Nova ScotiaSearchers who are scouring the woods near where two children went missing in northeastern Nova Scotia six days ago are feeling “exhaustion and optimism,” an RCMP incident commander says.Police say it’s believed Lily Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, wandered from their rural homeAly Thomson · CBC News · Posted: May 07, 2025 6:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoSearch and rescue teams on site at the Lansdowne Station command centre on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)Searchers who are scouring the woods near where two children went missing in northeastern Nova Scotia six days ago are feeling “exhaustion and optimism,” an RCMP incident commander says.As many as 140 crew members have been involved in the search each day for six-year-old Lily Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan, who police believe wandered from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station last Friday morning.RCMP Staff Sgt. Josh Wiese, the incident commander, said some of the searchers have been there since Day 1.”They’re tired and they’re optimistic. They have one job. This is all search and rescue does is they try and bring people home safely,” Wiese said on Tuesday near the search area, about 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow.”They’re trying to stay on mission. They’re sacrificing their personal lives. They’re sacrificing a lot to be here to try and help this family out to bring these two children home.”RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carlie McCann said crews were expected to continue searching late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning “with the tools and resources that are identified as being necessary.”Lily Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were reported missing on Friday, May 2, 2025. They are students at Salt Springs Elementary in Salt Springs, N.S. (Family of Jack and Lily Sullivan)On Tuesday afternoon, McCann said the case remains a missing persons investigation.”Police are pursuing all investigative avenues and there’s a variety of teams involved who are applying the tools and the skills and the expertise needed to locate and and bring Lily and Jack home,” she said.Drones took to the skies late Monday and into Tuesday in the rural community in the province’s northeast, using “forward-looking infrared technology” to spot differences in temperature, which can point people toward specific areas for ground searches.WATCH | Forward-looking infrared technology explained: How drones are being used to look for missing childrenThe RCMP have enlisted four drone operators to help with the search in Pictou County.The drones use “forward-looking infrared technology” to spot differences in temperature. Cassidy Chisholm has the story.But McCann would not say if there’s been any sign of the children. She repeated that police were following up on all information as it comes in.Police dogs have been assisting in the search, and it’s also the first time the Nova Scotia Guard — a provincially organized volunteer group — has been deployed. The public has been asked to stay away as crews conduct their work.Daniel Martell, the stepfather of the children, has said the last time he saw the children was Friday morning when he and their mother were in their bedroom with their one-year-old baby. The 33-year-old man said Lily came into the bedroom several times and he could hear Jack in the kitchen. The children must have opened the sliding back door, which is almost silent, and left, he said.The home borders a heavily wooded area with steep banks and thick brush.Martell said investigators with the RCMP’s major crimes unit spoke with him a few days ago, and spoke with members of his family on Monday. Martell has said he believes police should be considering whether the children were abducted.The two children went missing from this home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, on Friday morning. (Josh Hoffman/CBC)Police said on Friday there is no evidence the children were abducted, so no Amber Alert was issued. But the RCMP issued a vulnerable missing persons alert for Antigonish, Colchester and Pictou counties late Saturday afternoon.When asked on Tuesday if the major crimes unit is involved, an RCMP spokesperson said a “variety of teams” are working on the missing persons investigation “in order to provide tools, skills and resources as necessary.”Martell said that after the disappearance, the children’s mother left the area to be with her family in another part of the province and has blocked him on social media.He said there was an argument between the two families out in the yard of the home that day.”My mother had to kick … some people off the property ’cause they were saying that I did it, I had something to do with it, and I’m the only one here fighting for them, which is sad,” he said.The children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, spoke to CTV News on Saturday, saying that she was trying to stay hopeful. “I want to hold them and I want them home,” she told CTV.WATCH | Lily and Jack Sullvan’s stepfather makes plea to public: Stepfather makes emotional plea for missing childrenDaniel Martell, the stepfather of Lily and Jack Sullivan, made a plea on Tuesday for anyone with information about the two children missing in Pictou County to come forward to police.ABOUT THE AUTHORAly Thomson is an award-winning journalist based in Halifax who loves helping the people of her home province tell their stories. She is particularly interested in issues surrounding women’s health, justice, education and the entertainment industry. You can email her with tips and feedback at aly.thomson@cbc.ca.
‘Exhaustion and optimism’ as search for missing children enters 6th day
