Province offering $150K for information in missing Sullivan children case

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

Well over a month after the disappearance of two children from a rural Pictou County town, the provincial government is offering a reward to people with information on the case.

Siblings Jack, 4, and Lilly Sullivan, 6, were reported missing on May 2, and since then, there has been very little evidence of their whereabouts. The Nova Scotia government is offering up to $150,000 for information about the case.

The last time the two children were seen outside of their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station was May 1, when they were out with two family members. The next day, they were reported missing by their stepfather, Daniel Martell, and mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray.

“The disappearance of Jack and Lilly Sullivan is felt across the province and beyond, and my heart goes out to the family, the community and everyone who has been working to find these children since Day 1,” Becky Druhan, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, said in a release. “Police and investigators are working tirelessly to find answers, and I urge anyone with information to please share this with the RCMP as soon as possible.”

The money is coming out of the Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes program, which is a “tool,” the province said helps police in “major unsolved crime cases.”

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There are 122 active cases in the program. The reward is based on the value of the information given.

What has been happening with the Sullivan children case?

It was a “meticulous” search in the area where the children were last seen for about six days, until RCMP scaled back the efforts on May 7. In a press conference, officials said the likelihood that the pair survived the dense, rugged outdoors was very low.

Several searches over weekends were carried out that saw experts comb through the forest around Gairloch Road and in bodies of water. Nothing turned up other than a possible boot print by the pipeline trail that could not be confirmed was made by the children.

The latest information on the case given from police came last week on June 11, when a press release noted that officers were conducting polygraph (lie detector) tests on some of the 54 people they had formally interviewed.

RCMP say they cannot detail how many people received a polygraph test, but said they have been ongoing since the first day the children went missing.

The latest:

• RCMP conduct polygraph tests in missing Sullivan children case
• 1 month since Sullivan children disappearance in rural Pictou County
• Ground search continues for missing Sullivan children
• What happened to the Sullivan children in Nova Scotia?

When faced with direct questions on whether police believe the children are alive, Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay told media that his thoughts on the case were “irrelevant” but that a situation like this “stays with you…can certainly affect you.”

Police have also been granted seven court authorizations to seize and examine materials and devices that could be useful for the case.

There have been 488 tips from the public that they have followed up on. Despite these efforts, police are now appealing for further public information on the children’s disappearance.

Anyone with information regarding the case should call the Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program at 1-888-710-9090. People who come forward with information must provide their name and contact information and may be called to testify in court. All calls will be recorded.

People who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of Nova Scotia at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).