The grieving mother of a young man brutally assaulted and abandoned in a car park has described his killing as “a mother’s worst nightmare.”
Zoe Ann Sullivan’s son, Jack, was abducted in Waltham Abbey, Essex, on June 22 before being discovered unconscious and badly injured in a car park in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
Ms Sullivan said she was not permitted to see Jack before he was flown by air ambulance to hospital, where doctors performed emergency brain surgery and removed part of his skull during a four-hour operation.
Tragically, the 21-year-old never recovered and died in a coma four days later, at 5.15am on June 27.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ms Sullivan said the loss of her son still feels “unbelievable” and that the reality of Jack’s death has not yet fully sunk in.
“I’m in shock at the moment,” the 41-year-old said. “I haven’t even buried him yet.”
She also spoke of the heartbreak of knowing she never got the chance to speak to Jack again after the violent attack that left him fighting for his life.
“When he was found he was unresponsive. I wasn’t allowed to see him when he was in the helicopter,” she said. “They took him for a scan and he had a brain bleed.”
Police believe someone will either be wearing murder victim Jack Sullivan’s £1,000 Louis Vuitton trainers or trying to sell them
Mr Sullivan is believed to have been kidnapped from Waltham Abbey, Essex, on June 22 and driven away in this black Mitsubishi
‘I didn’t see him until after a four hour operation. They removed part of his skull. He never came out of the coma and we donated his organs.’
The mother said Essex Police have not told her any additional information about her son’s death because ‘the people that have murdered my son are still at large.’
She continued: ‘It’s very difficult. He died from a brain injury but he had no physical cuts on his head so as a mother you think, what happened to him.’
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But detectives believe a pair of Louis Vuitton trainers Jack was wearing at the time the kidnap could hold the key to his murder.
They are now seeking the public’s help to find Mr Sullivan’s missing blue shoes as they believe someone will either be wearing the shoes or trying to sell them.
Police have also released a photograph of a black Mitsubishi used in the kidnap which has been recovered in the hope that people will come forward to help in the investigation.
So far, three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and have been released on conditional bail.
Ms Sullivan said that she does not know who her son was involved with because ‘he is a grown man’.
Police believe the black Mitsubishi Outlander bearing the registration HY16 FZR was used in the kidnap of Mr Sullivan – although this is not the vehicle’s true registration plate
‘Obviously I do want to know but I’m never going to know exactly what happened. They’ll [the police] never fit all the pieces together.’
On Saturday, Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood, who is leading the investigation into Mr Sullivan’s murder, said: ‘We believe Jack was taken and carried in a black Mitsubishi Outlander that was bearing the registration HY16 FZR – although this is not the vehicle’s true registration plate.
‘We know the vehicle was stolen from an address in Loughton on June 3, and we are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen this vehicle between June 3 to 23, when we know it was abandoned in River Close, close to Fishers Close, in Waltham Cross.
‘We are equally keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the vehicle abandoned on this day.
‘We are also asking for help to find Jack’s Louis Vuitton blue trainers, which have not been recovered.
‘The trainers are worth in the region of £1,000 and we believe someone will either be wearing them – perhaps with no knowledge of their prior owner – or attempting to sell them.’
Mr Wood added: ‘At the heart of this investigation is Jack and his loved ones. We are determined to provide answers for them, and I would again encourage anyone with information on the Mitsubishi Outlander or the blue Louis Vuitton trainers to please come forward.’
Anyone with information is asked to provide it on Essex Police’s dedicated public portal.
