Latest news with #LansdowneStation
CBC
3 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Why this searcher believes missing N.S. kids are in the woods
The search manager in charge of the efforts looking for two missing Nova Scotia children says she believes they are somewhere in the woods. Amy Hansen was part of a team of search and rescue officials that spent 12,000 hours in the thick forest of Lansdowne Station, N.S. She spoke with the CBC's Kayla Hounsell.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Polygraphs, a blanket and a bootprint: New details of investigation into missing N.S. children revealed
"Did you kill Lilly and Jack?" That was the first question Daniel Martell says he was asked during a polygraph test in the case of two missing Nova Scotia children. "I was extremely nervous," said Martell, the stepfather of Lilly and Jack Sullivan, who vanished nearly seven weeks ago. "It's like your stress level is just astronomically through the roof and your body doesn't know what to do because it's not every day the way you're hooked up to machines in an interrogation room where someone asks you questions like that." WATCH | Daniel Martell says he passed police polygraph Martell had offered to take a polygraph test early in the investigation, realizing investigators were likely looking his way in the mysterious disappearance of Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4. On the morning of May 2, police received a 911 call reporting they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, a sparsely populated and heavily wooded area about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax. The disappearance sparked extensive searches that have so far turned up little evidence, as nearly a dozen RCMP units try to piece together what happened to the young siblings. Meanwhile, those closest to the children are revealing new details about a case that has captivated people across the world. Martell said he's gone above and beyond to help police with the investigation, encouraging them to search his family's property, offering up his cellphone and banking information and asking for a polygraph test. "The stepfather is always a prime suspect right off the beginning," said Martell in a recent interview. About three weeks ago, he sat in a large chair and had sensory pads placed under his forearms, buttocks and feet as part of a polygraph test. He said all the questions were presumptive that the children are no longer alive, such as: "Are you an accessory to the murder of Lilly and Jack?" None of the questions assumed the children were taken, he said. In Canada, polygraph tests are used as an investigative tool and are not admissible in court. Martell was informed of his results immediately after. He said the investigator told him: "You did a good job. You passed." The stepfather is one of 54 people who have been formally interviewed as part of the investigation. Some have received polygraph tests, although RCMP will not confirm how many. The children's paternal grandmother, Belynda Gray, has confirmed she was interviewed by police, as well as her son Cody Sullivan. Gray told CBC News they were not asked to participate in polygraph tests. On the first day of the search, emergency responders speaking over a non-encrypted radio channel mention a canine unit being dispatched to a blanket. "Families brought us to a location there not far away that there's a piece of a blanket which the mother says she believes belongs to her daughter, just off the road here," an official said over the radio. Martell confirmed it was a piece of Lilly's blanket. "There is more evidence than what the public knows, but I can't elaborate on any of that," said Martell. He did say it was found on Lansdowne Road near the location of a child-sized bootprint that was discovered around the same time by searchers in the area of a pipeline trail, just over a kilometre from the children's home. RCMP refused to answer questions about the blanket, however the force did confirm the bootprint was believed to be child-sized. Asked if anything of significance has been uncovered in the course of the investigation, RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said there is no evidence to suggest the children were abducted. He also repeated what the Mounties have said all along, that every missing persons investigation is considered suspicious until they have reason to believe otherwise. "Investigators have access to all the resources and all the tools that the RCMP can offer, and even outside the RCMP we have other organizations that are engaged with this investigation," said Tremblay, referring to the National Centre for Missing Persons and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. WATCH | What we know so far: Tremblay said they have received more than 500 tips from the public. "Whether it's a tip that indicates that there could be something that happened elsewhere in the province, elsewhere in the country, we have to follow up on those investigative tips to rule them out. And to this date we haven't had any confirmed sightings," he said. The last time the children were seen was the day before they went missing, when they were caught on surveillance footage with Martell, Malehya Brooks-Murray, who is the children's mother, and their one-year-old daughter, Meadow. Martell said the footage was from a store near Highland Square Mall in New Glasgow, N.S. "The investigators don't see me as part of the disappearance," he said. "I know I have nothing to do with any of it." Amy Hansen was part of a team of search and rescue officials that spent a cumulative 12,000 hours in the thick woods of Lansdowne Station, climbing over and under trees downed during a post-tropical storm in 2022. Hansen said the time and effort that's been put into this case is "pretty much unheard of in this province," and is by far the biggest search she's been involved in during her 22 years in search and rescue. She said searchers weren't just looking for the children, but also clues. "Clue-sensitive is what we call it. They're clue finders," said Hansen, who was the search manager for 10 operational search periods. "We're looking for all the evidence of them going through the area." Conditions were extremely difficult. Hansen describes teams being close enough that they could touch fingertips, but they couldn't actually see each other through the thick brush. Despite the lack of evidence, Hansen still believes the children are in the woods. "They're small. They'd be hiding. They would have crawled underneath something probably when they got tired. They could have gone further than what we searched," she said. "There's all kinds of scenarios unfortunately." Martell said he'd like to see cadaver dogs — which are trained to pick up the scent of human remains — brought in to search the woods. RCMP confirmed in a statement that cadaver dogs have not been deployed as part of the investigation. "Any searches involving the dog will be based on information gathered through the ongoing investigation," the statement said. Hansen said the case has taken a toll on volunteers. "There were members that couldn't bring themselves to call the names," she said. "They just want to find the kids and bring them home, so they're more than willing to keep coming back and keep searching. Unfortunately, at this point, unless something comes up, we're probably not going to be back." MORE TOP STORIES
CBC
10 hours ago
- CBC
Seven weeks later, two N.S. children are still missing. Why wasn't an Amber Alert issued?
Seven weeks after two children went missing from a rural Nova Scotia community, family members are still questioning why an Amber Alert wasn't issued for Lilly and Jack Sullivan. The young siblings have been missing since the morning of May 2, when police received a 911 call reporting they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax. RCMP have said all along that the case did not meet the criteria for the alert, and are now providing more details on the factors that are considered and the process that plays out in such situations. Amber Alerts are a national public notification system used to help find abducted children believed to be in imminent danger. Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay, who works in the RCMP's communications unit, was working the day of the disappearance and reviewed the policy on Amber Alerts. He said the criteria state there must be something to point the public toward, such as a suspect, a person of interest or a vehicle. "You want to direct the public to look for a specific vehicle, to look for that licence plate, to look for that suspicious person, to have a photo of someone or more information to suggest that there was an abduction," said Tremblay in a recent interview. While Tremblay reviewed the policy, it's the risk manager — appointed for every major incident — that ultimately decides if an alert should be sent out. In this case, the force issued two "vulnerable persons" alerts. The first was sent at 12:43 p.m. on the day of the disappearance and was directed to cellphones across a swath of communities in northeastern parts of Nova Scotia's mainland, including Lansdowne Station and New Glasgow. The second was issued at 5:26 p.m. the following day — May 3 — and included a larger area from Truro up to Tatamagouche and stretching across to Antigonish. For Daniel Martell, the children's stepfather, those alerts did not go far enough. He said he asked RCMP to issue an Amber Alert early on, and to position officers at the New Brunswick and P.E.I. borders and the airport, but was told the situation did not meet the criteria. "I think they should have just bent the criteria at that moment," said Martell. "It wasn't just one missing person, but two vulnerable children." 'I didn't kill Lilly and Jack': Stepfather of missing N.S. kids says he passed polygraph 23 hours ago Duration 10:30 Six weeks after two children went missing in Nova Scotia, Lilly and Jack Sullivan's stepfather says he passed a police polygraph related to their disappearance. He spoke with the CBC's Kayla Hounsell. Lilly and Jack's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, posted on her Facebook page the day after the disappearance asking for an Amber Alert to be issued. RCMP have repeatedly said there is no evidence to suggest the children were abducted. But that hasn't quelled the concerns of Belynda Gray, the children's paternal grandmother. She, too, wanted police to issue an Amber Alert, given the children's vulnerability. Lilly and Jack's mother and stepfather have both spoken to the media about how the siblings could have autism, but it has not been diagnosed. Gray says it's unfortunate an Amber Alert hinges on a specific car or person being identified as involved in a disappearance. "These are vulnerable kids," Gray said in a recent interview. "They do have a bit of a learning disability, so that puts them even more vulnerable." Grandmother of missing N.S. kids shares her story — and her son's 2 days ago Duration 8:51 The investigation has included searches of 8.5 square kilometres surrounding the children's home, including wooded areas, the family home, mine shafts, wells, septic systems and lakes. There are 11 RCMP units working on the case, with the major crime unit taking the lead. Formal interviews have been conducted with 54 people, some of whom were administered polygraph tests. Police have also collected hundreds of hours of video from the surrounding area, including dashcam footage of Gairloch Road — where the family home is located — from days before the disappearance. Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia government is offering up to $150,000 for information about the disappearance. On Thursday, Justice Minister Becky Druhan repeated that Amber Alerts involve specific criteria that were followed in this case. She noted they are administered through a national system, so the criteria are standardized across Canada and any changes would be beyond her department's scope. "Right now, we are focused on doing what we can to help support the investigation," said Druhan. "Ther RCMP has asked us to include this case in the major rewards program, and so we're hopeful that that's going to help generate some information that's going to help solve this case." There were eight Amber Alerts involving 10 children issued last year across Canada, according to the RCMP's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains. All of those children were found alive.
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Missing Nova Scotia siblings' grandmother reveals family secrets as mom stays silent
Six weeks after the mysterious disappearance of two young children, their Nova Scotia grandmother believes that her 'babies are gone.' Lilly and Jack Sullivan vanished from their Lansdowne Station trailer home, located 88 miles from Halifax, on the morning of May 2, prompting an extensive search in the surrounding area, including the dense woods near their home. The siblings were last seen with family members in public on May 1, according to the National Post. Since the children went missing, authorities have received nearly 500 tips related to the case. Belynda Gray, their paternal grandmother, has since shared her heartbreak in an interview with CBC News, revealing secrets of her fraught relationship with the children's mother. Gray's son, Cody Sullivan, is the biological father of six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack. Gray explained that Cody and the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, had been in a relationship for about three years before the children's mother decided to end it, citing 'relationship problems.' She claims they were already in little to no contact and was unable to see them for two years after her son and ex daughter-in-law broke up. Now she fears she will never see six-year-old Lilly or four-year-old Jack again. 'My heart tells me these babies are gone,' she told CBC. 'I just want them back. These are everybody's grandchildren. They're not just mine now. It does seem like the whole world cares.' While the investigation continues, the children's mother has stopped speaking publicly, citing police advice not to no longer engage with the media. Following Brooks-Murray's estrangement from the children's biological father, she sought sole custody of the children. Her decision prompted Cody to withdraw from the situation entirely, Gray said. 'When she did that, he said that he was done. He just didn't want any part of it,' Gray told CBC, adding that Brooks-Murray had also confided in her that she 'wasn't happy.' Despite the strained relationship between the parents, the devoted grandmother maintained a strong bond with Brooks-Murray at first. She said the children would often visit her whenever she asked. However, that changed when Brooks-Murray moved in with her new boyfriend, Daniel Martell, who shares a young daughter with Brooks-Murray. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has conducted thorough searches of the home, surrounding grounds, outbuildings, septic systems, wells, mineshafts, and culverts, according to police. Gray and her son Cody have both been questioned by police, as part of a broader investigation that has formally interviewed 54 people, some of whom were subjected to polygraph tests. Martell, the children's stepfather, also underwent a polygraph test and spoke to CBC News about the ordeal. He revealed that police had directly asked him whether he was responsible for the children's deaths, adding that he felt 'extremely nervous.' Martell said he had volunteered to take the test and had even encouraged authorities to search his property early in the investigation. An officer later informed him that he passed the polygraph test, he told the Canadian news outlet. Martell also hinted that there was 'more evidence than what the public knows,' but said he was not allowed to provide further details. He also confirmed that Lilly's blanket had been found on the first day of the search, although this information had not yet been released by police. The blanket was reportedly discovered near a child-sized boot print in the pipeline area. Authorities remain dedicated to uncovering the truth behind Lilly and Jack's disappearance. Sandy Matharu, the lead investigator from the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, emphasized the careful and thorough approach being taken. '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,' Matharu said. '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.' Brooks-Murray and Martell believe the kids went out a sliding back door of the family's home while they fed their baby. Police are reportedly working on the assumption that the children, who are both autistic, wandered off, but their stepdad said he feared they may have been abducted. Brooks-Murray explained that she and Martell thought the children were playing, and they snuck away the short time the couple were occupied. 'We always make sure that we're out there with them, watching them, and they happen to just get out that sliding door, and we can't hear it when it opens,' she said. 'They were outside playing, but we weren't aware of it at the time, and the next thing we knew it was quiet. 'We get up and look outside. We're looking everywhere, yelling for them, and I instantly just called 911. I just had the instinct I needed to call.' Brooks-Murray said her children may have mild autism but were friendly, contrary to rumors online claiming they were non-verbal. 'They're both really happy-go-lucky children. They're so sweet. They talk to anyone. They'll talk your ear off. They will speak to anyone in a store, everyone. They're just extremely sweet kids,' she said. The distraught mother questioned why an Amber Alert wasn't issued, but police said there was no reason to believe they were abducted. Martell told CBC News that he was frightened the children were taken by a stranger. A reward of up to $150,000 (Canadian funds) is being offered by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice to anyone with information about the disappearance of Lilly and Jack.
National Post
a day ago
- National Post
Missing N.S. kids: Reward of up to $150,000 being offered to anyone with information
Article content A reward of up to $150,000 is being offered by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice to anyone with information about the disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan. Article content It has been 'felt across the province and beyond, and my heart goes out to the family, the community and everyone who has been working to find these children since day one,' said Attorney General and Minister of Justice Becky Druhan in a news release on Thursday. Article content Article content The reward is payable in Canadian funds and will be apportioned as deemed just by Druhan as the minister of justice. Law enforcement and correctional agency employees are not eligible for the reward. Article content Article content On the morning of May 2, Lilly and Jack disappeared from their Lansdowne Station home in rural Nova Scotia. There have been extensive ongoing searches in the area, especially in the thick woods near the property where they lived. As of mid-June, police said they had received 488 tips in the case. According to authorities, the siblings were last seen with family in public on May 1. Article content In an interview published on Wednesday, the children's paternal grandmother opened up about what happened. Article content Belynda Gray, who spoke to CBC News, said she hasn't seen six-year-old Lilly or four-year-old Jack in almost two years. Article content Gray's son, Cody Sullivan, is the biological father of the two children. He was in a relationship with the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, for about three years, Gray said. When Brooks-Murray decided to end the relationship, she petitioned the court for sole custody, Gray told CBC. Article content Article content 'When she did that, he said that he was done. He just didn't want no part of it,' said Gray, who also said that Brooks-Murray told her they were 'having problems and she wasn't happy.' Article content Article content The relationship between Gray and Brooks-Murray, however, remained intact. Gray said that Brooks-Murray would bring the children to visit whenever Gray asked. But those visits faded when Brooks-Murray moved in with her new boyfriend, the children's stepfather, Daniel Martell. Martell and Brooks-Murray also have an infant daughter together. Article content 'I was in a state of panic, shock, but in the back of my mind I kept saying, 'Well, they'll find them,'' said Gray. Article content She joined the search in Pictou County. She said she called out for the children, even using her nickname for Jack, 'Jackie boy.' However, after several days, police announced they were scaling back the search and would focus on specific areas.
