RCMP in Nova Scotia are looking for more video footage of two young children who vanished nearly four weeks ago, and are now confirming the siblings were seen in public with family members the day before being reported missing.
Lilly and Jack Sullivan — aged six and four — were reported missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S. on May 2.
In a Wednesday update, RCMP said they’ve confirmed the two were “observed in public with family members on the afternoon of May 1” based on details they’ve gathered.
Police also said investigators have collected hours of video from the areas surrounding Lansdowne Station.
“We’re now asking anyone who has dashcam footage or video along Gairloch Rd. between 12 p.m. on April 28 and 12 p.m. on May 2 to contact us,” said Cpl. Sandy Matharu, Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, in a news release.
RCMP said investigators have received — and are following up on — more than 355 tips. They’ve also interviewed in excess of 50 people and have more interviews planned “in the coming days.”
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“Investigators remain committed to exploring all possibilities surrounding the children’s disappearance,” RCMP noted in the release.
‘We understand people’s desire for answers’
The children’s disappearance launched a multi-day search that involved upwards of 160 people, including volunteers and agencies from around the province.
The search involved large-scale ground and air operations, as well as the use of an underwater recovery team.
The area around the children’s home is heavily wooded, with terrain made difficult by Hurricane Fiona damage.
RCMP announced on May 7 they were scaling back their efforts, saying there was little chance they were alive.
However, additional searches took place on May 8, 9, 17 and 18.
“Any future searches will be determined based on the course of the investigation,” RCMP said Wednesday.
RCMP have maintained there is no evidence Lilly and Jack were abducted. It’s a comment that criminal expert Jim Hoskins told Global News this week was an interesting detail in the case.
“They gave a clue and they said no abduction. That’s a big statement to make at this early in the game,” said Hoskins, a retired Halifax Regional Police officer and former Major Crimes staff sergeant, who is not working on the Sullivan case.
The disappearance has sparked rampant speculation on social media — much of it targeting the children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, and the children’s mother.
Martell calls it all “nonsense.”
“It will never be enough for people online. Everywhere I go, people stare. That’s something I have to live with until the truth makes its way out — and the truth always makes its way out,” he previously told Global News.
When asked if he had anything to do with the children’s disappearance, he was adamant in his answer.
“I 100 per cent did not and I will hold that to my last day on this planet,” he said.
“RCMP officers from various teams are fully engaged in finding out what happened to Lilly and Jack, and we’re using all tools and resources to determine the circumstances of their disappearance,” said Cpl. Matharu in the release.
“We understand people’s desire for answers and updates. However, as this is an active investigation, we’re unable to discuss details of our ongoing work.”
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