Latest news with #LillyJackSullivan
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Rescue review: Ground Search and Rescue welcomes consultation with N.S. government
Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) teams in Nova Scotia are busier than ever and now the province is interested in taking a closer look at their growing workload and finding better ways to support them. Halifax GSAR says their call volume has nearly doubled to 31 incidents and 4,440 operation hours logged this year alone, up from 17 calls for service and 2,670 hours during the same time period between April 1 and June 4 in 2024. The team's emergency response work once focused solely on missing persons. That has expanded into a wider range of emergencies. In Halifax GSAR volunteers assist the municipality by doing wellness checks for the city's growing homeless populations and finding shelter for people during a storm. 'We're not just responding to missing persons calls anymore,' said Halifax GSAR chief director Paul Service. 'We're active participants in the fire response, like the wildfire response, and we we're active participants in the flash flooding situation,' One of the largest ongoing search and rescue efforts in the province is for six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan who went missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., on May 2. Colchester GSAR have been leading the volunteer effort in the thick forest around the children's home which expanded beyond the initial search area even after RCMP reduced their exhaustive air, ground and water search. There are 23 GSAR teams across the province and many of the 1,200 trained volunteers have been involved in the search for the missing siblings. Large-scale searches and natural disasters like flash floods and wildfires have tested volunteer search teams but they also face financial challenges. The teams are required to fundraise to keep operations going. 'We're really struggling on the back side,' said Service. 'Volunteers only have so many hours that they can give to the community before it starts to take a toll on them.' In a letter from the province's department of emergency management, deputy minister Sandra McKenzie said they have hired a consultant to determine what kind work the GSAR teams do and assess how the province can better support their effort. 'As we stand up the new department, we are interested to engage with GSAR teams and better understand the evolving role GSAR teams play in Emergency Management,' wrote McKenzie in the letter. That's welcome news for Service, who says there's currently no clear work arrangement in place with the province. 'We're looking for a strategic plan,' said Service. 'We need to know where we are going and how we fit into the equation and from there developing a funding model as to how we can go forward and offer those services.' Funding is crucial right now. Halifax GSAR said they need a new command truck – which comes with a $600,000 price tag. Service says most of their funding comes from the Halifax Regional Municipality which gave them $90,000 last year towards their operating budget. The bulk of their donations come from their annual fundraising campaign which usually brings in $50,000 or more. Dartmouth councillor and police board commissioner Tony Mancini calls search teams essential. He said it's time for better coordination between all levels of government and more support to make it easier for search teams to operate on the ground. 'Policy is part of it and we need to have strong governance and policy around the search and rescue,' said Mancini. 'And even as a municipality I think we can step up our support for them.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Scammers attempting to cash in on missing Sullivan kids case: SAR group
A Halifax search team warned Tuesday that "fraudulent individuals and organizations" are impersonating them and asking for money under the guise of trying to find Lilly and Jack Sullivan, the two Pictou County children who have been missing since May 2. "Please be advised that we do not request donations via third-party fundraising platforms like GoFundMe or direct messages," the alert from Halifax Search and Rescue said in part. In an interview with CBC's Mainstreet Halifax on Wednesday, Paul Service, the chief director of Halifax Search and Rescue, said the organization recently learned about an online fundraiser purportedly intending to help launch a drone search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan. "At the end of it, it listed Halifax Search and Rescue as a beneficiary of the search if they didn't use all the funding. And certainly, we're not aware of that campaign at all, we're not endorsing it," Service said. He said it's unfortunate that someone would try to take advantage of the case of the missing Sullivan children, but he's seen it happen with other high-profile searches. "There's potential opportunity, you know, [there's] high traffic in the media right now on the file, lots of attention — so they're able to generate based off of that interest," he explained. Service said the fake fundraisers tend to originate outside Nova Scotia. He said he's seen one from Ontario and another from the United States. "So they're really not local and that's something that people should be looking for." Service said the latest fraudulent fundraiser was brought to his attention by people who saw it online and asked him about it. The Halifax team gets its funding from the Halifax municipality and the provincial government and also carries out some local fundraising efforts, he said. He pointed out search and rescue organizations hold their fundraisers within the community, citing as examples the Sheet Harbour SAR fish derby and the Pictou County SAR raffle.
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Stepfather of missing N.S. children asks people to stop ‘attacking' their mother online
A vigil was held for Lilly and Jack Sullivan in Nova Scotia on Monday. The stepfather of two missing children in Nova Scotia's Pictou County is asking people to stop 'attacking' their mother online as he tries to remain hopeful the siblings will be found safe. 'It doesn't get any easier,' Daniel Martell told CTV News. 'One month has passed.'Martell says the grief is overwhelming and only made worse by the online speculation about what happened to six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan, especially when he has one child who still lives with her mother. 'Put your focus around Maleyha and toward the kids,' he said, referring to the children's mother. 'Don't attack Maleyha because her mental health is going to be reflected on our daughter, so I don't want anyone attacking Maleyha anymore.' It's believed the Sullivan children wandered away from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, N.S., the morning of May 2. Their disappearance has stunned the community, with dozens of people coming together for a candlelight vigil in Stellarton, N.S., Monday evening. Martell attended the event, saying it brought out many emotions. 'They had some RCMP speakers and people from the community and there was even one guy who drove all the way from Sheet Harbour to come up and show his respect, so I appreciate that,' Martell told CTV News. The children's mother, Maleyha Brooks-Murray, did not attend the vigil. Pictou County Warden Robert Parker says he understands a vigil may seem premature to some, but he feels it shows how deeply the community cares about Lilly and Jack. 'I always thought that perhaps it was a little early and perhaps it would show that we were sort of accepting the inevitable, and maybe we have to, but I think there was still hope here. I don't think they were giving up,' said Parker. 'What else can you do? It's a way they can show their emotion as best they can and that we haven't forgotten.' The search and investigation The RCMP launched an extensive air and ground search for the siblings, which covered 5.5 square kilometres of heavily wooded and rural terrain, shortly after they were reported missing. The search, which involved hundreds of people, dogs, drones, divers and helicopters, was scaled back five days later. Additional searches took place on May 8, 9, 17, 18, 31 and June 1. In the latest search, 78 trained searchers from across the province focused on specific areas around Gairloch Road and a nearby pipeline where a boot print was previously found. The head of the search and rescue team said searchers did not find any new evidence last weekend. The RCMP said any future searches would be determined 'based on the course of the investigation.' As for the investigation, police say they have collected hours of video from the area, are following up on more than 355 tips from the public and interviewed more than 50 people. Police have also confirmed the children were spotted in public with family members the afternoon of May 1 – the day before they were reported missing. Few other details about the investigation have been released. Anyone with information about the missing children, or who has video footage to share with police, is asked to call the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-896-5060. To remain anonymous, contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Daniel Martell Daniel Martell, stepfather of missing siblings Lilly and Jack Sullivan is pictured on June 3, 2025. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Community members 'light the way home' for missing N.S. children at candlelight vigil
Two glowing paper lanterns were sent into a twilight sky over a rural Nova Scotia town on Monday evening, a symbol of hope for the safe return of Lilly and Jack Sullivan, two young siblings who vanished without a trace one month ago. Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, have been missing since May 2, when police received a 911 call from their mother and stepfather reporting they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, a sparsely populated and heavily wooded area about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax. About 50 people gathered outside the RCMP detachment in Stellarton on Monday for a vigil, where people were encouraged to place stuffed animals, candles and angels on a growing memorial for the children. Brenda MacPhee, who helped organize the event, said she hoped the gathering would show the family they have the support of the community. "It's not a place for accusations or judgments. It's a safe space," said MacPhee, who does not have any connection to the children. "It's like every parent's worst nightmare. You don't want to ever have to go through something like this." The disappearance sparked an extensive six-day search through 5.5 square kilometres of mostly dense woods and included upward of 160 search and rescue officials, dogs, helicopters and drones. The effort was scaled back on May 7, but subsequent searches have taken place, including ground searches around the children's home on Gairloch Road and underwater searches of bodies of water in the region. Over the weekend, search and rescue crews returned to the area, focusing on a pipeline trail where a boot print was found during an earlier search. A total of 8.5 square kilometres has now been grid-searched. Despite search volunteers putting in more than 10,000 hours, hundreds of tips from the public and more than 50 police interviews, there is still no indication as to what happened to the children. Speaking at the vigil, Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon said the disappearance has deeply affected the family and residents of Pictou County, a mostly rural region of the province that's home to 43,000 people. "Please know that we are fully engaged in finding out what happened to Lilly and Jack," said MacKinnon, who has been working on the case. He noted the RCMP's major crime unit is involved and the case is considered suspicious, as are all missing persons investigations until evidence is uncovered to believe otherwise. MacPhee became emotional as she read a prayer before inviting community members to lay candles meant to help "light the way home" for Lilly and Jack. "Guide the hands and hearts of those working to bring these children home," MacPhee said as the children's stepfather, Daniel Martell, and paternal grandmother, Belynda Gray, looked on with sombre expressions. Two paper lanterns — one for each child — were then lit and left to drift into a sunset-laden sky, eliciting cheers from the crowd. "The community is hurting. They're feeling sadness," said MacPhee, who is a mother and grandmother. "By doing this, I think it helps a little."
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
Exhaustion sets in as search for N.S. kids hits one-month mark
A month into the search for two missing Pictou County children, searchers are beginning to wear out mentally and physically. Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were reported missing from their rural Lansdowne Station, N.S., home on May 2. About 80 searchers were out again on Sunday. They focused on a pipeline trail where a boot print was found during an earlier search. Amy Hansen of Colchester Ground Search and Rescue, who is this weekend's search co-ordinator, said there were no new finds over the weekend. It's never been established that the boot print is related to the missing kids, but Hansen said earlier this weekend it was all the searchers had to go on. She said morale was fairly good among those who turned out this weekend, but she conceded it has been hard on others. There have been two weekends of searching on top of the initial six-day search. "There are people that made the decision not to return to the search site this weekend because of either physical exhaustion or burnout or mental exhaustion," Hansen said, noting the challenging terrain where searchers have worked. She said that some people felt that they could not handle being in the situation again for another weekend. Hansen expected the search to be suspended on Sunday evening, barring new information. Still no sign of Lilly and Jack Sullivan after 4 weeks 3 days ago Duration 2:21 The sister and brother were reported missing from their home in Pictou County on May 2. Haley Ryan has the story. Hansen said the decision to resume the search would depend on the RCMP and their investigation. The benefit of sending searchers back out again would also need to be taken into account. "It's getting to the point where maybe they need a little bit of time to recover and deal with the stress and issues like that, and spend time with their own families that they're leaving behind to be out here," she said. Sunday's search also involved teams from Pictou, East Hants, Strait, Sheet Harbour, Eastern Shore, Halifax and Pugwash. RCMP said they have received more than 355 tips and have formally interviewed more than 50 people, with more interviews planned. The Mounties have said all missing persons cases "are treated as suspicious until our investigation leads us to determine otherwise." Members of the community have been showing their support for Lilly and Jack by placing flowers and stuffed animals on a post outside of the RCMP detachment in Stellarton.
