Mother Issues Plea as Search Continues for Young Siblings Who Vanished from Their Home 5 Months Ago

Police in Canada are still searching for two young siblings who vanished from their Nova Scotia home nearly six months ago.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were last seen on the morning of May 2 along Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County. Authorities believe the children may have wandered away from their home.

Months later, officials have announced a reward of up to $150,000 CAD (approximately $107,000 USD) for any information leading to their whereabouts, according to a Nova Scotia government post.

Their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, has been sharing heartfelt messages on the Find Lilly and Jack Sullivan Facebook page during the ongoing search.

“As a mother, I love my children more than life itself and feel so heartbroken not being able to hold my two children Lilly and Jack, kiss them, breathe in their scent or tuck them into bed,” she wrote on Oct. 13. “The longing I have for them to come home is a feeling beyond words. There is not one single day, minute or second that goes by that I am not thinking about my children.”

Brooks-Murray said she “desperately” wants her children “home safe and sound, back into my arms where I will never let them go,” adding that she is “truly traumatized” by their absence. “The pure pain I suffer from just not knowing where they are has impacted my life and my family in the most devastating way.”

She continued, “Life feels extremely hard to keep going. With no answers, it is just pure lostness. No matter how lost I feel, I have not given up hope that my children will be returned home to me safe and sound. I have all the faith and hope I will see them again. I will never stop searching for my children until they are found and brought home safe and sound. Someone, somewhere, knows something — please bring my babies home.”

A post on Oct. 26 noted that Jack would have turned five on Wednesday, Oct. 29, and announced a candlelit vigil to mark his birthday at the Stellarton RCMP Detachment.

The update followed a statement from Nova Scotia RCMP, who said they had found no evidence supporting earlier witness reports of a vehicle driving repeatedly near the children’s home around the time they disappeared, according to The Canadian Press. Spokesperson Cindy Bayers said on Oct. 21 that investigators “found no evidence of any vehicle activity at that time. As such, no driver has been identified, and the presence of a vehicle has not been substantiated as a key element in the investigation.”

Witnesses had reported hearing a vehicle but were unable to confirm visually what they heard, The Canadian Press reported.

Daniel Martell, the children’s stepfather, previously told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that he believed Lilly and Jack may have gotten out through a sliding back door while he and Brooks-Murray were in their bedroom with their one-year-old daughter. Martell also said he believed the children were kidnapped, though RCMP said there was no evidence to support that theory.

Earlier this month, Martell told The Canadian Press that suggestions his vehicle might have been heard driving near the home late at night were “complete nonsense.”

On Oct. 8, Nova Scotia RCMP shared an update stating that a search conducted in late September around Lansdowne Station and the family property did not uncover human remains.

Staff Sergeant Rob McCamon, Officer in Charge (acting) of Major Crime and Behavioral Sciences, said, “There are multiple aspects of this investigation ongoing simultaneously. Each piece of information, including the results from the search teams, helps inform our next steps. With support from agencies across Canada, the investigative team is working to validate or eliminate leads and follow the evidence wherever it takes us.”

“At this stage, and as we’ve said all along, we’re considering all possibilities,” he added. “We’ll keep going until we determine, with certainty, the circumstances of the children’s disappearance and they’re found.”