Latest news with #LillyJackSullivan
Yahoo
13 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
a day ago
- CBC
N.S. offers $150K for information about disappearance of Jack and Lilly Sullivan
The Nova Scotia government is offering up to $150,000 for information about the disappearance of siblings Lilly and Jack Sullivan, who were reported missing from their rural Pictou County home nearly seven weeks ago. The province announced the reward on Thursday under a program that is typically used to bring to light information that can lead to arrests and convictions in specific unsolved major crimes. Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, were reported missing on May 2 from their Lansdowne Station, N.S., home, but children have still not been found despite extensive searches in the surrounding heavily wooded area and a large RCMP investigation. Police have said they have confirmed the children were with their parents the day before they were reported missing. Anyone who comes forward with information under the rewards for unsolved major crimes programs must provide their name and contact information, and may be called to testify in court. The number to call is 1-888-710-9090.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
New details of investigation into two missing N.S. children revealed
Social Sharing "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 'I didn't kill Lilly and Jack': Stepfather of missing N.S. kids says he passed polygraph 8 minutes ago Duration 10:30 Martell had offered to take a polygraph test early in the investigation, realizing police 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. Disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan: What we know so far 1 day ago Duration 8:24 More than six weeks after two young children disappeared in rural Nova Scotia, police are saying very little. CBC's Kayla Hounsell speaks to family members, the RCMP and search crew members about what we know about the case 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 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."
CTV News
05-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Rescue review: Ground Search and Rescue welcomes consultation with N.S. government
Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) teams in Nova Scotia are busier than ever and now the province is interested in taking a closer look at their growing workload and finding better ways to support them. Halifax GSAR says their call volume has nearly doubled to 31 incidents and 4,440 operation hours logged this year alone, up from 17 calls for service and 2,670 hours during the same time period between April 1 and June 4 in 2024. The team's emergency response work once focused solely on missing persons. That has expanded into a wider range of emergencies. In Halifax GSAR volunteers assist the municipality by doing wellness checks for the city's growing homeless populations and finding shelter for people during a storm. 'We're not just responding to missing persons calls anymore,' said Halifax GSAR chief director Paul Service. 'We're active participants in the fire response, like the wildfire response, and we we're active participants in the flash flooding situation,' One of the largest ongoing search and rescue efforts in the province is for six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan who went missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., on May 2. Colchester GSAR have been leading the volunteer effort in the thick forest around the children's home which expanded beyond the initial search area even after RCMP reduced their exhaustive air, ground and water search. There are 23 GSAR teams across the province and many of the 1,200 trained volunteers have been involved in the search for the missing siblings. Large-scale searches and natural disasters like flash floods and wildfires have tested volunteer search teams but they also face financial challenges. The teams are required to fundraise to keep operations going. 'We're really struggling on the back side,' said Service. 'Volunteers only have so many hours that they can give to the community before it starts to take a toll on them.' In a letter from the province's department of emergency management, deputy minister Sandra McKenzie said they have hired a consultant to determine what kind work the GSAR teams do and assess how the province can better support their effort. 'As we stand up the new department, we are interested to engage with GSAR teams and better understand the evolving role GSAR teams play in Emergency Management,' wrote McKenzie in the letter. That's welcome news for Service, who says there's currently no clear work arrangement in place with the province. 'We're looking for a strategic plan,' said Service. 'We need to know where we are going and how we fit into the equation and from there developing a funding model as to how we can go forward and offer those services.' Funding is crucial right now. Halifax GSAR said they need a new command truck – which comes with a $600,000 price tag. Service says most of their funding comes from the Halifax Regional Municipality which gave them $90,000 last year towards their operating budget. The bulk of their donations come from their annual fundraising campaign which usually brings in $50,000 or more. Dartmouth councillor and police board commissioner Tony Mancini calls search teams essential. He said it's time for better coordination between all levels of government and more support to make it easier for search teams to operate on the ground. 'Policy is part of it and we need to have strong governance and policy around the search and rescue,' said Mancini. 'And even as a municipality I think we can step up our support for them.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
05-06-2025
- CBC
Scammers attempting to cash in on missing Sullivan kids case: SAR group
A Halifax search team warned Tuesday that "fraudulent individuals and organizations" are impersonating them and asking for money under the guise of trying to find Lilly and Jack Sullivan, the two Pictou County children who have been missing since May 2. "Please be advised that we do not request donations via third-party fundraising platforms like GoFundMe or direct messages," the alert from Halifax Search and Rescue said in part. In an interview with CBC's Mainstreet Halifax on Wednesday, Paul Service, the chief director of Halifax Search and Rescue, said the organization recently learned about an online fundraiser purportedly intending to help launch a drone search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan. "At the end of it, it listed Halifax Search and Rescue as a beneficiary of the search if they didn't use all the funding. And certainly, we're not aware of that campaign at all, we're not endorsing it," Service said. He said it's unfortunate that someone would try to take advantage of the case of the missing Sullivan children, but he's seen it happen with other high-profile searches. "There's potential opportunity, you know, [there's] high traffic in the media right now on the file, lots of attention — so they're able to generate based off of that interest," he explained. Service said the fake fundraisers tend to originate outside Nova Scotia. He said he's seen one from Ontario and another from the United States. "So they're really not local and that's something that people should be looking for." Service said the latest fraudulent fundraiser was brought to his attention by people who saw it online and asked him about it. The Halifax team gets its funding from the Halifax municipality and the provincial government and also carries out some local fundraising efforts, he said. He pointed out search and rescue organizations hold their fundraisers within the community, citing as examples the Sheet Harbour SAR fish derby and the Pictou County SAR raffle.
