Crimewatch Live appeal to find missing Jack O’Sullivan, 23
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We’ve made a new appeal for information on BBC One’s Crimewatch Live today (Monday 7 October) as part of our ongoing investigation into missing 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan.
DI Jason Chidgey appeared on the programme to make a renewed public appeal to help us with the search for Jack, who was last seen in the Hotwells area of Bristol in the early hours of Saturday 2 March.
Jack, from North Somerset, had been making his way home following a night out with friends when he went missing. The last likely sighting of Jack was at 3.38am walking along Bennett Way slip road on the Cumberland Basin network.
DI Chidgey said on the show: “Jack had attended a house party on 2 March after leaving his home address on the 1 March to meet with friends. We know he left the address and tried to get a taxi. We are sure he was minded to make his way home.”
DI Chidgey explained how Jack had been seen walking along Brunel Lock Road before walking onto a green space below Brunel Way. There were two sightings, which are both likely to be Jack, on the Plimsoll Bridge and then on Bennett Way.
He added: “It was a particularly cold night after a mild week in Bristol, and it snowed. It would have been very cold, icy and there was snow on the ground. Bristol City played Cardiff that afternoon (in football), the day Jack was last seen. We are hoping that those two events might trigger something for somebody to come forward and provide us with more information.
“The family have shown tremendous resilience over the past seven months since Jack went missing.
“We have utilised an awful lot of units inside of our organisation to give them the answers they so desperately need and we are hoping someone can come forward with some new information.”
Since Jack’s disappearance, more than 20 different Avon and Somerset teams and departments have been involved in the investigation.
They have additionally been supported by other agencies and emergency services, such as the fire and ambulance service, National Police Air Service (NPAS), RNLI, HM Coastguard and independent search and digital experts.
Since the start of the investigation there has been:
- More than 100 hours of CCTV collated and reviewed multiple times by different officers
- More than 200 hours of searches on the river and the surrounding banks by the police dive team
- Mounted police searches from Bristol City Centre to Flax Bourton, including the Ashton Court estate and Long Ashton.
- More than 40 land searches
- Our drone unit has been deployed 16 times during the searches carried out to date.
- More than 120 calls from the public with possible sightings
We’ve also sought reviews from independent agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and experts such as oceanographers and independent Police Search Advisors, but sadly, despite the efforts carried out to date, we’ve been unable to find Jack.
If you missed the appeal on Crimewatch Live, you can watch it on catch-up via the BBC iPlayer through this link.
You may have been driving into or out of Bristol city centre in a taxi, a personal car or a bus, or you could have been on foot and walking in a similar area to Jack in the early hours of Saturday 2 March. If you haven’t yet spoken to police and have information, we want to hear from you.
If you have any doorbell, dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from that night which could have Jack in it, please contact us as well.
If you have any information, please call 101 and quote reference 5224055172, or complete our online appeals form.
For some answers to frequently asked questions about our investigation into Jack’s disappearance, please click on this link which will take you to the appeal we issued to mark the six-month anniversary of his disappearance.