Missing Jack O'Sullivan's distraught mum says cruel troll 'blackmailing' family

Missing Jack O'Sullivan's family have described the pain of being tormented with sick 'blackmail' from an online troll six months after he went missing.

The 23-year-old vanished without trace after being last seen at 3.15am on Saturday March 2 in the area of Brunel Lock Road/Brunel Way, in Bristol. His mum Catherine said that while the scale of the support she has had from the public is overwhelming, she is still being targeted by a troll who is 'blackmailing' her and demanding a ransom for information. She has reported the individual to police but says she received another message from him as recently as Wednesday morning.

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She said: "I have forwarded the details to the police. I don't believe what they are say but he is demanding money for answers. That is blackmail and extortion. It seriously needs looking at. Not that they know anything but what they are doing is so bad. He told me today he was not happy I had gone to the police. So they must have contacted him but he still feels the need to contact me again. I've blocked his phone number but he is sending me stuff via Facebook again. I am half leaving open the lines of communication to gather evidence against him."

Catherine also claims she has been forced to take matters into her own hands as she believes the police have not done enough to hunt for her son. She said the family had enlisted the services of a specialist dog team who are retracing the areas from where he was last seen to the four miles back to the family home.

The mum said a report had recently been filed after three dogs all got 'agitated' at one location on the A370 bypass, but claims she had to wait a week for Avon and Somerset Police to 'consider' the report until they finally said they would follow up. "It is one route home that Jack potentially could have tried to walk. My suggestion on the first day was police go and search that area - but they were just convinced he did not get that far", she said.

Avon and Somerset Police say that since Jack's disappearance, more than 20 different teams and departments have been involved in the investigation. They have been supported by other agencies and emergency services, such as the fire and ambulance service, National Police Air Service, and RNLI.

A spokesperson said more than 100 hours of CCTV have been reviewed, 200 hours of searches on the river and the surrounding banks, mounted police searches from Bristol city centre to Flax Bourton, 40 land searches, and 16 drone deployments. The force says it has received almost 100 calls from the public with possible sightings, and eight media appeals have been issued.

Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall added: "Our staff and officers remain committed to doing everything we can to find Jack and we do not underestimate what a distressing time this has been, and continues to be, for his family. When I look at missing persons investigations [in Avon and Somerset] over the last year, we've had around 5 and a half thousand. Missing people are somebody's loved ones, they're somebody's family, and we don't close the door on that."