2 Nova Scotia children are still missing. Here's a timeline of the case
Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, disappeared on May 2
It's been nearly a month since two young children vanished without a trace in rural Nova Scotia.
Here's a look back at what's happened since they disappeared.
FRIDAY, MAY 2
Around 10 a.m. AT, six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan are reported missing from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, roughly 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow.
The children's stepfather, Daniel Martell, told CBC News the siblings had been kept home from school that day, and the previous day, because Lilly had a cough. There was no school on that Wednesday because it was a professional development day for teachers.
Martell said while he and their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, were in the bedroom with their one-year-old daughter, Lilly came in and out several times, and Jack could be heard in the kitchen. Shortly after, they could not hear the children.
Martell said he believes the children opened the sliding back door, which he said is nearly silent, and went outside.
The home borders a heavily wooded area with steep banks and thick brush.
At 12:25 p.m. AT, RCMP issue a news release notifying the public about the missing children and asking anyone with information to come forward. Police say they believe the children wandered away from their home, and there was no evidence of abduction.
At 4:55 p.m. AT, the Mounties issue an update, saying the search is ongoing and asking the public to stay away from the area. The news release says a vulnerable missing persons advisory was issued for Pictou County earlier that day.
SATURDAY, MAY 3
Volunteers search through the night. More than 100 people are involved in the search, which includes ground search and rescue, dog services, drones and helicopters.
Officials remain optimistic the children will be found.
At 5:26 p.m. AT, Nova Scotia RCMP issue a wider missing persons alert to Pictou, Colchester and Antigonish counties.
The children's mother speaks to CTV News, saying she is staying hopeful.
SUNDAY, MAY 4
As the search continues for the missing children, their stepfather says he wants authorities to monitor the New Brunswick border and nearby airports in case the children were abducted.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon says 160 searchers are out looking for the children, despite challenging conditions due to heavy rain.
MONDAY, MAY 5
Police and rescue agencies continue to search for the children 24/7.
Nova Scotia RCMP told CBC News searchers located what could've been a footprint on Saturday, and expanded the search effort in that area.
Four drones with thermal imaging technology are used at night to look for heat signatures in the woods.
TUESDAY, MAY 6
Five days since the children were reported missing, a Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson says the case remains a missing persons investigation.
Martell tells CBC News that after their disappearance, the children's mother left the area to be with her family in another part of the province and blocked him on social media.
He said there was an argument between the two families out in the yard of the home that day.
The children's maternal grandmother speaks to The Canadian Press in a brief phone interview.
Cyndy Murray says the family is "hoping and praying" for the children to come home. She also says police advised the family against speaking to the media.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
At 2 p.m. AT, Nova Scotia RCMP announce the search for the missing kids is being "scaled back."
Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon says there hasn't been any confirmed sightings of the children and it is unlikely they are alive.
He says searchers have covered a heavily wooded four-square-kilometre area — roughly the size of Halifax's downtown — and teams will be returning to areas previously searched.
Martell tells CBC News he's exhausted.
THURSDAY, MAY 8
The Nova Scotia RCMP pack up their command centre in Lansdowne Station and most searchers leave the area.
The children's stepfather tells CBC News that he spoke with investigators from the major crime unit at the Stellarton RCMP detachment earlier in the week.
He says he willingly handed over his phone to police and investigators have searched the home.
Martell says he has also asked for a polygraph test, but RCMP decline to say whether a polygraph would be administered.
An RCMP underwater team searches bodies of water in the Lansdowne Station area.
Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial is taking shape at the nearby Stellarton RCMP detachment, where community members are laying stuffed animals and flowers.
FRIDAY, MAY 9, TO MONDAY, MAY 12
On May 9, an RCMP underwater team continues to search bodies of water in the Lansdowne Station area.
On May 12, a supportive community drop-in event is held by Nova Scotia Health at West River Fire Hall.
According to Nova Scotia Health, 17 families attend the event, where SchoolsPlus facilitators lead child-friendly activities, and crisis, outreach and health promotion staff are on hand to offer support and resource navigation.
At 3:04 p.m. local time, RCMP issue a news release correcting the spelling of Lilly's name. The agency had previously been spelling her name as Lily.
TUESDAY, MAY 13
The children have now been missing for 12 days.
At 12:54 p.m. AT, Nova Scotia RCMP issue a release saying they are continuing to investigate the case.
Police say they are following up on more than 180 tips from the public and have identified 35 people to conduct formal interviews with. Those people include community members and those closest to the family.
Police also confirm that an underwater recovery team searched lakes around Lansdowne Station on May 8 and 9, but did not uncover any evidence.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14
No update is provided on the case.
THURSDAY, MAY 15
Nova Scotia RCMP confirm again there has been no evidence to suggest the children were abducted.
FRIDAY, MAY 16
It has now been two weeks since the children were reported missing.
Kevin MacLean of Colchester Ground Search and Rescue says in an interview the search will resume Saturday at Lansdowne Station with volunteers from multiple search and rescue teams.
In a news release Friday evening, RCMP said the search will focus on specific areas around Gairloch Road. The Sullivan home is on this road.
SATURDAY, MAY 17
A search resumed in Lansdowne Station with over 100 searchers scouring areas already covered and expanding into new areas. This will continue into Sunday.
In an interview, Martell said he hoped for a "positive outcome" and that the search teams would find something.
SUNDAY, MAY 18
Around 115 people participated in Sunday's search, which was expected to wrap up around 8 p.m.
Amy Hansen, one of the search managers, did not expect the ground search to continue Monday.
"We're not anticipating continuing tomorrow, but that's a conversation that has to happen with the RCMP incident commander later on in the day," she said.
On Sunday evening, the RCMP confirmed the ground search was ending, for now. In a media release, RCMP said investigators and search managers were reviewing and assessing the weekend's search to determine their next steps.
TUESDAY, MAY 20
Melissa Scott, who lives in the community of Glengarry Station, near the children's home, is visited by two officers from the RCMP's major crime unit asking her for footage from her seven trail cameras scattered around her 16-hectare property.
She was initially asked to give them her footage from May 1 to May 3, but they later expanded their request to include April 27 to May 3.
Scott compiles the footage and hands it over to RCMP on May 22.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
RCMP issue a news release confirming the children were seen in public with family members on the afternoon of May 1, the day before the disappearance.
The Mounties also ask anyone who has dashcam footage or video along Gairloch Road between 12 p.m. AT on April 28 and 12 p.m. AT on May 2 to contact them.
FRIDAY, MAY 30
Martell says he has not lost hope the children will be found.
"Every day when I wake up, it feels like I'm reliving a nightmare," he said in an interview in Lansdowne Station, nearly one month after the children went missing.
RCMP issue a news release that said ground search and rescue crews and police would return to the area over the weekend.
The release says the focus will be on specific areas around Gairloch Road and a nearby pipeline trail, where a boot print was previously located.
SATURDAY, MAY 31
About 75 volunteers resume the search scouring the area where a boot print was found in a previous search.
Amy Hansen of Colchester Ground Search and Rescue says there is no way of knowing if the boot print is even related to the missing children. But she says it is all they have to go on.
Three drones are helping with the search, but poor weather conditions mean that helicopters haven't been able to assist.
SUNDAY, JUNE 1
On the second day of the weekend search, Hansen says searchers are beginning to wear out mentally and physically.
She says nothing new was found in the previous day's search.
Hansen expects the search to be suspended on Sunday evening, barring new information.
"It's getting to the point where maybe they need a little bit of time to recover and deal with the stress and issues like that, and spend time with their own families that they're leaving behind to be out here," she said.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18
The paternal grandmother of Lilly and Jack, Belynda Gray, shared her family's story in the hopes of keeping the case in the public eye.
Gray said she believes the children are no longer alive. She also cleared up online rumours about her son.
She said her son chose to walk away from the children's lives after his relationship with their mother ended. She said he hasn't seen his kids in three years.
THURSDAY, JUNE 19
Martell, Lilly and Jack's stepfather, said he was asked during a polygraph test if he killed the children.
Martell said he was informed that he had passed the polygraph test.
He said a piece of blanket that was found in the early days of the search belonged to Lilly.
"There is more evidence than what the public knows, but I can't elaborate on any of that," he said.
The Nova Scotia government announced a cash reward for information in the disappearance of the Sullivan children.
