Case of missing N.S. kids hits 2 months with no answers. What we know
Lilly and Jack Sullivan, aged six and four, were reported missing from their home in Pictou County on May 2. Multiple searches by police, search and rescue crews, and public volunteers have turned up no sign of the young children's whereabouts as the case hits the two-month mark.
Asked on Wednesday to provide an update on the case, Nova Scotia RCMP referred Global News to their latest news release, issued June 11, that said the investigation continues and 'may take longer than we all hoped.'
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Missing NS kids: Multiple agencies join the search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan
The provincial government has offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information that leads to the children being found. The disappearance has been added to the province's Major Unsolved Crimes Program, which the province says is a 'tool to help police in major unsolved crime cases.'
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The children's maternal grandmother told Global News last month that the family's focus is on finding Lilly and Jack, and that they hope the reward will help in the case.
Here's what we know so far.
What happened?
Lilly and Jack were reported missing on the morning of May 2 from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, which is about 30 kilometres from New Glasgow, N.S.
The children's stepfather, Daniel Martell, told Global News at the time that Lilly and Jack were home Friday morning with him, his partner and their baby. When they noticed the children were missing, he said the family immediately ran outside to look for them.
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RCMP said the siblings were believed to have 'wandered away.' They noted that there was no evidence of abduction, so it didn't qualify for an Amber Alert.
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For nearly a week, ground search and rescue crews, alongside police dogs, drones and aircraft, scoured the heavily wooded terrain surrounding Lansdowne Station through rainy and foggy conditions.
On May 7, RCMP said the search for the siblings was being 'scaled back,' with police saying there was little chance the siblings could have survived several days in the heavily wooded area.
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Missing N.S. children: RCMP narrow down timeline of disappearance
Renewed searches in May of nearby bodies of water, as well as through specific areas by ground and air crews, uncovered no new evidence. Another targeted search around the family home in early June also failed to find anything new.
On May 28, RCMP confirmed Lilly and Jack were seen in public with family members the day before being reported missing, based on video footage and eyewitness accounts.
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Police put out a call that day for dashcam footage or video along Gairloch Road between noon on April 28 and noon on May 2.
RCMP said on June 11 that they had collected hundreds of hours of video from that area and others surrounding Lansdowne Station since that public appeal. Nearly 500 tips from the public have also been received, assessed and followed up on.
The release said investigators have formally interviewed 54 people — some of them with polygraph tests — and have been granted 'numerous judicial authorizations to seize and examine materials and devices that may provide information useful to the investigation.'
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Many left wondering what's next after police call off search for missing N.S. kids
Cpl. Sandy Matharu of the Northeast Nova RCMP major crime unit, who is leading the investigation, said in the statement that the 'coordinated and deliberate approach' by investigators in reviewing all information means finding answers that 'advance the investigation … may take longer than we all hoped.'
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'All scenarios are being considered, and we've engaged every tool and resource at our disposal,' Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon, the acting officer in charge of the Nova Scotia RCMP's major crimes division, said in the June 11 statement.
What has the family said?
Since the early days of the investigation, Martell, the children's stepfather, has called for the search to be expanded to provincial borders, airports and other exit points, in case the children were abducted.
He told Global News he hasn't had contact with the children's mother since May 3, when she left the area.
'You don't have to trust my word, but I'm the only one doing media for Jack and Lilly — trying to keep this story alive and get them found,' he said in an interview during the first week of intense searches.
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When reached by phone, the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, said she had been advised by RCMP not to speak with the media further. Her mother, Cyndy Murray, also spoke to Global News at the time and said the family was hoping for a positive outcome.
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Missing N.S. kids spotted day before disappearance, stepfather says he's taken polygraph
Martell says he has taken a polygraph test, which he said he offered to undergo, as well as an hours-long interview with major crimes investigators.
'I do have results (of the polygraph) and I don't know if I can share those results, but they were good in my favour. I'll say that,' he told Global News in late May.
He has repeatedly insisted he was not involved in Lilly and Jack's disappearance, despite rampant online speculation.
Martell attended a public candlelight vigil outside the RCMP detachment in Stellarton, N.S., on June 3, marking one month since the children went missing.
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RCMP say anyone who may have information that may be helpful in the case can contact the Northeast Nova RCMP major crime unit or Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers.
— with files from Global's Rebecca Lau
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