'All scenarios are being considered,' RCMP say, as search continues for missing N.S. siblings
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Mounties have also obtained search warrants 'to seize and examine materials and devices that may provide information useful to the investigation,' it said.
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'We're accessing, evaluating and analyzing a significant volume of information from a variety of sources. We have a very coordinated and deliberate approach to make certain all information is meticulously scrutinized, prioritized and actioned to ensure nothing is missed,' Cpl. Sandy Matharu, investigation lead with the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, said in the release. 'We're committed to doing what is necessary to locate Lilly and Jack and advance the investigation, which may take longer than we all hoped.'
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Daniel Robert Martell, who identifies as the children's stepfather, told The Chronicle Herald earlier last month that he and the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, last heard Jack and Lily on the morning of May 2, as they lay in bed with their baby.
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'The sun was already up and Lily came into the (bedroom),' said Martell.
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'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.'
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Martell said when they noticed the two children were missing May 2, he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were there, having been called by the children's mother.
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Martell is not Jack and Lily's father. He's been Brooks-Murray's partner for three years, though after the children disappeared she reportedly left him and the county with their baby and is staying with family.
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Martell has said that he had been working with Northeast Nova Major Crime, had provided the RCMP with his cellphone and had agreed to take a lie detector test. Martell told CBC he passed that test, so 'you really can't point fingers at me anymore.'
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On the weekend after they vanished, Brooks-Murray told CTV that Jack and Lilly are not typically the type of children who would go outside on their own. 'I just want to remain hopeful, but there's always in a mother's mind, you're always thinking the worst,' Brooks-Murray said at the time.
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A large scale-ground search began immediately after the children were reported missing. Hundreds of volunteers, multiple dogs, drones, an underwater recovery team and several aircraft scoured a heavily wooded 5.5-square-kilometre area before search efforts were scaled back on May 7.
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Several additional searches have taken place since, many of them on weekends.
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'The terrain here in Nova Scotia is very rugged in that area,' Tremblay said.
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On Wednesday, Mounties said the information they have gathered to this point has not identified new search areas.
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Police want anyone with information on the whereabouts of the missing children to call the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-896-5060. 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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