Search to resume for children almost a month after they disappeared from N.S. home

LANSDOWNE STATION – A search for two young children who went missing almost a month ago is set to resume Saturday in a remote corner of northeastern Nova Scotia.

On May 2, four-year-old Jack Sullivan and his six-year-old sister Lilly Sullivan were reported missing from their home in rural Lansdowne Station, a heavily wooded area about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.

The initial, large-scale search-and-rescue effort was scaled back May 7. The search this weekend marks the second time ground search teams have been asked to return to focus on specific areas.

The RCMP issued a statement Friday afternoon saying the search Saturday will be in the Gairloch Road area — near where the children lived — and along a nearby “pipeline trail,” where a small boot print was previously found.

When the first search ended on May 7, RCMP officers said they did not expect to find the children alive in the surrounding woods. But they said searching would resume if they received fresh information.

Investigators have also confirmed the RCMP’s major crimes unit has been involved in the case since May 3, which is routine for missing persons cases.

On May 13, the Mounties said they had received more than 180 tips from the public. The police force said officers had interviewed community members and family members.

Daniel Robert Martell, who has described himself as the children’s stepfather, told The Canadian Press on May 7 that he voluntarily took part in a four-hour interview with major crime investigators the day before. He also said he had handed over his cellphone to police.

In an earlier interview on May 5, he said he and the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, had been together for more than two years. He said they moved to Lansdowne Station about two years ago. And he confirmed the couple had a 16-month-old infant named Meadow.

Martell has said the three of them were in the bedroom of the family’s home on the morning of May 2 when he last saw Lilly and Jack.

He said Lilly was wearing a pink top when she had poked her head in the doorway of their bedroom. 

Minutes later, he said he heard the sliding door that leads to the backyard open and close. 

Martell said that within a few minutes, he set out to find the children, driving his vehicle on backroads and looking in culverts along the way.

He said Brooks-Murray left the home the day after the search began, ending communication with him.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025.