Jack O'Sullivan: Mystery donor offers £100k reward for info on missing student

A mystery donor has offered a £100,000 reward to help solve the disappearance of Jack O’Sullivan, the Bristol man who went missing last year.

Jack, now 24, disappeared on March 2 last year. There have been no sightings of him since the early hours of that morning. Despite multiple searches and a high profile campaign, including a Facebook group with almost 100,000 members, his family say they are “no closer” to finding him.

His mum Catherine O’Sullivan has now shared that an anonymous donor contacted the family to offer a substantial reward for any information on Jack’s whereabouts. The reward can be claimed by anyone who provides information that directly or indirectly leads to Jack being "physically reunited” with Catherine, Jack’s father, Alan, or his brother, Ben.

The new reward poster states: "All relevant information should be provided to any of the following: findjack23@gmail.com, or The Missing People Charity at 116000missingpeople.co.uk or by calling 116000, or the Police on 101 quoting reference 5224055172."

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Catherine, 53, said that at first, the family were unsure about the validity of the offer as they had been targeted by hoaxes since Jack’s disappearance. She said: "Once we established that it was real, we were overcome by the generosity... it was a lot to take in. If it does help us get some answers or find out where Jack is, we will be eternally grateful."

Jack’s mum said it is “totally unbelievable that so much time has gone past” since last March, adding: "We still have no idea what happened to him. We are still completely none the wiser. We get messages of hoaxes, ransoms, people telling me they have got him - but nothing has ever been proven.”

She said: "It would be unforgivable to even think about stopping. It wouldn't be fair to Jack until we know what happened or where he is. If I am not going to do it as his mum then no-one else will."

The family began fundraising for a reward last year, and the GoFundMe page has now exceeded £58,000. Last month, Catherine shared a post announcing it had almost been 18 months since she last saw her son. She wrote: “18 months of absolute hell and unimaginable pain without Jack in our lives.”

Jack went missing after leaving a party in Hotwells. He was last seen on CCTV at about 3:40am walking up the Bennett Way slip road heading back towards Hotwells. His phone was still active hours later, placing him at an address in the Granby Hill area at 5:40am.

Avon and Somerset Police said around 20 police departments had been involved in the search over the following weeks and months. A spokesperson added the force had "always taken an evidence-led, open-minded and transparent approach, with the shared aim of finding Jack".

They added: "So we can be certain we've done everything possible to find Jack, a senior investigator in Avon and Somerset Police is carrying out a further review of the investigation. We continue to ask the public to come forward with any information about Jack's disappearance."

At the time of his disappearance, Jack was wearing a green Barbour jacket, brown Ralph Lauren trainers, navy blue chinos, an Armani watch, and a cream knit jumper. He also had with him a black card holder, his driving licence, an Air Tag in a brown case, a Monzo debit card, his house key, a Peugeot 108 key, and a black iPhone 11 in a red case.

The family issued an appeal for dashcam footage from the night Jack went missing, stating there were more than 400 vehicles passing through the area at the time. The Find Jack website, set up to help the search, explains: “We urge any cars, lorries, vans, taxis or buses that might have dashcam footage to come forward. We also urge residents local to the area in which Jack was last seen to check household security cameras and doorbells for footage of Jack passing by.”

They confirmed that during the search for Jack, sniffer dogs were used on the water and a specialist private investigator firm was hired by the family.

In June 2024, Jack’s parents said they had lodged a formal complaint against the police over the handling of his disappearance, saying they had lost all faith in officers’ attempts to find him. They said mistakes were made early on in the search and pointed out that CCTV footage, placing him in a different location at a different time, was missed at first.

It was only found by Catherine when she was allowed to view some of the footage herself. She said at the time: "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.”

The family were also shocked to find out an admin error meant Jack had not been added to the Missing Person’s Register until he had been missing for more than two months.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: "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.”

They added: "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.”

You can view more information about Jack's disappearance here.