student Jack O’Sullivan say they are living in “hell on earth” without him.

Catherine and Alan O’Sullivan’s 23-year-old son has not been seen or heard from by his family since he went to a house party in Bristol on 2 March.

Mrs O’Sullivan said: “I want the world to try and give me an answer to where Jack is. It’s horrific.”

The family is urging everyone in the Hotwells area on that date to come forward with information.

Mrs O’Sullivan said it was very out of character for Jack to go missing suddenly and that his 23rd birthday on 28 March was “horrific” without him.

“Jack’s birthday was hell on earth and this last few days it’s getting harder because the answers are just not coming,” she said.

She said when she realized Jack had not come home after the house party, she knew “instantly” something had happened.

“Jack had been out, he had messaged me, everything seemed fine we weren’t expecting him to be that late but when we awoke at 5.25am I instantly knew there was a problem because it was so unlike Jack.

“We could only go by phone messages that we were getting on my phone from a family group chat and it was giving me a location in Hotwells as to where Jack was.

“So we go there and really nothing came to light, and here we are nearly 30 days after that moment with no further information or sighting.”

She said they were “at a loss” as to what could have happened to him for three and a half hours between when he left the party and his last phone signal.

“There is not a lot of sense to it,” she said.

The family has been out many times in the night searching for him and retracing his last known steps.

“It just doesn’t add up. We were very shocked to see how well lit the area was in the middle of the night.

“I was expecting it to be really dark and then to think well someone could trip but it’s lit up like in the middle of the day,” Mrs O’Sullivan said.

Det Insp Jason Chidgey said Avon and Somerset Police is still trying to establish Jack’s movements following the last sighting of him on CCTV.

Specialist officers have carried out “a significant number of searches” in the area with support from the dive team, drones and dogs.

“Public awareness is key to this case,” Det Insp Chidgey said.

“We’re trying to establish what happened and exactly where Jack might be to try and answer some of those questions that the family have.

“They’re going through a very difficult time and they’re suffering quite a lot.”

Police have appealed for anyone who was driving in the Cumberland Basin area, or who may have dashcam footage, to make contact.

Jack O’Sullivan is described as white, about 5ft 10ins (1.7m), of slim build, with short brown hair.

He was wearing a quilted green/brown Barbour jacket over a beige woolen jumper, with navy chinos and brown leather trainers with white soles.