Fresh hope for missing Jack O'Sullivan's family as EE get in touch

The family of missing student Jack O'Sullivan have been contacted by mobile phone company EE, igniting fresh hopes they can finally get access to his phone records.

Catherine O'Sullivan, whose 23-year-old son vanished after a house party in Hotwells, Bristol, on March 2, has faced a long battle to get her son's phone records released as she believes it could help unlock the mystery of his disappearance.

Having been forced to trawl through CCTV herself, to being denied access to crucial phone and Apple AirTag data, Ms O'Sullivan has become increasingly frustrated by the investigation carried out by Avon and Somerset Police. 

The 52-year-old previously said the family have had to take legal action to gain access to the data that includes where the phone was last tracked.

The Find Jack account posted on X, formerly Twitter, this week that EE also won't give up the phone data citing legal grounds.

But the family say that the phone giant has now been in touch and hoped a breakthrough could be reached soon.

They posted: 'EE have been in touch with Jack's family this afternoon. We are confident that EE are treating this with both the respect and urgency that we need and while we don't have an outcome yet, they are doing all the right things.'

Jack's phone account belongs to Catherine although she has been unable to access the information.

The Find Jack account added: 'He rang and spoke to his mum so he left the party with his phone.

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'There will be laws in place that will dis/allow Jack's mum to have the information (it's her account), the problem is they're not sharing it and not saying why so that the legal team can challenge that decision.'

Avon and Somerset Police said it rejected the family's original approach in August, citing the Home Office Communications Data Code of Practice and General Data Protection Regulation.

Officers also said the information had not taken the investigation any further to be able to locate Jack.

But Catherine, of Flax Bourton, Somerset, said she wanted to review the data as she had concerns the police might have missed something.

She previously said she had lost trust in the police when they realised vital CCTV clues had been missed and not followed up.

She added: 'I wanted to see CCTV footage and was given some to review myself at home. I found Jack walking along the top of a bridge that had been completely missed by the police.

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'For us the fact it was missed was a huge mistake and so detrimental. It was over three months and the search lost such vital signs and opportunities to secure more CCTV.

'It was then I started to doubt what I had been told.

'We are also still trying to pursue phone data so we can see ourselves. After the mess with the CCTV we can not leave anything to chance and want to make sure everything is looked at properly.

'We are having to get a court order to get our hands on it and it is taking a while.

'We will just keep going and look into every possible sighting. We know police aren't taking a lot of them seriously so we have to follow up ourselves..'

An EE spokesperson said: 'We're aware of Jack's case. This is a police matter so we currently can't comment any further at this time.'

Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: 'We have taken time to carefully consider the data request to see if there was any way we could agree to it in order for Jack's family to get the answers they deserve following his disappearance.

'However, on this occasion, we are restricted by law and have been unable to identify a clear legal basis which would allow for the disclosure to take place.'