Canadian police scale back search for two children missing in woods for six days
Since Friday, more than 160 searchers with drones and canine units have scoured the thickly forested region of Pictou county in search of Lily Sullivan, six, and Jack Sullivan, four.
The siblings were reported missing on 2 May, when police received a frantic phone call from the family.
Their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, and stepfather, Daniel Martell, have told local media they were sleeping with their 16-month-old baby on Friday morning as the older children played in the house. But when they awoke later in the morning, the two children were gone.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) proceeded under the belief the children, members of the Mi'kmaq First Nation community of Sipekne'katik, wandered off from their home and probably entered a heavily forested area.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Staff Sgt Curtis MacKinnon said that dozens of searchers were being ordered to stand down and confirmed that the RCMP's major crime unit had been involved in the investigation since 3 May.
MacKinnon said all missing persons files 'are treated as suspicious until our investigation leads us to determine otherwise'.
He said teams were left with fewer areas to search after after combing through kilometres of unforgiving terrain. 'We're not packing up and we're not giving up.'
The disappearance of the children has shaken both the province and the country. And despite a boot print that pushed search teams in one direction, police said there is very little evidence suggesting the children are in the forest.
'I want to assure you that our missing persons investigation continues,' MacKinnon said.
'Many of us have children of our own and want nothing more than to reunite Lily and Jack with their loved ones.'
Sgt Robert McCamon said that hopes have dimmed, given the poor weather and length of time the children have been missing.
'The likelihood they're alive right now is very low,' he said.
The Globe and Mail reported that Martell was interviewed by police for four hours, as they requested he walk them through both the day of the children's disappearance and the days leading up to the incident.
He also told police the children had not been in school in the days prior to their disappearance.
'My story has been consistent. When you tell the truth it's always consistent,' he told the Globe.
He told CTV Atlantic that he had been conducting his own search since the children went missing.
'Hardly any evidence at all since the first day. It's mind-boggling that nothing else was found,' he said.
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Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The Olympic snowboarder's obsession with white powder that left him with a facelift and a $10M bounty on his head
He once carved his name into Canada 's Olympic snowboarding history, slaloming down mountains and shredding fresh powder on the world stage. Now, Ryan James Wedding's name is etched on a different list - the FBI 's Ten Most Wanted - accused of trafficking another kind of white powder. In September 2024, the 43-year-old was among 16 people charged in Operation Giant Slalom, accused of running a billion-dollar cocaine smuggling network spanning from Colombia, through Mexico, and into the US and Canada. Prosecutors say Wedding - who is otherwise known as 'El Jefe' and 'Public Enemy' - is the alleged leader of the network and has orchestrated multiple drug-related murders, showing a 'callous disregard' for human life. He is believed to be hiding in central Mexico, using cartel connections to stay beyond the reach of federal authorities. The FBI said last week there is 'some evidence' Wedding may have recently undergone cosmetic surgery to alter his appearance and further evade detection - but any likeness to the clean-cut Olympian he once was vanished long before he went under the knife. In March, Wedding was added to the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He was last spotted in 2024 (above), but is believed to have undergone plastic surgery Wedding has been on the run since at least 2015, when he was named in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) two-year Operation Harrington, which uncovered schemes to import cocaine into Canada and resulted in charges against more than a dozen suspects. Case files show Wedding - then living in Montreal - introduced himself to an undercover agent as a cocaine importer and discussed shipments of up to 2,205lbs by boat from the Caribbean to Newfoundland. The deal was called off, but three months later, the French Navy seized 467lbs of the drug near Antigua, triggering raids across Canada and 15 arrests. According to the RCMP, the group had planned to move 15 tons of cocaine. Wedding faced five charges and an arrest warrant was issued; however, he is believed to have fled Canada before police could snare him. Harrington files cast him as a senior partner in the operation, overseeing encrypted deals under multiple code names, though the precise scope of his role remains unclear. He has been considered a fugitive of justice ever since. Then came the DOJ indictment last fall, alleging that Wedding and his supposed right-hand man, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, led the billion-dollar ring while living in Mexico. Investigators have publicly linked the pair to four killings in Ontario but have hinted at more orchestrated hits across North America. The FBI is offering up to $10million for information that leads to his arrest Prosecutors say the pair ordered the November 2023 killing of Jagtar Singh, 57, and Harbhajan Kaur, 55 - a mistaken-identity hit on a visiting couple from India. Their daughter, shot 13 times and miraculously alive, recalled: 'I heard my mother's last screams. After that, there was complete silence. Only the noises of gunshots.' In April 2024, Clark allegedly sent a hit list to a gunman known as 'Mr. Perfect' - 'Blow this guy's top off,' he wrote, offering $100,000. Soon after, 29-year-old Randy Fader was shot dead in his Niagara driveway. Mr. Perfect was arrested in Toronto two weeks later with 9mm rounds and a white iPhone showing encrypted chats with Clark and additional targets. Clark, 34, was arrested in Guadalajara in October 2024 and now awaits trial in California with several co-defendants. Wedding and a handful of his alleged cronies remain on the run. He has been charged with eight felonies, including three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Authorities believe Wedding is living in Mexico, under the protection of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. US authorities are offering $10million for information leading to his arrest. FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller told the Toronto Star on Sunday that investigators believe Wedding may have recently had cosmetic surgery to alter his appearance. 'There is some evidence that he may have undergone plastic we urge the public to be flexible when considering his appearance,' Eimiller said. The FBI has not revealed what modifications they believe Wedding has undergone, nor what their evidence entails. The last confirmed sighting of Wedding was captured by the FBI in 2024. A photograph from the sighting, first shared publicly in March, shows the hulking, six-foot-three, 240-pound disgraced athlete with short hair and a mustache, wearing a blue LA Dodgers cap and a $1,300 Louis Vuitton T-shirt. Eimiller said that Wedding has been 'sophisticated' in his ability to evade authorities. The 2024 sighting contrasts sharply with a photo the FBI released of Wedding's driver's license a decade earlier, showing him with a bushy brown beard, long curly hair, and a receding hairline. The hunt spans agencies across the US, Canada, Mexico and Colombia, with Interpol support. Authorities have seized nearly two tons of cocaine and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors have alleged that Wedding is still actively trafficking drugs from the shadows, alleging in March 2025 that his network was flooding North America with five tons of fentanyl a month. Authorities warned he has access to 'a network of hitmen', ready to do his bidding at a moment's notice, meaning anyone who crosses him could be in danger. One such adversary was Montreal-born Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who had recently become a key witness in the investigation into the Wedding web, but was assassinated in Medellin, Colombia, on January 31. As The Star first reported, Garcia met Wedding in prison in 2011 while they were both serving time for drug-related offenses. They worked together for more than a decade before Garcia turned on Wedding in 2023, agreeing to help authorities dismantle his criminal operation. Wedding's fall from the Olympic slopes into the darkest depths of the criminal underworld has been a dizzying downhill run, leaving those who were once closest to him unable to see where - or why - he veered off course. He was born into a family of skiers in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a small working-class town on Lake Superior. His father was a competitive skier, his uncle had represented Canada, and his grandparents ran a grassroots ski club. Most of Wedding's time was spent out on the slopes before he could even read. Going to the Olympics felt like a surefire destiny, childhood friends told Rolling Stone in 2009. 'He had no fear,' said Bobby Allison, former national champion ski racer. 'A lot of kids, they say they want to go fast, but they don't really want to go fast. They hold something back, because there's a little bit of fear there of falling. Ryan had none of that.' Wedding eventually traded his ski poles for a snowboard and won the first race he ever entered at the age of 12. Three years later, Wedding was selected to join the Canadian national team and began competing all over the world. Then, at the age of 20, Wedding got his first taste of stardom when he qualified to compete at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He finished in a disappointing 24th place in the parallel giant slalom - but his future looked bright. Friends say it was shortly after enrolling at Simon Fraser University near Vancouver that Wedding's shine started to dim. He told his father he had plans to reinvent himself as a stockbroker or engineer, but as his sporting career faded, his hunger for glory was replaced by a growing taste for wealth, status, and risky pursuits. In the early 2000s, Vancouver was home to the most profitable marijuana trade in North America. It was also a hotbed for gang activity, with rival dealers gunning each other down in the streets and in nightclubs as they tussled over turf and fought to corner the market. Wedding took up a job as a bouncer at a nightclub and began brushing shoulders with gangsters and attending cocaine-fueled parties. After two years, he decided to drop out of college and told his father he was interested in real estate. Wedding borrowed $250,000 from his father to buy a home that he flipped for a six-figure profit. Wedding spent the money on a new condo in the Vancouver area and filled its garage with a Hummer, a Ducati, a BMW, and snowmobiles. Friends were suspicious about Wedding's suddenly lavish spending, but he would shrug off their concerns, assuring them his real estate ventures were booming. Police, too, grew suspicious and, in 2004, started investigating him, believing Wedding was running a marijuana-growing operation on a friend's farm. It was said they were making so much money they were hauling out trash bags full of cash. In the summer of 2006, police raided the grow-op and discovered loaded guns in a locked safe, 6,800 marijuana plants, and 86 pounds of dried weed. The total haul was estimated to be worth $10million. However, with no conclusive evidence linking Wedding to the operation, he was never charged. Two years later, Wedding wouldn't be so lucky. After losing nearly $1million in a botched cocaine deal and a failed real estate scheme, he travelled to California looking for a score. There, he brokered a deal to move 53lbs of cocaine. However, it was a sting and he was arrested and later convicted of conspiracy to distribute drugs, which carried a minimum sentence of 10 years. Wedding - who cut an imposing figure behind bars - successfully negotiated a lesser sentence of 48 months after appealing to the judge: 'As an athlete, I was always taught that there are no second chances, and well, I'm here asking for exactly that.' It was during his time serving that sentence that Wedding first met Clark, who was also serving time for drug-related offenses, and many other minor players in the Mexican drug market. One former FBI agent told Rolling Stone: 'We really did just turn him into a much better drug dealer than he ever was.' Upon his release, police said in 2024 that Wedding allegedly went back to trafficking and built his 'prolific and ruthless organization.' How long he can stay hidden remains an open question. In the meantime, all his family can do is wonder what happened to the promising young athlete they once knew. 'You can have every opportunity and still take the wrong path,' his mom said in 2009. 'But it doesn't mean you're a bad person.' Sixteen years later, the FBI disagrees. 'Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets,' Assistant Director of the FBI's LA Field Office, Akil Davis, said in March 2025.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Toronto film festival 'pulls October 7 documentary because Hamas did not give permission to use bodycam footage'
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has pulled a documentary about the October 7 massacre because Hamas did not give organisers permission to use bodycam footage shot by the terrorists, according to Israeli media. The festival was set to show 'The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue', directed by Barry Avrich, which follows the story of retired IDF general Noam Tibon during and after the attack that saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage. Israel 's Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, has slammed the organisers, and likened cancelling the film due to a lack of Hamas 'clearance' to asking for Adolf Hitler's approval for Auschwitz footage, reported i24NEWS. The festival had originally approved the film, which follows Tibon on his mission to save his son, his wife and two daughters as they were attacked by Hamas-led terrorists at their home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7. The documentary uses bodycam footage filmed by the terrorists themselves during the massacre, which was the single deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. The film was pulled by TIFF due to the prospect of disruptive anti-Israel protests at the festival, which will run from September 4-14, as well as concerns about copyright, Deadline reported. 'The invitation for the Canadian documentary film "The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue" was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage,' the organisers said in a statement. 'The purpose of the requested conditions was to protect TIFF from legal implications and to allow TIFF to manage and mitigate anticipated and known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption. 'As per our terms and conditions for participation in the festival, 'TIFF may disqualify from participation in the Festival any Film that TIFF determines in its sole and absolute discretion would not be in TIFF's best interest to include in the Festival.' Tibon, an ex-IDF general and a staunch critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, drove from his Tel Aviv home to southern Israel on the morning of October 7 to help the communities attacked on the border. Since that day, he has been vocal about his opposition to the Israeli government. The filmmaking team behind the documentary told Deadline: 'We are shocked and saddened that a venerable film festival has defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film. 'Ultimately, film is an art form that stimulates debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable. 'A film festival lays out the feast and the audience decides what they will or won't see. 'We are not political filmmakers, nor are we activists; we are storytellers. We remain defiant, we will release the film, and we invite audiences, broadcasters, and streamers to make up their own mind, once they have seen it.' Reacting to the film's cancelation, the documentary's subject Tibon said it was 'absurd and outrageous'. The documentary follows the story of retired IDF general Noam Tibon during and after the attack that saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage 'The Toronto festival surrendered to pressure and threats, choosing to silence and erase October 7. 'Barry Avrich's documentary tells a human, not political, story, documenting the grim reality of Israel's darkest day. The claim that it cannot be screened because it lacks "usage rights" for Hamas footage from that day is absurd and outrageous - and an insult to the victims. 'Freedom of expression is the courage to present and hear challenging content, even if it is uncomfortable for some audiences.' Last year, TIFF received backlash from Ukrainian activists because of its antiwar documentary 'Russians at War', which was labelled Russian propaganda by its critics. The festival cancelled the film's screening before showing it days later with heightened security. Pro-Palestinian activists also disrupted Israeli filmmaker Shemi Zarhin's film, 'Hamada', while Israeli demonstrators, critical of the government, picketed Alexandra Bloom's screening of 'The Bibi Files' about Netanyahu using leaked interrogation footage. 'The Road Between Us' was originally invited to play at TIFF subject to certain conditions, including changing its name from 'Out of Nowhere: The Ultimate Rescue', and getting legal clearance to use footage filmed and livestreamed by Hamas terrorists, Deadline reported. The filmmakers were asked to confirm clearance of the footage, provide a letter of indemnification - legally accepting liability for any copyright violations - as well as well provide added security for the screening. When the documentary team reportedly did not comply with the conditions, producers got an email formally uninviting the film from the festival by TIFF boss Cameron Bailey on August 12.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- The Guardian
New Zealand woman and six-year-old son detained for three weeks by Ice in US enduring ‘terrifying' ordeal
A New Zealand woman who is being held at a US immigration centre with her six-year-old son after they were detained crossing the Canada-US border, is being wrongly 'treated like a criminal', according to her friend and advocate. Sarah Shaw, 33, a New Zealander who has lived in Washington state for just over three years, dropped her two eldest children to Vancouver airport on 24 July, so they could take a direct flight back to New Zealand for a holiday with their grandparents. When Shaw attempted to re-enter the US, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detained her and her youngest son, in what was a 'terrifying' ordeal, said Victoria Besancon, Shaw's friend who is helping to raise money for her legal fight. 'Sarah thought she was being kidnapped,' she said. 'They didn't really explain anything to her at first, they just kind of quietly took her and her son and immediately put them in like an unmarked white van.' Ice confiscated Shaw's phone and transported the mother and son to the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas, many states away from her home, Besancon said. Foreign nationals caught up in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown have similarly been transported to centres far from their homes, support networks and legal representation. 'It has been absolutely horrible,' Besancon said, adding that aside from the staff, Shaw and her son are the only English speakers, are locked in their shared bedroom from 8pm to 8am and are not allowed to wear their own clothes. 'It really is kind of like being in jail ... it has been absolutely devastating and it's kind of barbaric.' Shaw is on what is known as a 'combo card' visa – an employment visa, which she obtained through her employment at a maximum security juvenile facility, and an I-360 visa, which can grant immigration status to domestic violence survivors. Shaw had recently received a letter confirming her visa renewal, not realising that the I-360 element of her visa was still pending approval. 'It wasn't until she tried to come back across the border that she realised only half of the combination card – because it's only one physical card – had been fully approved,' said Besancon. Border officials did not need to detain Shaw and could have filed for humanitarian parole, Besancon said. Meanwhile, all three of Shaw's children have had their I-360 visas approved, and Besancon alleged her youngest son was therefore being detained 'illegally'. Besancon, a retired US Navy officer, said her country's treatment of Shaw and other immigrants was appalling. 'It's so heartbreaking now to see people who, like Sarah, are not only legal, but who are contributing to American society,' she said, adding that the situation is taking a huge financial and emotional toll on Shaw and her son. 'She gives therapy and counselling to some of our most at risk youth … and to be treated like a criminal herself has just been absolutely devastating.' Shaw's case is the latest in a growing list of foreigners facing interrogation, detainment and deportations at the US border, including a British tourist, three Germans Lucas Sielaff, Fabian Schmidt and Jessica Brösche, and a Canadian and an Australian who were each held and then deported, despite having valid work visas. The union representing Shaw, the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), has called for her release. 'The trauma this has already caused for her and her son may never be healed,' said Mike Yestramski, the union's president and a psychiatric social worker at Western State hospital. The union 'vehemently opposes Ice practices' and the broader immigration policies that enable them as they contradict American values and human rights, Yestramski said. New Zealand's foreign affairs ministry said it is in contact with Shaw, but cannot comment further on the case due to privacy issues. The Guardian has contacted Ice and the US embassy in New Zealand for comment.
