The search team looking for missing Jack O’Sullivan is pleading for Strava users to check their maps in a desperate effort to solve the mystery.
Some believe that users of the exercise-logging app could reveal witnesses or other important information in the case of the missing 23-year-old who vanished after a night out.
Jack, 23, was last seen at 3.15am on Saturday March 2 in the area of Brunel Lock Road/Brunel Way, in Bristol.
Described as white, around 5ft 10ins tall, of slim build, with short, brown hair, Jack was on a night out with his friends when he went missing.
Hundreds of taxi drivers have been interviewed and thousands of hours of CCTV reviewed but Jack’s disappearance remains a mystery half a year on.
Jack O’Sullivan, 23, was last seen at 3.15am on Saturday March 2 in Bristol
The search team looking for missing Jack O’Sullivan is pleading for Strava users to check their maps in a desperate effort to solve the mystery
Now an appeal has been posted on the ‘FIND JACK’ Facebook page – with more than 60k members – for Strava users to check their accounts.
A web user who made the post is urging users of the physical activity tracking app to activate Strava Flyby which shows a map of your activity route.
Strava Flyby also reveals when other Strava users crossed the same path or were nearby and they believe it could reveal witnesses or other important information.
Those searching for Jack are hopeful the chain of ‘flybys’ could reveal more people who were in the Brunel Lock and Brunel Way area the night or morning he disappeared.
The social media user wrote: ‘By following this chain of flybys, searchers could potentially find a wider network of people who were in the general area that night/morning.
‘Each of these individuals might have a small piece of information that, when put together, could help build a clearer picture of what happened.
‘As well as exact times, routes, etc. people often post photos onto their Strava activities.
Jack O’Sullivan (centre) is pictured graduating with his parents Catherine (front) and Alan (right) and brother Ben (left)
‘It could cast a wider net and might help uncover details that wouldn’t otherwise be found.’
Jack was wearing a quilted green/brown Barbour jacket, a beige woollen jumper, navy chinos and brown leather trainers with white soles when he vanished in March.
His family previously made a formal complaint about a police force’s attempts to find him and said they had ‘lost all faith’ in Avon and Somerset Police’s investigation.
They say that errors were made in early searches and crucial CCTV footage was initially missed.
A GoFundMe fundraising page was set up by family friend with the aim of raising money to generate new leads earlier this month.
They want to offer £20k to ‘regnite the search efforts’ and said if unclaimed the money would go to charity Missing People.
Jack’s mother, Catherine, has taken matters into her own hands and goes out every single day to search Bristol with the help of kind volunteers.
A missing poster in Bristol of Jack O’Sullivan, 23, who vanished in March
Mrs O’Sullivan, 52, told Sky: ‘Initially we were in the hands of the police and just were very accepting that everything we were told was being done was actually being done.It’s just that as time’s gone on, we realise that things have been missed and not done as thoroughly as we thought they were.’
Those on the Facebook group slammed amateur sleuths who have been spamming the page.
A post read: ‘Can I just say that speculation in this group isn’t helping anybody, let alone Jack’s loved ones.
‘This group is to try and help find Jack, not play detective. They already have one of those. Yes we already know the police have been shocking but it’s happened and we are where we are.
‘Stop with ‘I think this happened’ posts and just think how you would feel if you were the parent reading these comments on a regular basis.
‘I know many people think it’s helping but it really isn’t. This is stressful enough for family and friends without certain people making it worse.’
An admin replied to thank the user and said: ‘The last week has been challenging.’
Another person added: ‘The trend in recent years playing at armchair detectives in missing people cases like it’s a game, with no thought to the real people involved is disgraceful.’
An admin posted on the group warning of fake GoFundMe pages.
‘Please please please do not part with any money – this one says the deadline is 22nd Sept – which is total rubbish.
Volunteers pictured searching for Jack in Cumberland Basin, Bristol
‘There is an official GoFundMe but we aren’t pushing it at the moment, people have been incredibly generous and we think we have enough for what we need to pay for right now.’
The family have also received appalling messages saying Jack ‘is being held and asking for ransom amounts for him’ as trolls try to cash in.
His mother added she has ‘lost all faith’ in Avon and Somerset Police’s investigation into Jack’s disappearance and goes out to search ‘daily’ – even hiring a private investigator.
She told the BBC: ‘I have had messages suggesting that Jack is being held and asking for ransom amounts for him.
‘People telling me that awful things have happened to him and where I might find him.
‘But what would anybody do in my situation? I have to read them, as bad as I know it is, putting myself through hell at times, but I can’t ignore anything.’
Volunteers gather at Cumberland Basin, Bristol, where missing Jack was last seen
She posted on Facebook: ‘I have been contacted by mediums telling me Jack has been held hostage, murdered and giving me locations all over Bristol to go and look for him. I have had requests for payment so he can be released!
‘We have shared this type of information with the police but not had any response. They just ignore us!’
The amateur sleuths, fake GoFundMe pages and trolls distressing the family is disturbingly reminiscent of the behaviour of the public during Jay Slater’s disappearance in Tenerife.
While many people sent love and support, others posted conspiracy theories and threatened his friends and family.
Mrs O’Sullivan previously spoke out about the missing teenager to say it ‘brought everything back’ and said she sympathised with Jay’s mother.
It comes as questions grow over Jack’s Apple AirTag data. ‘I said to the police, Jack’s keys have got an AirTag. And I really thought that was going to be a really positive location finder,’ Mrs O’Sullivan told MailOnline.
Jack’s family are hoping more answers could lie in the phone and AirTag data. They say they don’t believe Avon and Somerset Police have fully analysed it because of being consistently ‘let down’ by the investigating force.
The family were initially told by police that Apple privacy laws would not allow them to pursue any of the AirTag data.