A councillor in the region of rural Nova Scotia where two children have gone missing says the last four days have been “incredibly tough” on the entire community, as searchers continued to scour wooded areas in Pictou County on Monday.
Lily Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were last seen Friday morning at their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow. RCMP say they received a call around 10 a.m.
Police and search and rescue agencies have been combing the area ever since for the children, who they believe wandered off from their home. They’ve asked the public to stay away as trained searchers conduct their work.
Donald Parker, a councillor with the Municipality of Pictou County, said that has been tough on many members of the community who just want to help. But it’s important to listen to the authorities, he said.
“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.”
About 160 people were still doing their work Sunday despite a rainy forecast that made for some challenging search conditions. RCMP have said searchers located what could be a footprint on Saturday and expanded their search effort in that area.
On Monday, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carlie McCann said the search continued overnight.
“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,” said McCann in an email.
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.
Daniel Martell, who has been in a relationship with the children’s mother for three years, said he feels the police response was not swift enough and that more resources should have been made available.
He said the last time he saw the children he and their mother were in their bedroom with their baby on Friday morning.
He said Lily came into the bedroom several times and he could hear Jack in the kitchen.
The children must have opened the sliding back door, which is almost silent, and left, he said.
“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 told CBC News.
On Saturday, the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, spoke to CTV News.
“I’m just staying as hopeful as possible, I want them home, I want to hold them and I want them home,” she told CTV.
She said she appreciates the huge search effort but said she has been pushing for an Amber Alert to be sent.
“Not just that they could possibly be abducted —which it is a possibility that they could have been—but just an alert to let everyone know that they are missing.”
Police said on Friday there is no evidence the children were abducted, so no Amber Alert was issued. But the RCMP issued a vulnerable missing persons alert for Antigonish, Colchester and Pictou counties late Saturday afternoon.
Martell said Jack is in pre-primary and Lily is in primary. He said they were not at school on Friday because Lily had a cough and neither she nor her brother went to school last week week.
He said Jack and Lily are not just siblings — “they’re like best friends.” Jack loves bugs and dinosaurs, and Lily loves “girly things.”
“If anybody out there has anything, come forward now,” said Martell on Monday in an interview outside the home where the children went missing.
Martell said two boot tracks were found near his home, as well as another nearby, and that is the only evidence authorities have uncovered so far.
A spokesperson for the Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education confirmed on Monday that the children attend Salt Springs Elementary in Salt Springs, N.S.
“During this difficult time, the school has additional support staff on site ready to help staff and students with questions and provide calm coping strategies,” Jennifer Rodgers wrote in an email.
“The school has also shared a message with its families which included a resource guide for parents.”
Maj. Daniel Roode of the Salvation Army said his organization has been providing breakfast, lunch and dinner to the various agencies involved in the search since Saturday.
“We’re going full tilt,” said Roode from a kitchen in Westville, N.S., adding as many as 150 searchers were getting a hearty stew for lunch on Monday.
“We hope to see searchers and police and responders well fed … but we’re hoping most of all that some answers will be found and most of all that those children would be found safe and sound.”
Anyone with information about the children is urged to call Pictou County District RCMP at 902-485-4333.
