Missing Nova Scotia siblings, Lilly and Jack, were seen with family the day before they disappeared

Two young Nova Scotia siblings reported missing 26 days ago were seen in public with family members one day earlier, according to the RCMP. The disappearance of Lilly Sullivan and Jack Sullivan from the trailer home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County, that they shared with their mother, stepfather and the couple’s baby, prompted a massive search in the surrounding wooded area. “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,” Cpl. Sandy Matharu, of the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, said Wednesday in a news release.

• Police receive more than 180 tips about missing Nova Scotia siblings Lily, 6, and Jack, 4
• Step father of N.S. missing children asks public to report if seen

Mounties first got the call on Friday, May 2 at 10 a.m. that Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, were missing. On Wednesday investigators said they have already collected hours of video from areas surrounding Lansdowne Station, but they’re looking for more. “We’re now asking anyone who has dashcam footage or video along Gairloch Road between 12 p.m. on April 28 and 12 p.m. on May 2 to contact us,” Matharu said. Mounties are following up on 355 tips they’ve fielded in the case. “RCMP officers have also formally interviewed over 50 people, with more interviews planned in the coming days,” said the news release. Daniel Robert Martell, who identifies as the children’s stepfather, told The Chronicle Herald earlier this month that he and the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, last heard Jack and Lily on the morning of May 2, as they lay in bed with their baby. “The sun was already up and Lily came into the (bedroom),” said Martell. “She had a pink shirt on. We could hear Jackie in the kitchen. A few minutes later we didn’t hear them so I went out to check. The sliding door was closed. Their boots were gone.” He surmised the children slipped outside through a sliding door. Martell said when they noticed the two children were missing May 2, he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were there, having been called by the children’s mother. Martell is not Jack and Lily’s father. He’s been Brooks-Murray’s partner for three years, though after the children disappeared she reportedly left him and the county with their baby and is staying with family. Earlier this month, Martell said that he had been working with Northeast Nova Major Crime, had provided the RCMP with his cellphone and had agreed to take a lie detector test. Mounties have previously said there is no evidence the children were abducted. On the weekend after they vanished, Brooks-Murray told CTV that Jack and Lilly are not typically the type of children who would go outside on their own. “I just want to remain hopeful, but there’s always in a mother’s mind, you’re always thinking the worst,” Brooks-Murray said at the time. Lilly and Jack’s disappearance prompted “a large-scale ground and air search that began immediately after the children were reported missing on May 2,” the RCMP said Wednesday. “Hundreds of searchers, multiple dogs, a variety of drones, an underwater recovery team and several aircraft scoured a heavily wooded 5.5-square-kilometre area before search efforts were scaled back on May 7. Additional searches took place on May 8, May 9, May 17 and May 18. Any future searches will be determined based on the course of the investigation.” Mounties are “fully engaged” in figuring out what happened to the children, Matharu said. “We’re using all tools and resources to determine the circumstances of their disappearance…. We understand people’s desire for answers and updates. However, as this is an active investigation, we’re unable to discuss details of our ongoing work.” Police are asking anyone with information about the missing kids or video footage that might help with the investigation to call the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-896-5060. To remain anonymous, contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips app. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.