After a weekend of renewed searching for a pair of missing children in Nova Scotia, the province’s premier says the siblings’ disappearance is “weighing heavy” on the minds of people in Pictou County.
Premier Tim Houston represents the riding of Pictou East, where six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan were reported missing more than two weeks ago.
“This is devastating,” Houston told reporters Tuesday.
“They were back out searching again this weekend and I know the authorities are running a professional, thorough search, but this is weighing heavy on the minds of certainly people in Pictou County, but well beyond as well.”
The siblings were reported missing on May 2 from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
The original search began the day the children were reported missing, but was scaled back on May 7, with police saying there was little chance the siblings could have survived several days in the heavily-wooded area.
The RCMP also said it searched bodies of water around Lansdowne Station on May 8 and 9 but didn’t find any trace of the children.
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This past weekend, searchers were back out targeting specific areas around the road where the children’s home is located, said RCMP.
In a Sunday update, RCMP said 115 volunteers came out on May 18 for the renewed search on the ground and in the air.
“This weekend’s search will be carefully reviewed and assessed by investigators and search managers to help in planning any further ground and air search efforts,” the force said.
RCMP declined an interview Tuesday to update the case.
Stepfather responds to social media speculation
The children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, told Global News this weekend he’s thankful for the efforts of authorities and volunteers who are searching for Lilly and Jack.
“I don’t know if they’re out there in the woods, I mean, searchers are doing everything they can, but from the beginning I called for abduction,” he said.
Martell said doesn’t know if police are looking into that possibility, but RCMP have said publicly there is no evidence of abduction.
Investigators have been following up on almost 200 tips and have identified 35 people for interviews.
The disappearance has sparked rampant speculation on social media — much of it targeting Martell and the children’s mother. Martell calls it all “nonsense.”
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.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea and Heidi Petracek
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
