Volunteers Renew Search for Missing Nova Scotia Siblings Lilly and Jack

Dozens of volunteers are set to search for missing siblings Lilly and Jack Sullivan this weekend, more than six months after their disappearance in Nova Scotia. The renewed efforts, spearheaded by the Ontario-based not-for-profit organization Bring Me Home, will focus on the riverbanks along the Middle River in Pictou County.

Search Efforts Intensify

Co-founder of Bring Me Home, Nick Oldrieve, expressed optimism about the search. “I think that if those children wound up in the Middle River of Pictou, then there’s a high possibility we locate them on Saturday,” he stated. Approximately 40 volunteers from the local community will assist in covering a significant area directly across from the children’s home.

Lilly and Jack, aged six and four at the time, were reported missing on May 2, 2023, after their family indicated that they had wandered away from their home located in a densely wooded area. Previous searches conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) included the deployment of two specially trained police dogs in September, which unfortunately did not yield any results.

The search will commence at dawn and continue until dusk, with the possibility of extending into Sunday if necessary. Oldrieve noted that changes in water levels could have affected previous search efforts, suggesting that areas previously submerged may need to be revisited. “If they were underwater at the time of the initial searching along that river, they would have surfaced and they would’ve gone downriver a bit,” he explained.

Community Support and Ongoing Investigations

The local councillor, Donald Parker, voiced support for the search, acknowledging the efforts of the RCMP and search and rescue teams. “The RCMP have done everything they can here, and the search and rescue have done a tremendous job, but they just couldn’t find them,” he said. “If we can get other searchers coming in and whether they find them or not, I don’t know, but at least they’re trying.”

A vigil was held last month to mark Jack’s fifth birthday, during which the children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, expressed his belief that the siblings are not in the woods. “I believe at this point in the case that they’re not in the woods and they didn’t wander into the woods,” he told Global News on October 29. Martell mentioned that he is in regular contact with the RCMP’s major crimes unit to further investigate the case.

The children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, reiterated her determination to find her children, stating, “I will never stop searching for my children until they are found and brought home safe and sound. Someone, somewhere knows something so please bring my babies home.”

As authorities continue to sift through forensic evidence and evaluate over 860 tips and thousands of video files, the renewed community search reflects a persistent hope for answers in this heart-wrenching case.