RCMP investigating tips from public on missing Nova Scotia children

Globe and Mail

13-05-2025

Nova Scotia RCMP say they're working around the clock with specialized major crime and forensic investigators to find out what happened to Lilly and Jack Sullivan, and are asking the public to contact them with any tips about the two young children who were reported missing in a rural hamlet of Pictou County a week and a half ago.
So far, police say they have received and are following up on more than 180 tips from the public, interviewed 35 people, including community members and those closest to the six- and four-year-old children, and scoured lakes and waterways with RCMP dive teams late last week.
'We're exploring all avenues in this missing persons investigation,' said Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon of the Pictou County District RCMP in a news release Tuesday afternoon. 'We have officers from multiple disciplines dedicated to finding Lilly and Jack, including highly trained RCMP major crime and forensic investigators.'
Local RCMP are being assisted by the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, a branch of the Mounties that investigates homicides, suspicious deaths and missing persons cases where foul play is suspected. At a recent news conference, RCMP would not confirm whether they believe the children are victims of foul play, but they did say it's unlikely the children are still alive due to their age, weather and length of time they've been missing.
'We continue to work day and night on this file,' said Staff Sgt. MacKinnon in the news release. 'Like all Nova Scotians, we want answers, and we want to know what happened to these children.'
On May 2, at approximately 10 a.m., RCMP received a report that Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, were missing. They were believed to have wandered away from their home in the rural community of Lansdowne, which has no cellular service.
For six days, police and hundreds of search and rescue volunteers assisted by helicopters, drones and tracking dogs combed 5.5 square kilometres of dense forest, steep terrain and swamps that surround the trailer from where the children went missing. No trace of the kids has been found.
Daniel Martell, who says he's the children's stepfather, and their mother Malehya Brooks-Murray have told the media that they were asleep in the bedroom with their 16-month-old daughter Meadow when Lilly and Jack slipped out of the home without their knowledge. They believe the two put on their boots, slid open the back sliding door, and escaped from the fenced backyard.
When the children were reported missing, RCMP issued a vulnerable missing persons alert in Pictou County. The following day, RCMP sent out a broadcast intrusive alert to cellphones advising people in Antigonish, Colchester and Pictou counties of the missing children and the Mounties' major crimes unit became involved.
Police have defended their decision not to issue an Amber Alert for abducted children because they say abduction appears unlikely and the case does not meet the necessary criteria.