RCMP narrows down timeline of Sullivan children disappearance; asks for public videos

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

Investigators said they have confirmed the last time two missing children were seen in public in a rural Nova Scotia community.

Lilly, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, have been missing for almost a month, and now the RCMP said they have a timeline of when they were last seen by other people outside of their immediate family.

“Based on the details we’ve gathered so far, we’ve confirmed that Lilly and Jack were observed in public with family members on the afternoon of May 1,” says Cpl. Sandy Matharu, Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit.

Police are asking people to send them dashcam footage or videos along Gairloch Road between 12:00 p.m. on April 28 and 12:00 p.m. on May 2 — the week leading up to the children going missing.

The Mounties add in the press release that they are “committed to exploring all possibilities” surrounding the children’s disappearance. According to them, more than 50 people have been formally interviewed, with more expected to take place in the coming days.

Related:

• 3 weeks since two young children reported missing in rural Nova Scotia
• Sullivan children still missing after Mounties search nearby lakes, interview family members
• Pictou County community focused on search for two young children
• RCMP scaling back search for missing Pictou County children

The pair were reported missing on May 2 and were last seen around 10:00 a.m. by their stepdad, Daniel Martell, and their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray. A large-scale ground and air search took place in the nearby forest, as it was believed by the police that the two had “wandered from a home.”

RCMP said since the initial 911 calls, hundreds of people conducted searches near the family’s home on Gairloch Road. The area is about four kilometres squared.

Six days into their disappearance, police said they were scaling back the search, and vowed to revisit some areas of interest. They have also searched nearby bodies of water.

“The likelihood they are alive is very low,” Robert McCamon, RCMP’s major crimes unit, said at a press conference on May 7.

Since the beginning, Martell has asked the RCMP to look into whether the two were abducted, but police have said there is no evidence of that.

When asked if Martell believes the children are still out there alive:

“That’s all I can hope for, is to bring Jack and Lily home, it’s the only thing I’m hoping for at this point,” he said.