Mounties seek ‘specific, verifiable details’ one year after Lilly and Jack Sullivan disappeared

Lilly and Jack Sullivan haven't been found since they were reported missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, Nova Scotia home on May 2, 2025. Photo by Courtesy Belynda Gray

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Mounties are still investigating the disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan a year after the children went missing from their home in northeastern Nova Scotia.

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Lilly, 6, and her four-year-old brother, Jack, were first reported missing from their home on Gairloch Road in Landsdowne Station at 10:01 a.m. on May 2, 2025, by their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray. She told police she believed the children had wandered away from their home. That sparked one of the largest searches the province had ever seen, but it has proved fruitless.

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“We appreciate people’s concern and engagement,” Staff-Sgt. Rob McCamon, the officer in charge of Major Crime and Behavioural Sciences, said Thursday in a news release.

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“At this stage of the investigation, what investigators need are specific, verifiable details to work from. Rumour and speculation won’t lead us to Lilly and Jack.”

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RCMP units from across Canada, as well as the National Centre for Missing Persons and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, are helping with the investigation, said the release.

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“This investigation has involved sustained and wide‑ranging efforts over the past year,” McCamon said.

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“Substantial RCMP and partner agency resources continue to be dedicated to this file, and they’ll remain in place until the circumstances surrounding Lilly and Jack’s disappearance are determined with certainty.”

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Judges have given investigators permission to comb through the “materials and digital devices of those closest to the children,” including their phone and banking records, said the release.

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They’ve interviewed 106 people in the case and given several of them lie detector tests.

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The probe has also involved “conducting forensic examinations at the Ottawa-based RCMP National Forensic Laboratory,” said the release.

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Mounties have reviewed 8,132 video files and searchers have gone through about 40 kilometres of territory in the Lansdowne area using cadaver dogs.

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They’ve fielded 1,191 tips in the case and worked through 1,534 “investigative tasks” in the case.

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“All possible scenarios remain under consideration,” said the release.

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“A significant and sustained investigative effort is ongoing. Our investigators, alongside partner agencies, have conducted – and continue to conduct — hundreds of follow‑ups,” McCamon said. “Every credible lead is being actively pursued, and every available resource is being applied.”

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Police want anyone “with fact-based information related to Lilly and Jack Sullivan’s disappearance” to contact the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902‑896‑5060 or online. To remain anonymous, contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll‑free, at 1‑800‑222‑TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips app.

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