BURST
Ten thousand hours of stomping through dense forest by hundreds of volunteer search and rescue personnel hasn’t found Jack and Lilly Sullivan.
Through Saturday and Sunday, over 100 volunteers from Colchester, East Hants, Eastern Shore, Halifax, Musquodoboit Valley, Pictou County, Pugwash, Springhill, Strait Area, Valley and West Hants search and rescue associations, along with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, combed areas around the Gairloch Road for the four- and six-year-old who were reported missing from their home on May 2.
“We extend our sincere appreciation to the search and rescue volunteers who have selflessly given up over 10,000 hours of their time since this search began,” said Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon of the Pictou County District RCMP.
“Their tireless commitment in truly grueling conditions is appreciated by both the RCMP and the greater community.”
According to the RCMP, the renewed search efforts were made “in an effort to locate Jack and Lilly and advance the RCMP investigation.”
Jack, 4, and Lilly, 6, were reported missing at around 10 a.m. on Friday, May 2.
The children last attended school at Salt Springs Elementary the preceding Tuesday.
Wednesday, April 30, was a provincial in-service day and, according to the children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, the children were kept home Thursday and Friday by him and their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, due to illness.
Martell told The Chronicle Herald that he and Brooks-Murray were lying in bed with their baby on the morning of Friday, May 2, and heard the children in the kitchen of their trailer.
At one point, Lilly came into the bedroom.
Sometime later, he said, they discovered Jack and Lilly had left. Their boots and Lilly’s bookbag were also missing.
He said he believes they exited through the sliding door on their home.
Martell said he immediately began a search of the surrounding roads, culverts and forest.
When he returned, the RCMP had arrived, called by another family member.
A massive search was launched, involving up to 160 volunteers per day rotating from 15 of the province’s 23 search and rescue associations, along with helicopters, drones, K-9 teams and civil air search and rescue.
The mother, who hasn’t been speaking to the media, left the day after the children’s disappearance to be with her mother in Colchester County.
According to Martell, Brooks-Murray ceased communication with him after leaving with the grandmother.
The search was scaled back May 7 after efforts to find Jack and Lilly were unsuccessful.
Northeast Nova Scotia Major Crime has been involved since the beginning. According to the RCMP they have identified 35 people to interview and are following up on 180 tips from the public.
Martell told The Chronicle Herald he had spoken to Major Crime on multiple occasions, had immediately provided them with his cell phone and had agreed to do a lie detector test.
The family home, located approximately 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, abuts a heavily wooded area with thick brush and steep banks.
On May 8 and 9, the RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team (URT) scoured bodies of water around Lansdowne Station.
The recovery team’s two-day operation did not uncover evidence.
Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Becky Druhan said the disappearance of the two children is a tragedy for the families and communities involved.
Related
“It has touched the hearts of Nova Scotians and people internationally,” Druhan said. “Our heart really goes out to the community and everyone who has been working to find these children from Day 1.
“I want to thank everyone as well who has been working to find the children and investigating this issue – the police, first responders, Search and Rescue and other volunteers in the community.
“I also want to take the opportunity to say that if anybody does have information about this case that they should reach out to authorities, reach out to the RCMP to share that because that’s really the avenue to a solution for this.”
Druhan also addressed the “spread of misinformation, inaccurate information and speculation” that has been disseminated since the children went missing.
“I just want to say that that’s harmful, it’s harmful to the families and communities who are trying to work their way through a traumatic, traumatic event,” Druhan said. “I really want to encourage people to be kind and to folks that are concerned about information that’s being shared about themselves or others, they should be aware that we do have a structure in Nova Scotia under the Cyber Protection Act and under CyberScan (of the Justice Department) to address that.
“There are tools for that and I encourage them to reach out and use them.”