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

[TMich6811]

regardless of what happened here, these searchers are amazing and this is so traumatic for them because of area, service and just the task. Humans can be so amazing.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Posted 11 minutes ago by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia:
“May 5, 2025: The search efforts continued overnight in Pictou County for Lily and Jack Sullivan, who were reported missing on Friday.

Over the last three days, ground search and rescue volunteers and officers have meticulously searched the kilometres in the area around Lansdowne Station where Lily and Jack were last seen. Searchers are diligently keeping track of which specific sections of the ground have been covered and are applying their specialized skills to allow the searchers on scene to stay safe. We continue to ask that the public avoid the search area to allow trained searchers to do their work.”

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[iveyguy]

I wish people would just leave the parents alone unless LE implies they are guilty of something. JMO.

As a parent, I can relate to their circumstances: <modsnip - rumor from social media> Kids playing in the next room while I doze off due to sleep deprivation/illness. Not exactly sure what my kids were wearing this morning, etc. These aren't my best memories or moments as a parent, but I don't find these behaviours suspicious on their own.

I am also very confident that local LE will investigate them appropriately. LE has now spent 3 full days with Mom and Stepdad and has almost certainly talked to or investigated other relatives (including bio dad). LE will start to dig deeper this week and speak to any other person involved in these kids' lives (teachers, Daycare, babysitters, etc.). I expect they have already established a timeline of what happened BEFORE the disappearance (i.e., when was the last time they were seen by someone else).

However, I don't believe that these children have simply been missing near their house for 3+ days with only a "possible footprint" being found. They are wearing flimsy rainboots and the younger one has a pull-up on. If they disappeared "on foot", something would have been found by now, given the size of the search (3.5 km radius). I believe that they had to have disappeared "by car", which greatly complicates the investigation/search.

 

[crussell821]

Should Lily have been in school, being 6? Maybe we are making assumptions there. Jack, being 4, doesn't need to be in school.

I see nothing wrong with parents of three very young children resting late in bed. And maybe someone was even home sick.

Some kids can make themselves cereal or similar from a very young age. They will make it clear if they need help.

These parents just need support and care. They deserve some rest and didn't expect their children to elope from the house.

My kids are 4 and 7, and they get themselves up and grab a snack in the morning until I get out of bed on the weekend. However, I’m up by 9am at the latest. We have a small house and I can hear them in the morning and check in with them.

 

[dotr]

rbbm

Daniel Martell says he believes the children left their home through the sliding back door. (Nicola Seguin/CBC)
''Daniel Martell, who has been in a relationship with the children's mother for three years, told CBC News on Sunday that he feels the police response was not swift enough and that more resources should have been made available.''

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/day-four-may-5-pictou-county-missing-children-search-1.7526454

"Everybody in the community is concerned and worried, but we're all hoping for the best here," said Parker, who has been visiting the search sites each day. "It's hard on the whole community.... It's incredibly tough."

''Meanwhile, the stepfather of the children said he wants authorities to expand their search to monitor the New Brunswick border and nearby airports in case the children were abducted.''

 

[iveyguy]

To add some local context, there are essentially only 4-5 ways that someone can "leave" the province of Nova Scotia.
1. Via car, driving to the province of New Brunswick on the Trans-Canada Highway (appx 90-minute drive from their location).
2. Via commercial plane, from Halifax or Sydney
3. Via private plane, from a small airport
4, Via ferry, to Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island

The stepdad is asking the police to focus on #1 and #3, which makes sense to me. #2 and #4 both require extensive interaction with the public (ferry passengers can't stay in their vehicles during crossing), and a stranger attempting to abduct two children would almost certainly be noticed by caring locals.

 

[Snoop Sister]

It's called Children's Aid Society or better known as CAS, and the laws here are locked down tighter than a drum, to ever find out if CAS has been involved with this family. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest they should/could have been.

jmo

Just to elaborate on Child Welfare in Canada. It’s called CAS in eastern Canada in many places. But in western Canada, it is called child intervention services or child protective services.

 

[tlcya]

"When we noticed that the children were gone, I immediately jumped in the vehicle, surveyed all the areas, [as] many dirt roads, [as] many culverts as I could and waited for the police to get there," Martell said.

Jack was wearing a pull-up, he said, and Lily had a white backpack with red strawberries on it which should be highly visible.

Martell said he wishes the response by the authorities had been a lot faster and that more resources had been made available.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova...ctou-county-missing-children-search-1.7526104

Do we have a timeline (haven't backread yet so it may be several pages back if so) as to when the children were first noticed as missing and, how long the adults spent searching the home and immediate area prior to calling LE, when exactly LE was called, and when they arrived?

It feels off putting for step father to be criticizing LE's response but maybe that is simply MOO

 

[Tealgrove]

I’ve been wrong before but definitely sitting on my hands for now.

These kiddos need to be found. Miracles do happen but.. I’m very concerned

 

[iveyguy]

The best description of the timeline comes from this article: Search continues for two missing Pictou County children

“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.”... Martell said he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were on the scene after being called by the children’s mother."

According to the RCMP, the search began "just after 10 a.m." (on May 2nd): Missing children: Help the RCMP find Lily Sullivan and Jack Sullivan | Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 

[tlcya]

the six year old took her backpack? That doesn't really sound like a wandering off scenario to me.

 

[TMich6811]

The best description of the timeline comes from this article: Search continues for two missing Pictou County children

“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.”... Martell said he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were on the scene after being called by the children’s mother."

According to the RCMP, the search began "just after 10 a.m." (on May 2nd): Missing children: Help the RCMP find Lily Sullivan and Jack Sullivan | Royal Canadian Mounted Police

To previous poster I agree that it seems early to be critical of LE and resources when they have mass resources and this is how fast they responded

 

[tlcya]

The best description of the timeline comes from this article: Search continues for two missing Pictou County children

“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.”... Martell said he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were on the scene after being called by the children’s mother."

According to the RCMP, the search began "just after 10 a.m." (on May 2nd): Missing children: Help the RCMP find Lily Sullivan and Jack Sullivan | Royal Canadian Mounted Police

thank you. I am not sure what delay Mr. Martell is talking about then. Sounds as if he took off immediately in his vehicle and searched roads etc the general vicinity while mom stayed at the residence and phoned LE. By the time he returned home LE was there. I am trying to understand what he refers to as LE's "delay" in responding.

 

[Snoop Sister]

the six year old took her backpack? That doesn't really sound like a wandering off scenario to me.

Yes, I found the backpack taken by the six year old odd as well.

 

[jvb]

Yes, I found the backpack taken by the six year old odd as well.

I find it normal if they were going on an "adventure" or taking snacks

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I don't find it odd. One of my kids has a collection of little backpacks and bags and sometimes takes them to the playground with various toys inside.

 

[tlcya]

I find it normal if they were going on an "adventure" or taking snacks

sorry I should clarify. I would find it normal if this were a planned by two littles adventure. But the two big theories seem to be "wandered off" which would seem more impromptu. Or abducted (I find this the least likely)

 

[Tealgrove]

the six year old took her backpack? That doesn't really sound like a wandering off scenario to me.

Right???

 

[TristanP]

"When we noticed that the children were gone, I immediately jumped in the vehicle, surveyed all the areas, [as] many dirt roads, [as] many culverts as I could and waited for the police to get there," Martell said.

Jack was wearing a pull-up, he said, and Lily had a white backpack with red strawberries on it which should be highly visible.

Martell said he wishes the response by the authorities had been a lot faster and that more resources had been made available.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova...ctou-county-missing-children-search-1.7526104

Do we have a timeline (haven't backread yet so it may be several pages back if so) as to when the children were first noticed as missing and, how long the adults spent searching the home and immediate area prior to calling LE, when exactly LE was called, and when they arrived?

It feels off putting for step father to be criticizing LE's response but maybe that is simply MOO

**Anecdotal only,** but over the years I’ve seen it said by people who do statement analysis that it’s actually more sus when people are praising police efforts yet the children haven't been found yet. I can’t recall the rationale at the moment.

 

[TristanP]

thank you. I am not sure what delay Mr. Martell is talking about then. Sounds as if he took off immediately in his vehicle and searched roads etc the general vicinity while mom stayed at the residence and phoned LE. By the time he returned home LE was there. I am trying to understand what he refers to as LE's "delay" in responding.

There’s a jump in time here that is concerning. Mentioning that the sun was up when Lily came in their room comes across as “it was very early, but the sun was up so it was at least (whatever time the sun is up there).”

Then he says a few minutes later he didn’t hear them and went searching. RCMP is saying the search started at 10 am.

It seems like if she had been in their room merely minutes before they stopped hearing them, it wouldn’t have been noteable that “sun was up”.

I haven’t had a chance to read all the posts here so far - were the kids in preschool/school? Was Friday a school day?