Ground search crews depart N.S. community where children went missing
Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were reported missing on May 2
A day after Nova Scotia RCMP announced it was scaling back the search for two missing children, the force's command centre in a rural Pictou County community has been packed up and ground search crews have left the area.
Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, have been missing since May 2, when police received a 911 call reporting that they had wandered away from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, roughly 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow.
Police announced Wednesday that after six days of scouring the heavily wooded areas surrounding the home, there was no sign of the children and it's not likely they are alive.
Staff Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon told a news conference the active search was being "scaled back," but the missing persons investigation would continue.
"So rather than having the large presence here, the massive number of searchers on scene every day, searches will be based on information that comes in," said MacKinnon.
"We're not packing up and we're not giving up. Our investigation is broad and it won't end until we know where Lilly and Jack are and can bring them home."
On Thursday afternoon, all that remained at the RCMP's command centre were a tattered piece of yellow caution tape, a few portable washrooms and tire tracks.
In a statement Thursday, Cpl. Carlie McCann said the force did not have any more information to share about the case.
While RCMP have said some areas that were already searched would be revisited as part of the scaled-back efforts, they would not say Thursday how many searchers or investigators remain involved in the case. A helicopter could be seen flying over the area during the day.
MacKinnon said investigators have not ruled out that the case is suspicious, and noted that RCMP's major crime unit has been involved in the investigation since May 3.
He said all missing persons files "are treated as suspicious until our investigation leads us to determine otherwise."
Daniel Martell, the stepfather of the children, has said he believes Lilly and Jack slipped out their sliding back door while he and the children's mother were in their bedroom with their one-year-old daughter.
In the days after the disappearance, Martell has remained at the home, receiving daily updates from search and rescue officials and speaking to the reporters who descended upon the county of roughly 43,000 people.
He has repeatedly said he believes the children were abducted, but RCMP have said there is no evidence of that.
On Thursday, Martell said he was told that a crew would be searching a nearby lake.
Martell said he spoke with investigators from the major crime unit at the Stellarton RCMP detachment earlier this week, breaking down exactly what happened on the morning of the disappearance, "minute by minute."
He said statements have also been taken from members of his family, who have been at the home over the past week to support him.
"I'm physically exhausted, mentally and emotionally at this point," said Martell in an interview outside his home.
Martell said he willingly handed his phone over to police. He said investigators have also searched the home and "everything I own."
"They searched every rock, every root. Everything," said Martell. "I've been giving them every detail, everything from my bank account statements to all the information that came off my Google maps."
Martell said he has also asked police to give him a polygraph test, which will happen in the next few days.
"I just want to clear it up for everyone, not just the people online making crazy accusations and everything else," he said. "I asked for that early on, and there's not many places that do that in Canada, so they're flying somebody in."
Polygraphs are sometimes used in police investigations, but the results are not admissible in Canadian courts because they are unreliable. RCMP declined to say whether a polygraph would be administered.
"To ensure the integrity of the investigation, no further details will be released at this time," spokesperson Allison Gerrard wrote in an email.
The children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, left the area with their one-year-old to be with her family in another part of the province.
The children's grandmother, Cyndy Murray, spoke to The Canadian Press earlier this week in a brief phone interview, adding that police have advised the family against speaking with the public.
"We're just hoping and praying for the best — that's it — for our babies to come home."
Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial was taking shape at the nearby Stellarton RCMP detachment. A large white teddy bear and bouquet of flowers could be seen resting on a post outside of the building Thursday afternoon.
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With files from Nicola Seguin
