-The setting was described: a very rural area, and a cellular dead zone. A hamlet of 100 people. Several abandoned mineshafts and a train that passes by once a day, sounding its horn.
-pregnant with Daniel’s child, Malehya and the children needed a place to live 2 years ago, so the step-grandmother invited them to live in her trailer. The step-grandmother then moved into a camper on her property as the children were too loud.
-the trailer is described as chaotic and rundown, with holes, tarps and clutter.
-outside the partially fenced in backyard, over a steep embankment was a fort where the children played. [My note: the G & M included a photo of toys dotting the forest in that area, and my question would be whether it was easy to watch the children unless you were up over that embankment with them.]
-Daniel said he saw Lilly pop in and out of the bedroom several times that morning they disappeared and at around 9:40 am he and Malehya became concerned because they couldn’t hear the children. Malehya called the police at 10:00 am.
-it was one of the largest searches in NS’s history. Scrutiny revealed that all was not well inside the trailer.
-the article describes what was searched on the property, including a suitcase in the middle of the yard and a dryer outside on the property.
-Malehya texted paternal grandmother Belynda that she didn’t expect that the children would run off. She later messaged her saying she believed they were abducted.
-the article quotes the radio chatter where an officer says that family found a blanket that Malehya confirmed belonged to Lilly. K9s were dispatched to the area, and the RCMP seized the blanket. The blanket was torn and wrapped around the bottom branches of a spruce tree. It was found less than a kilometre from their home, off Lansdowne Road, the road where Daniel’s father and uncles live. [My note: the article doesn’t specifically say whose property it was found on.] Daniel initially told the RCMP that it was NOT Lilly’s blanket.
-the article describes Daniel’s father’s bungalow, cluttered property and the RCMP banging on his door in the early morning hours to search it. He also has an old junk-filled log cabin and several rundown campers on the property. [My note: I’ve lived in the province for about 8 years and have never seen these type of properties with so many inexplicable out-buildings and dilapidated campers.]
-paternal grandmother Belynda says she had never been to the trailer until the children disappeared, but had passed it many times when driving to Halifax. She was surprised by how cluttered and unclean the kitchen and entire property was, believing Malehya to be a neat and clean person.
- Belynda asked Malehya what the children may have been drawn to, and what they may have been interested in doing when they disappeared, but Malehya said she didn’t know. Belynda searched the nearby woods until nightfall and considered sleeping in her car to resume the search the next morning.
-Gairloch Road is described as remote and few people have reason to drive on it. An opportunistic abduction seemed unlikely. Daniel and Malehya said the children would go off with anyone. Daniel said if they were offered food or water from a stranger, they’d go off with them.
-in the late afternoon on Saturday (the second day of the search), Malehya and Daniel’s family clashed. Malehya’s family confronted the possible issue of meth use in the home, and suggested Daniel was responsible for the disappearance. Some of the family were ordered off the property by Daniel’s mother.
-the scene where Malehya left the RCMP update during day 2 was discussed. Malehya became upset as the RCMP updated her on the areas that had been searched. She said she wasn’t feeling well and left to sit in the back of a waiting ambulance, sobbing. Her infant daughter and mother were with her. Daniel asked to speak to her alone, but her mother stood in front of her. Daniel told her to get the —— out of there. Her mother, Malehya and daughter then left in the mother’s car. Malehya then blocked him on social media and they have not seen each other since that day.
-When Belynda learned that Malehya left, it troubled her. She felt Malehya would only leave if she knew the children weren’t coming back.
-Daniel was also upset that Malehya left. He said he was the only person there for the children. He had been the only person that could control, feed and generally take care of them—not Malehya. He said he put the children to bed every night. He recalled what they did on the evening before they went missing, but not what time the children went to sleep.
-a neighbour reported to the RCMP and the G & M that there was strange activity during the night before the disappearance. A loud 5-speed vehicle was heard going back and forth to the trailer about 6 times between midnight and 5 am. They believe it was the same vehicle each time.
-abandoned mine shafts have been searched, and the police have said they plan to search more of them.
-Daniel told the G & M on May 5th that the pink blanket found did not belong to Lilly. He later changed his story and said that blanket had been in his trash and had been planted in the woods. He also added that two of his sweaters went missing after the children disappeared.
-the CPS interaction prior to the disappearance was discussed. The G & M reported that CPS responds to allegations of abuse or potential abuse, or when a child’s welfare is threatened. An unidentified school board employee told the G & M that the children were often dirty and not dressed properly for the weather. School staff provided them with clothes. Jack was photographed with a black eye in September and also had one on a school trip in December (the G & M printed the school photo of him with a black eye in December.)
-Daniel said Jack had black eyes many times, caused by playing and one time by Lilly.
-Daniel told the G & M that CPS became involved because of developmental delays in the children and they were scheduled to be tested for autism when they disappeared. He declined to comment further.
-Daniel said that Lilly had a black eye when she disappeared. The day before she and Jack went missing, Daniel said she injured herself while playing with a toy car.
-the family’s financial pressures were discussed. Daniel’s work hours had been cut. He hadn’t filed his taxes by the April 30th deadline, which prevented Malehya from receiving the children’s baby bonus money (approximately $1900 per month.) Malehya had also stopped receiving child support from Lilly and Jack’s biological father as he was out of work.
-Malehya told Belynda that she had never wanted to live at the trailer and wanted out, as Daniel was controlling.
-Malehya told her paternal grandmother that she had been scared with Daniel, and was not able to come and go as she wanted. He held her down to grab her phone. Malehya told her that Daniel concealed a drug addiction issue during the first year they were together.
-Daniel didn’t respond to those specific allegations, but said he didn’t have drug issues. However, he contradicted himself by saying he had used a variety of drugs and was now attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings, as well as parenting and anger management, and substance abuse courses (to name a few).
-the discussions on social media were reported. Daniel said the rumours are impacting his daily life. However, the G & M found that one social media account connected to Daniel was active in these discussions and fuelling the rumours that the children were abducted.
-Belynda says that in the photos she saw of the children taken in the last two years, they looked thin, malnourished and their lips were dry and cracked. She said that they all failed the children.
www.theglobeandmail.com
