The heartbroken mother of a missing student realised that crucial CCTV evidence in the disappearance of her son had been missed by the police, after she was finally allowed to watch the footage herself.
The family of 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan have said that they have lost all faith in Avon and Somerset Police finding their son, and have lodged a formal complaint.
Catherine and Alan O’Sullivan’s distress has been made worse after they were informed that the force had failed to add the Bristol student to the national missing persons register, which is operated by the charity Missing People, due to an administrative error, despite his being missing for more than two months.
“I wouldn’t want anyone on earth to be faced with what we’ve dealt with in the last 100 days, because it is horrific,” Mrs O’Sullivan told BBC News.
“We have to live with the fact that Jack’s not here, but to find that the people who could have been looking for him haven’t done it properly is just devastating”
At the time of his disappearance, Jack had graduated from Exeter University and had returned to his home in Bristol to continue his studies. He had been living with his parents and had travelled to a house party with friends from his course, and left in the early hours of the morning.
However, mobile data shows that his phone was in use for hours after he was last seen on CCTV, with the family repeatedly appealing for the police to investigate.
Jack’s brother Ben said: “We’ve been told for weeks and weeks that there is the possibility of the National Crime Agency helping and providing their resources, but despite asking...there still has been no progress.
“I’ve been trying my best to help -– but I’m the first to admit, I’m not a tech expert. And you would hope that Avon & Somerset would have the resources for me not to be involved.”
The family has said that mistakes occurred early in the search for Jack, with CCTV footage that placed him in a different location overlooked by investigating officers.
The error was only discovered by Mrs O’Sullivan after she was eventually allowed to view the footage herself. “To have footage of my son in their possession the day after he was missing and for someone not to see that is just ludicrous,” she said.
“And we have to live with that...thinking what would have possibly been different here if on that second day, the whole world knew that he was there – and we could have appealed to people.”
Family members are now walking his final route every day and at different times of the day, in an attempt to discover what might have happened to him.
She added: “The errors that have cast so much doubt in our mind about what was done, when it was done and whether it continues to be done has caused us untold damage.”
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that it had received a formal complaint and that this would be investigated by its professional standards department.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Detectives have carried out an extensive investigation over the past 100 days since Jack went missing. He was last seen in the Cumberland Basin area of the city in the early hours of Saturday 2 March after leaving a house party in nearby Hotwells.
“This investigation has included reviewing and re-reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage, carrying out expert-led searches by land and water involving multiple teams, including the dog unit, drone unit and specialist dive team, proactively seeking and acting on advice from national policing specialists, and issuing multiple appeals to the public and media for information.
“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’ll continue to keep them updated on the investigation, as well as on the ongoing assessment being carried out by our Professional Standards Department.”
