SIX months after Jack and Lilly Sullivan vanished without a trace, the case has spiralled into one of the most talked-about mysteries in Canada.
Now, one last search attempt could be the last chance to find them before winter closes in.
The siblings disappeared from their Nova Scotia home on May 2Credit: Novia Scotia Govt
Their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, believes they wandered offCredit: Facebook
Volunteer organisation, Please Bring Me Home, are coordinating a search attemptCredit: Nick Oldrieve – Executive Director of Help Bring Them Home
Nick Oldrieve, executive director of missing persons organisation Please Bring Me Home, is coordinating a search on November 15 to try and find a trace of the children.
And it will be the last search before winter sets in – when the conditions will be too treacherous.
Mr Oldrieve told The Sun: “There’s going to be teams of five who go out and complete certain sections of that middle river, starting at the point where they were last seen.
“If we don’t locate them, then that really is for us this season.
“Not to say that we wouldn’t go and revisit in the spring, and I am sure RCMP will be doing the same thing.”
Jack, 4, and Lilly, 6, disappeared from their bedroom in their family home in Lansdowne Station, Nova Scotia, on May 2.
Their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, believes they wandered off.
But theories of abduction and speculation have flooded social media in the tight-knit community.
Even so, police maintain there is no evidence of foul play.
But some of the most puzzling clues were discovered close to the family home.
Pieces of a pink blanket belonging to Lilly were discovered in different locations – and investigators documented small boot prints nearby.
“You have the pink blanket and the boot prints,” Mr Oldrieve said.
“But how can we say for certain if anyone was involved with them going missing on the day they did?”
Cadaver dogs also scoured a 40-kilometre radius in September but came up empty-handed.
“The absence of clues is a clue in itself,” Oldrieve said.
“Every search that happens kicks the ball further down the line. It does make you wonder, was it misadventure?”
Two neighbours also told police they heard a car coming and going during the night of May 2.
Court documents reveal that neighbours had heard a “loud vehicle” in the early hours of the morning.
But the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said a “thorough review of surveillance footage” returned no evidence of any vehicle activity.
“No driver has been identified, and the presence of a vehicle has not been substantiated,” a RCMP spokesperson confirmed.
Another neighbour said he thought the car belonged to Daniel Martell, the children’s stepfather – a claim Martell has denied.
He told investigators he went to bed early that night and woke only in the morning to discover the children missing.
Despite the lack of answers, the family continues to face intense scrutiny.
Online forums are brimming with speculation about their whereabouts
Please Bring Me Home are focusing on “misadventure” and refuse to be swayed by rumours
Police say presently there is no evidence of foul play
Martell addressed the speculation directly during an emotionally charged vigil held for Jack’s fifth birthday.
“Speculations run wild,” he said.
“But I’d like everybody to know that I’m working with the RCMP’s major crimes unit almost every day, just trying to figure stuff out.”
Polygraph results released in court filings found both Martell and Brooks-Murray were truthful when questioned.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Rob McCamon confirmed it remains a missing persons case and not a criminal investigation.
Mr Oldrieve says that, despite the speculation, his team refuses to be swayed by rumours.
He said: “The reality is we’re sticking with misadventure, which is really the only thing we can get involved with at this time.
“We’re not getting involved in any other theory other than misadventure. The challenge is all of the online noise about this.
“It hasn’t swayed us one bit. We just have to block it out.
“People can have their theories, but for us it’s just misadventure at this time.”
For Brooks-Murray, the waiting is unbearable.
She wrote on Facebook: “As a mother I love my children more than life itself and feel so heart broken not being able to hold my two children Lilly and Jack.
“The longing I have for them to come home back to me is a greater feeling than I could ever imagine.
“There is not one single day, minute, or second that goes by that I am not thinking about my children.”
A $150,000 reward remains in place for any information leading to Jack and Lilly’s discovery.
But with winter approaching, the window to find answers is rapidly closing.
Oldrieve insists his team will keep their focus, despite the testing conditions
“I just can’t see any other logical explanation if it was misadventure where they would’ve been missed other than water,” Oldrieve said.
“I truly don’t know what happened to these children.
“There are still plenty of theories and options out there but Please Bring Me Home has to just be focused on misadventure at this time.”
The search on November 15 is the last chance to find them before winter
A $150,000 reward is available for any information that may lead to their discovery
Malehya Brooks-Murray says not a second goes by when she isn’t thinking about her children
