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

[ttjo]

I wish we knew more about this backpack… If it was specifically her school backpack, or more of a play-time backpack? (Was that addressed and I missed it? Was it specifically her school backpack?) I am curious because my child has more than one backpack- one for school, and a couple more flimsy ones that are of the drawstring variety, that she brings along on a walk or hike (in case we find treasures like great acorns, leaves, rocks, bugs etc).

If we knew what kind of backpack it is, we might be able to speculate about Lily’s intentions. Thought she would walk to school? Thought she would go on a nature walk around the yard? Something else?

They have never even shown a replica of it. like they did of the boots.
Walmart does sell white knapsacks with strawberries on them ( I looked) but not sure if thats where they got it.
Even the teachers or other kids should be able to identify that knapsack with pictures but no one has as far as I know.
Even if they were taken, such a descriptive knapsack would be the first thing dumped. It would be good to show a pic of it,

 

[Skigh]

They have never even shown a replica of it. like they did of the boots.
Walmart does sell white knapsacks with strawberries on them ( I looked) but not sure if thats where they got it.
Even the teachers or other kids should be able to identify that knapsack with pictures but no one has as far as I know.
Even if they were taken, such a descriptive knapsack would be the first thing dumped. It would be good to show a pic of it,

The police obviously do not think that it could be anywhere the public might find it otherwise they surely would have shown a replica and asked people to look out for it.
I cannot see a little girl wanting to get her pretty ,white strawberry backpack dirty or scratched.

 

[AddyFinch]

In regards to the abduction theory, it doesn't have to be a stranger abduction. I would start by confirming who had custody of children? Mother or father? If Mother, did the father have visitation rights? If so, how often, when, did the kids go willingly with him? Did the visitation extend to other family members ie grandparents? If the mother had shared custody, and the father took them to his place for a visit without her knowledge, would that legally be abduction? And that would initiate an Amber Alert?
Once again LE should examine the relationships the mother and step father had with others. Was it amiable, was there conflict? The stepfather has other children, assuming they are young and not capable of taking the missing children.
I am no believing those children are not in those woods. Such a shame for officials/volunteers to be risking their safety searching somewhere that wasn't even on the radar.
Time for the LE to sit back, surveil and watch all involved. Something will turn up. Hopefully little smiling faces that have been on an big adventure.

 

[MistyWaters]

I wish we knew more about this backpack… If it was specifically her school backpack, or more of a play-time backpack? (Was that addressed and I missed it? Was it specifically her school backpack?) I am curious because my child has more than one backpack- one for school, and a couple more flimsy ones that are of the drawstring variety, that she brings along on a walk or hike (in case we find treasures like great acorns, leaves, rocks, bugs etc).

If we knew what kind of backpack it is, we might be able to speculate about Lily’s intentions. Thought she would walk to school? Thought she would go on a nature walk around the yard? Something else?

That Lilly might be wearing the backpack was only noted in the missing child descriptive details, nothing more was said about it’s purpose.
In earlier threads the school was said to be appx 20 minutes by bus/vehicle and 20 km away (12.4 miles).
JMO

 

[MistyWaters]

They have never even shown a replica of it. like they did of the boots.
Walmart does sell white knapsacks with strawberries on them ( I looked) but not sure if thats where they got it.
Even the teachers or other kids should be able to identify that knapsack with pictures but no one has as far as I know.
Even if they were taken, such a descriptive knapsack would be the first thing dumped. It would be good to show a pic of it,

Pity every little girl with a backpack just the same, especially if it was sold en mass by Walmart. A pic of it might only result in more ‘unhelpful’ tips. I think it would only be significant if discarded.
JMO

 

[BCSleuth]

Do we know for a fact that the grandmother lives on site? And what I really want to know is when the grandmother last saw them. It is so frustrating that all she has said is that police have told her not to answer questions.

 

[AddyFinch]

Do we know for a fact that the grandmother lives on site? And what I really want to know is when the grandmother last saw them. It is so frustrating that all she has said is that police have told her not to answer questions.

I understand she is the property owner, but nothing else has been said by officials. I don't know if it has been confirmed police told mother not to answer questions. Probably a lawyer if anyone at all.

 

[tlcya]

to Clarify this topic of "grandmothers"

DM's mother, who is said in the linked Globe and Mail article to also reside on the property, has said nothing to the press or public. Therefore we have no clue if or when she last saw the children, but you can bet RCMP has asked her for that information.

The MATERNAL grandmother, mother of MBM, has spoken to the press only to say they've been cautioned not to speak to the public about the case but they were "hopeful"

Two young Nova Scotia children still missing from remote wooded community in Pictou County

 

[ttjo]

Pity every little girl with a backpack just the same, especially if it was sold en mass by Walmart. A pic of it might only result in more ‘unhelpful’ tips. I think it would only be significant if discarded.
JMO

True, and maybe its descriptive enough that if someone did find one, by not showing a picture they can tell if its the right match to Lily's.

 

[Skigh]

Do we know for a fact that the grandmother lives on site? And what I really want to know is when the grandmother last saw them. It is so frustrating that all she has said is that police have told her not to answer questions.

We have to keep reading between the lines and try to work out why things have not happened. It is not usual for this sort of information to be omitted.
I can understand her not wanting to appear on camera ,but not to have any information about people living yards away is odd.

 

[borndem]

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.

bbm
Same here -- by the looks of that area, IMO, it would be tuff traveling. -- for anyone.
Further, MOO, I would think the younger child would tire easily if they were in those woods, judging by the looks of the area.
SMH. Hoping I'm wrong, but I just don't see those two walking that far.
What else could these children have run into -- kidnaped?
One may have hurt him/her self -- a fall, perhaps? If so, what would the other child do? Yell for help? Would the child try to get back home for help and get lost or hurt, too?
I don't like this situation... at all. :-(

 

[tlcya]

I completely understand why authorities have said there is zero evidence they children were abducted.

1. they live in a remote area, how many people with intent to kidnap child(ren) would choose such remote location to do so?
2. they should have been at school, who would know there would be handy children to abduct at home off "ill" from school?
3. there was no evidence found to indicate any other person or vehicle present that morning during the period when according to parents the children went missing.

so if wandered off doesn't track for me, nor does abduction, that tells you where I have pretty much landed. While I am glad to stop straddling the fence, I wish I hadn't landed where I did.

 

[Muddy K]

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.

Sounds to me more like he is saying he will stick to his story of not being involved till his dying day. Not that they will never be found... Very different thing, I think. He doesn't know if he will live for another 5 or 50 years, but either way, he's not changing his story.

All forthcoming JMO

As yet, no one has been named a POI in this baffling, brain-breaking case. One child vanishing is so common, sadly. Two is shocking, at least to me.

As far as I can tell, LE have yet to shift their operational stance away from search/recovery to criminal investigation.

I've read every post and all media provided, watched the related videos. I have no gut impression either way about DM beyond that he seems Iike a blue collar laborer who struggles to earn money, lives in a hard-scrabble home/environment and - until just a couple of weeks ago - helps support a family of five, two of them biologically unrelated to him.

"I will hold that to my last day on this planet." IMO, he may fully understand that, for the rest of his life, no matter the outcome of this case, he will live under the suspicion of having been instrumental in the disappearance of Lilly and Jack. Social media is a quick study that way. His words could simply have come from that awareness.

Regarding the mom, I have an unshakeable queasiness around the fact that she left. I don't understand that choice, so it bothers me.

But let's say, hypothetically, LE shifts to a criminal investigation and both adults in that home come to be viewed/identified as persons of interest. What possible motive could there be to get rid of these two children? And what possible "plan" could let them think they could get away it?

IFs and WHYs, only that. I'm trying to understand what could have happened, as it seems nearly impossible that Lilly and Jack will be found alive.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I completely understand why authorities have said there is zero evidence they children were abducted.

1. they live in a remote area, how many people with intent to kidnap child(ren) would choose such remote location to do so?
2. they should have been at school, who would know there would be handy children to abduct at home off "ill" from school?
3. there was no evidence found to indicate any other person or vehicle present that morning during the period when according to parents the children went missing.

so if wandered off doesn't track for me, nor does abduction, that tells you where I have pretty much landed. While I am glad to stop straddling the fence, I wish I hadn't landed where I did.

4. And they just happened to be passing by at the exact time the kids who should have been at school decided to sneak out of the house and play in the yard?

 

[Skigh]

I completely understand why authorities have said there is zero evidence they children were abducted.

1. they live in a remote area, how many people with intent to kidnap child(ren) would choose such remote location to do so?
2. they should have been at school, who would know there would be handy children to abduct at home off "ill" from school?
3. there was no evidence found to indicate any other person or vehicle present that morning during the period when according to parents the children went missing.

so if wandered off doesn't track for me, nor does abduction, that tells you where I have pretty much landed. While I am glad to stop straddling the fence, I wish I hadn't landed where I did.

I agree ,I do not think I stayed on the fence very long ,but am certainly sitting on the same side of the fence as you for the same reasons.

 

[Bigditch]

Double searches in the woods and zilch. If it isn't abduction via the front door (taken from their home or yard) it might be via the backdoor. Why else would LE keep looking in the same woods.

(Was someone hiding in the woods that day? Did they harm the children? Was it someone Lilly and Jack knew?)

Or sadly, tragic accident. Parents or immediate family members who know what happened and do not trust LE enough to speak up.

 

[FansBlowing]

In addition to looking for the kids' bodies, the searchers are probably looking for disturbed earth where they might have been buried. Or where their bodies might have been burned/cremated. A shrine of some sort would be interesting too. I would think they would try to have the parents' phones tapped. Maybe the grandparents and siblings too.

 

[MollyHarps]

The stepfather since day one has repeated the abduction theory.

I’m beginning to wonder if this is him sewing the seeds as he knows that if they are found they’ll be found quite far away from the current search area.

I hate seeing him being interviewed now as I am of the opinion that he knows exactly where those children are.

 

[appleatcha]

My opinion only: I remember that LE ruled out the possibility that the biological parent we don't know much about could be involved in the children's disappearance very early on in their investigation, but given how little we know about that side of the family (I believe the sources Web Sleuths allows have said nothing at all), I'm having a hard time shaking the thought that someone on that side of the family (or even a friend of someone on that side of the family) could somehow be involved. It seems odd to me, as a layperson, that a noncustodial parent was so quickly ruled out, although I get that Canada keeps information like that more private than LE in the US generally would.

I'm not trying to convince anyone else that this is true; it's just the thought that I keep coming back to. I do realize this is unlikely compared to the possibility that the adults who lived in the home were involved. I guess I just hate to think that the people who saw these children every day and were responsible for their care could have harmed them. No matter what, it's awful, and I'm really hoping for a miracle.

 

[ttjo]

The stepfather since day one has repeated the abduction theory.

I’m beginning to wonder if this is him sewing the seeds as he knows that if they are found they’ll be found quite far away from the current search area.

I hate seeing him being interviewed now as I am of the opinion that he knows exactly where those children are.

Yes. and planting seeds about why the backpack won't be found. it's brown now, so... to me its implying the searchers might miss it Its like telling a hunter they should wear camouflage. or they never found it b/c they were abducted, he called it, but no one listened, right?
" I can't believe no signs of her backpack or Jack's pull up have been found."
same as in the Soto case, suggesting that the school area was a high human traffic area ( which it is not)and how he watched her walk away, rifling through her knapsack looking for headphones. What a joke,
Or in that first interview that J.S. did, they're looking in the fields behind the school, they won't find her," and "I think she was taken."
yup she was taken alright.

You can see the shift in people now. They're losing hope and starting to get angry, and starting to be a little braver in what they say. If they want people to be patient and trust the process and all the flowery stuff they're saying to the public to not rush to judgment, they better start saying more, or they will also be fueling the fire.