CANADA Canada - Jack, 4 & Lilly Sullivan, 6, Vulnerable, wandered from home 10am, Gairloch Rd, Landsdowne Station, Pictou County, NS, 2 May 2025 #4

[SouthAussie]

Yes it’s tough to imagine a reason why or how they’d go so deep into the woods. If not trying to follow another adult who didn’t notice them, the only other reason I can think of is playing hide and seek, either with each other or hiding from their parents. One of two reasons for hiding, either because they got in trouble (running away) or a mischievous game to cause alarm. But that still doesn’t answer the question of how could they get well beyond hearing searchers calling out their names?

If the RCMP could answer only one question I’d ask “what’s the inspiration behind the intensive wilderness search?” I don’t think it’s a front for a training exercise so I’m baffled.
JMO

I think (at least some) little children do not respond to their name being called out. I spoke of little AJ earlier, lost for 3 days in rugged bushland, luckily eventually found - alive - just 500 metres from their home. He never came out when searchers (including family) were calling for him.

In this case, search manager Amy Hansen said ..... “Children in that age range tend to hide anyway even early on,” she said. “So it’s just a very thorough effort to get into all of these areas because if somebody is hiding under a deadfall or something like that, they have to be able to see.”

Ground and air teams renew search and rescue efforts for Lilly and Jack Sullivan in Pictou County, N.S.

Five teams and 100 people from across the province are working with civil air search and rescue teams in the renewed search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan who went missing from their home in Pictou County, N.S., on May 2.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[Chimera]

Not one but two kids, one carrying an object (backpack) and no trace except maybe a footprint. It is odd, all this time and nothing found discarded along the way. I’m not an expert on nappies, but a tracking dog should sniff out a used nappy if it’s in a child’s walking distance, even if another animal found it and dragged it off…?

Bbm.
Yes, exactly !
One would assume that would stand out for the sar dogs.

I'm curious where exactly the dogs tracked their scent, was it around the yard and to the end of the driveway ?
If no scent found outside the perimeter and into the woods, the odds are they didn't wander into the woods at all.

LE do not seem to be treating this as an abduction.
What could have happened to Lilly and Jack ?
Omo.

 

[Sailor Bug]

I have read that SAR dogs were used in the search. Does anyone know if Cadaver dogs were used in the search for Lilly and Jack?

 

[MistyWaters]

The step father says he can't see baby Meadow, but is mother keeping her away from him or is someone else preventing him from seeing baby? I can't fathom why she left the home her kids were last seen in. Did she leave on her own accord or did someone make her leave? At one time, the news stated police told her to leave, was that verified??The house must have been set up for all things a toddler would need?? Or maybe CFSA stepped in? I only know CAS in Ontario.

I think only reason the father of baby M said anything was he read SM comments questioning why he was wasn’t interested in seeing his child. Whether she in temporary custody of CPS or with the birth mother, he can’t just show up on a whim prior to visitation arrangements being made. So it’s really no wonder he wasn’t allowed to see the child regardless of who had custody.

I dont’t believe for a moment that the RCMP has authority to dictate who can live with who. CPS, whose mandate is to look out for the best interests of the child, typically attempts to stand on their head and educate parents and only apprehend children for their own safety as a last resort. However we might not hear any more regarding this child due to strict regulations involving confidentiality and privacy of minors.
JMO

 

[ttjo]

See, I thought the opposite. This is their backyard. They live there and play there. "Country" kids go in the woods. I lived in a small city, on a dead end street with a giant meadow and woods behind our house. We played in the creek and roamed the fields daily. They are kind of little to roam for hours, but I could see them going a little ways in, and that being what they are used to doing. No one has said anything like that though publicly, "they always play in the woods behind our house". I don't think they wandered off. JMO.

I know what you mean , theyre used to the woods but are they used to going in the deep woods alone? It shouldnt be comfortable for either one of them without a parent. The mom said, theyre not the kind of kids to even go to the backyard themselves.

 

[ttjo]

I think only reason the father of baby M said anything was he read SM comments questioning why he was wasn’t interested in seeing his child. Whether she in temporary custody of CPS or with the birth mother, he can’t just show up on a whim prior to visitation arrangements being made. So it’s really no wonder he wasn’t allowed to see the child regardless of who had custody.

I dont’t believe for a moment that the RCMP has authority to dictate who can live with who. CPS, whose mandate is to look out for the best interests of the child, typically attempts to stand on their head and educate parents and only apprehend children for their own safety as a last resort. However we might not hear any more regarding this child due to strict regulations involving confidentiality and privacy of minors.
JMO

In Alberta police dont usually apprehend alone. . A social worker will go with a police officer typically, and not every social worler has those abilities either, only those designated, can do it.

 

[ttjo]

I think something will happen soon, you can hear the public 's concern about the search, same ones as when Dylan Ehler went missing. Not saying LE is not doing everything in their power to find these kids, but maybe there are still leftover feelings from 5 years ago.
It can't be left the same way, with wonder if something was missed or I think this community will be very angry.
2 kids wandered off ( allegedly) the community will at least want to know everything they did to investigate all possibilities.
enough tip toeing around them already, time for answers.

 

[Ursa Major]

Exactly.
They could have been taken anywhere.

Agree. Imo not only into the woods. How about the sawmill, workshops, abandoned structures etc too. I cannot find any reports/info about any of such places searched at all.

 

[Shellie85]

Just catching up so I’m really sorry if I ask questions already discussed.
Just a couple of queries, do we know how far the children ‘ could’ have walked prior to searches beginning ?
How was the weather that day ? Could it be possible they have found shelter in any small ridges or such ? Somewhere a child could fit that might not even be noticeable to a grown adult ? Is there water nearby ? Could it be possible one kid fell in and the other went in to help ? I was also wondering why the parents aren’t sure what Lilly was wearing as the missing poster says she ‘ might’ be wearing . It does say she was in their room prior to going missing. Sorry if this has all been covered previously . Bless their little souls I really hope they are found soon. I just find it strange absolutely no trace at all has been found of them in the woods if they were there.

 

[Skigh]

Agree. Imo not only into the woods. How about the sawmill, workshops, abandoned structures etc too. I cannot find any reports/info about any of such places searched at all.

It is possible that the police have searched these places. The forest searches appeared to have been done by trained volunteers.

 

[Ursa Major]

A humble insight from a long time Canadian remote area resident. I mean, it's rural Canada. Everyone has a workshop/tool shed at their backyard. Sometimes those workshops can be huge. Lots of structures not being checked often or abandoned. Industrial and privately owned sawmills, car repair businesses, welding shops etc, where it's easy to disappear without a trace. Moo they needed to check such places simultaneously with combing the woods.

 

[Ursa Major]

It is possible that the police have searched these places. The forest searches appeared to have been done by trained volunteers.

I realize msm and le may not be completely transparent on the matter. But still. We heard about forest searches only.

 

[wvmoonangel]

I know what you mean , theyre used to the woods but are they used to going in the deep woods alone? It shouldnt be comfortable for either one of them without a parent. The mom said, theyre not the kind of kids to even go to the backyard themselves.

You would think by any logic that if they had went into the woods the dogs would have picked up on that scent and followed it. Now that it's 18 days out and still not one trace of those babies and the only scent they picked up was to the road which most likely was there because of getting on and off the bus. I'm really starting to fear those babies never left the property alive. As a mother I would have never left my home knowing my babies were missing until they were found.

 

[seasideForest]

Is there water nearby ? Could it be possible one kid fell in and the other went in to help ?

There is water nearby, but it's been searched with no bodies found. The info has been linked on this thread or maybe thread #2, which is to say I'm not looking for the link again, in case anybody wants proof. I think back on thread#1 some mbrs did suggest the scenario of one child falling in and the other trying to help. But again, with no bodies found in water, that's less likely now.

If you look for some of my posts on thread#1 you'll find a good link to info on how far children may walk - it's far further than people often imagine.
MOO

 

[AddyFinch]

I wonder if they searched the Landsdowne Recreation Centre up the road? Would there be buildings in the park, or people camping? It probably just opened up for the summer season beginning of May.

 

[LarkBunting]

You would think by any logic that if they had went into the woods the dogs would have picked up on that scent and followed it. Now that it's 18 days out and still not one trace of those babies and the only scent they picked up was to the road which most likely was there because of getting on and off the bus. I'm really starting to fear those babies never left the property alive. As a mother I would have never left my home knowing my babies were missing until they were found.

JMHO, but HYPOTHETICALLY, and not to say this happened here, if told to leave the home (say, by child services) with baby or they’d take custody of baby, I think most mothers would leave the home in order to keep baby.

 

[tlcya]

Sherry Veinot, President of the Nova Scotia GSRA, told Newsweek that this area is "almost impassable" due to fallen trees from Hurricane Fiona in 2022.
[snip]
They live on Gairloch Road in Nova Scotia, a rural and wooded area. "It is all deadfalls and trees on top of one another, meaning searchers [are] either having to climb over or crawl under them," explained Veinot to Newsweek.
Lilly and Jack Sullivan face "unbelievable conditions" amid search review

I simply cannot believe these two children of such tender ages just decided to go walk about in such inhospitable terrain or got so far from their home that they wasn't a trace left for searchers. I hope RCMP is able to generate leads that bring resolution for this case.

 

[AIGT]

“I don’t know if they’re out there in the woods, I mean, searchers are doing everything they can, but from the beginning I called for abduction,” he said.

Martell said doesn’t know if police are looking into that possibility, but RCMP have said publicly there is no evidence of abduction.

The disappearance has sparked rampant speculation on social media — much of it targeting Martell and the children’s mother. Martell calls it all “nonsense.”

When asked if he had anything to do with the children’s disappearance, he was adamant in his answer.

“I 100 per cent did not and I will hold that to my last day on this planet,” he said.

Nova Scotia kids missing for 18 days ‘weighing heavy’ on community: premier | Globalnews.ca

After a weekend of renewed searching for a pair of missing children, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the siblings' disappearance is "devastating" for so many people.

globalnews.ca

 

[Sarahlou]

“I don’t know if they’re out there in the woods, I mean, searchers are doing everything they can, but from the beginning I called for abduction,” he said.

Martell said doesn’t know if police are looking into that possibility, but RCMP have said publicly there is no evidence of abduction.

The disappearance has sparked rampant speculation on social media — much of it targeting Martell and the children’s mother. Martell calls it all “nonsense.”

When asked if he had anything to do with the children’s disappearance, he was adamant in his answer.

“I 100 per cent did not and I will hold that to my last day on this planet,” he said.

Nova Scotia kids missing for 18 days ‘weighing heavy’ on community: premier | Globalnews.ca

After a weekend of renewed searching for a pair of missing children, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the siblings' disappearance is "devastating" for so many people.

globalnews.ca

It might just be the way he talks, but that last line and the "probably be looking for the rest of my life" makes it sound like he doesn't think this case will ever get solved for some reason.

 

[Pseudonymph]

The mom said, theyre not the kind of kids to even go to the backyard themselves.

I don't rely on these kinds of statements too much. These are her oldest children, which means she probably hasn't seen any kids grow older than this and change their habits. Sure, they don't go in the backyard by themselves...until one day they do.