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

[Aurora90]

All I have seen on msm was the Captain stating that the next phase was the clearing of the local lake. Divers are apparently scheduled soon.

Thanks for confirming.

I am surprised this wasn't done sooner, being that there are many autistic kids who go missing only to be found in water.

 

[Loyaloil]

Can we all just agree that the 911 call was made either at 10am or before. We are likely to never know and tbh does it really matter??

 

[katydid23]

I kinda believe him. Of course I’ve been wrong before.

Yah, me too. But....?

 

[Allabouttrial]

Could her Mom be trying to take the focus off her daughter?

What I don't understand is, if they have something to hide then why are they not telling the same story? One is saying they drifted in and out of sleep that morning and didn't see LIly or Jack and the other one is saying they saw Lily a couple of times because she popped her head into the room.

 

[Allabouttrial]

Can we all just agree that the 911 call was made either at 10am or before. We are likely to never know and tbh does it really matter??

Haven't been part of the discussion regarding the 911 call, but I believe establishing a timeline plays a crucial role in most cases.

 

[Belly]

No! There was reportedly a confrontation at the property on the Saturday, and it made perfect sense for the mom of Lily and Jack to leave the grounds! The stepdad and his family owned or rented the property in question for one thing. People are being too quick to judge without reading and taking in all the information in various articles. I would have left also. Read post 958 for further explanation.

Yes, I believe it was stated in a news article that there was a confrontation as her family was accusing the stepdad. So RCMP told her it was best to leave. That explains why she blocked him on social media too.

I was just explaining why, it makes more sense for mom to stay with the grandmother as if children’s aid is involved now, being on the reserve is in moms best interest.

 

[AnnieOakley123]

Haven't been part of the discussion regarding the 911 call, but I believe establishing a timeline plays a crucial role in most cases.

All 911 calls are recorded, so there would be no reason for the mother or stepfather to lie since the call would be time-stamped.

 

[Allabouttrial]

(Emphasis mine) biologically, instinctively, I don’t think many parents of young children would recognize that their individual wellbeing is separate at all from the wellbeing of their child. This balances out as a child gets older in healthy people, but when I say I would die for my child, I know I’m far from alone in that regard. I recognize there’s so much we don’t know about what happened here, but I think it’s fair to be mindful if not too harsh of the choice the mother made here because I think it really does go against what the average person would do. And isn’t that part of what draws us to true crime? An awareness of patterns and the disruption of them?

I have to disagree, as the "average person" can only guess at what they think they would do. I think drawing comparisons with previous cases of missing children would be more advantageous.

 

[Alison]

Im with you on that, I dont want to get all political and distract from whats important but Its not so easy to take kids away in Canada, not anymore, The truth and Reconciliation Commission changed all that. This is what is supposed to happen:

Child welfare

I didn’t realize the family was Indigenous. So yes it would be different children services involved. I also don’t know how that Province works in regards to Child Welfare, however I do know if CAS is involved in Ontario they do give parents ultimatums. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Allabouttrial]

All 911 calls are recorded, so there would be no reason for the mother or stepfather to lie since the call would be time-stamped.

It's not about them lying. The mum says she rang 911 as soon as they realised they were missing, but what if they find forensic data or witnesses that contradict that statement? That's just one example of how timelines matter.

 

[Mauig’ma]

I can’t get these beautiful kids out of my mind. First thing I do when I wake up and before I go to bed is check to see if they’ve been found. None of what’s been said by either parent makes any sense. IMO I think the kids wandered off way before the 911 call. I think the kids are nearby and missed by searchers. There’s a lot of places to hide among all that trash etc on that property. I think le need to research the areas close by. Moo imo

 

[Bethanya85]

I have to disagree, as the "average person" can only guess at what they think they would do. I think drawing comparisons with previous cases of missing children would be more advantageous.

I guess I’m not sure of your point, and we can agree to disagree on how well someone can know themselves, but I don’t personally know of a missing child’s report where the mother relocated within days— certainly less than a week— of the child going missing, let alone this being common behavior. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to simply keep this fact in mind with the case as a whole. It’s not behavior that I’ve ever heard of— that can be a noted fact without anyone being unfair to the parent. Moo

 

[Slamalam]

What I don't understand is, if they have something to hide then why are they not telling the same story? One is saying they drifted in and out of sleep that morning and didn't see LIly or Jack and the other one is saying they saw Lily a couple of times because she popped her head into the room.

I think because the mom was asleep when Lily popped in, and bf/stepdad was awake and saw her.

 

[ilovepierre]

Oohhh ok. I understand now where you are coming from I think. Where I live when 911 is called, the operator asks the nature of the emergency and either transfers to RCMP, Fire or Ambulance.

Yep, that’s how it’s done in my area too. 911 transfers you to the appropriate unit.

My sister had to call 911 earlier this year, and the dispatcher asked if she needed, fire, police, or ambulance.

 

[ilovepierre]

This is the first article I have seen with reference to someone else seeing the kids alive on Tuesday.

Lilly and Jack’s seat – in the front, to the right – has sat empty, with their names still taped above it, since April 29, when Mr. Ward last dropped them off at the end of their dirt driveway after school.

Source:

Disappearance of two children has rocked rural Nova Scotia community

After calling off search and rescue teams for Jack, 4, and Lilly Sullivan, 6, police say they’re zeroing in on specific search areas and investigating possible criminal elements

www.theglobeandmail.com

So April 29 would’ve been the last confirmed sighting of the children by someone other than the parents? It would appear that they did go to school on Tuesday that week.

 

[MistyWaters]

So April 29 would’ve been the last confirmed sighting of the children by someone other than the parents? It would appear that they did go to school on Tuesday that week.

No reason to assume this was the last confirmed sighting of the children because the news report doesn’t even state that. However it does confirm they were in school on the Tuesday which puts an end to the false rumour of the children not attending school all the week prior.

 

[derweezy]

If there was belief that both parents were somehow responsible the baby would be apprehended. However, and some food for thought…. If it is believed that only one parent was responsible the other would be given the choice to leave and cut contact or have their child apprehended. This may be the wild horse that dragged someone away.

nothing adds up. If that was the wild horse that dragged her away, she is safe now and it's reasonable to assume that she would have by now share details, suspicions, or an accusation regarding what happened to her kids. If it's true they have searched his, phone, banking, and google maps history, along with him volunteering a polygraph it seems unlikely that he is at least directly responsible for their disappearance. I'm still holding out hope that a relative or family friend took the kids to in their mind give them a better life.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Hey folks, we are Victim Friendly until we can't be. I've heard that WSers don't like having to eat crow.

LE has not indicated that anyone is a POI or suspect. It is fine to question facts as they are presented, but please leave your insinuations/accusations out of this discussion.

from The Rules:

VICTIM FRIENDLY

Websleuths is a victim friendly forum. Attacking or bashing a victim is not allowed. Discussing known victim behavior, good or bad is fine, but do so in a civil and constructive way, and only when such behavior is known to be relevant to the case.

The "victim friendly" rule extends to family members of victims and suspects. Sleuthing family members, friends, or others who have not been officially designated by law enforcement or in mainstream media as a Person of Interest or suspect is not allowed (i.e. Sleuthing out this type of information, and publicly posting their social media, personal information, including names, addresses, and background data -- even if it is public is not allowed and such posts will be removed, along with any posts that encourage such sleuthing).

This does not mean, however, that statements made by family members and other third parties cannot come into discussion as the facts of the case are reported in the media. Members may reasonably discuss what is said in MSM by them or about them, but do not make random accusations, insinuations, suggest their involvement, trash, bash or attack them, or speculate negatively about them.

I thought it might be helpful to bring this back up from earlier in the thread, for those who may have missed it.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

There are train tracks that appear to be about 400 to 500 meters west of where the children were last seen. According to a schedule put out this year by Nova Scotia public works, the line is still active. I'm curious to know if and when any trains passed through there on Friday, May 2nd. Though, I would imagine the tracks were thoroughly searched as they are within the 4km radius that LE has searched.

edit: Link doesn't want to work

 

[agent902]

Their biological father is not in their life, and those who know the family seem to feel he has nothing to do with the situation.

I've been listening to the scanner archives, to try to infer when the 911 call came in. The problem is that they were already on an active search for a missing kayaker in the same county. So there's radio traffic about transporting teams to their search location, but I don't know which search it pertains to.

The first radio traffic that I *think* pertains to this search, is around 9:47. Dispatch informs them the rail company has been notified they're in the area. (Trains slowing for this search was specifically mentioned in the press conference, when a slow moving train interrupted their Q&A.) I don't think there are train tracks near Eden lake, which was a search focused on the water.

Around 9:58 the RCMP search dog team notified dispatch about finding the footprints. At 10:16 the drone team was en route, looking for a takeoff site. Within 5 minutes, they were coordinating with the helicopter team. The helicopter was there around 10:40.

So it's hard to say exactly when the 911 call came in. It was before 10 am. But they were directing resources there very quickly, some diverted from a nearby active search.

Rural RCMP aren't usually sitting at the station, just waiting for calls. They're usually working out of their cars, patrolling wide areas. So the first officer there may not have been coming from either of the aforementioned detachment offices. They could've been closer, or further away.

The coordination of this effort was massive, and impressive. They put full steam into it right away. The children not being found, really doesn't seem to be from any slowness in responding.