Latest news with #StaffSgtMacKinnon
Globe and Mail
13-05-2025
- Globe and Mail
RCMP investigating tips from public on missing Nova Scotia children
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.
National Post
07-05-2025
- National Post
RCMP scaling back search for missing children Lily, 6, and Jack, 4, in Nova Scotia
The RCMP is scaling back its search for young siblings Jack and Lily Sullivan Article content Article content At a media briefing Wednesday afternoon at the search headquarters, Staff-Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon said hundreds of searchers and investigators have covered four square kilometres of heavily wooded terrain. Article content He said despite public appeals, there have been no reports of sightings of four-year-old Jack or six-year-old Lily. Article content Article content MacKinnon said the search will still continue, and personnel will circle back through some of the previously-searched areas. Article content Article content 'We're transitioning from a full-scale search to searches in more specific spaces, spaces that have already been searched by our teams,' MacKinnon said. 'We want to circle back to increase the probability that all clues have been found.' Article content He said when decisions are made to transition a search from active to scaled back, 'the probability of survival is taken into consideration.' 'I want to assure you that our missing persons investigation continues,' he said. 'We're not packing up, and we're not giving up. Our investigation is broad, and it won't end until we know where Lily and Jack are and can bring them home.' Article content He said police 'will continue to investigate and chase leads for as long, and as hard as, we have to. We have the best investigators working every aspect of the file.' Article content Jack and Lily were reported missing from their home on the Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County at about 10 a.m. last Friday. Article content A massive search has been ongoing day and night ever since, with over 100 volunteers from over a dozen search and rescue associations, helicopters, K-9 teams, drones and a variety of provincial and federal agencies working in a co-ordinated effort. Article content Article content On Monday, Daniel Robert Martell, the children's stepfather, told The Chronicle Herald that he and the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, last heard Jack and Lily on Friday morning as they lay in bed with their baby. Article content Article content 'The sun was already up and Lily came into the (bedroom),' said Martell. Article content 'She had a pink shirt on. We could hear Jackie in the kitchen. A few minutes later we didn't hear them so I went out to check. The sliding door was closed. Their boots were gone.' Article content He said the children have undiagnosed autism and it is not like them to wander far. Martell said he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were there, having been called by the children's mother. Article content Brooks-Murray left the home Saturday to be with family. According to Martell, the two have had no contact since. Article content 'Everybody is still holding out hope, but you can see it starting to wear,' Amy Hansen, of the Colchester County Ground Search and Rescue Association, told The Chronicle Herald on Monday. Article content
