A sense of heartbreak and urgency continues to ripple across Canada as the search intensifies for Lilly and Jack Sullivan — two young siblings who vanished without a trace on May 2nd from their family’s rural property in Lansdowne Station, Nova Scotia.

Six-year-old Lilly and her little brother, four-year-old Jack, were last seen playing near their home, nestled in a thickly forested area roughly 140 kilometers northeast of Halifax. Since then, not a single confirmed sighting has emerged.

Now, in a dramatic move that underscores the gravity of the situation, Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice has announced a reward of up to $150,000 for information that could help bring the children home — or bring answers to the haunting mystery that has left a province on edge.

“This is every parent’s nightmare.”

Becky Druhan, Nova Scotia’s Justice Minister, issued a heartfelt plea today:

“The disappearance of Lilly and Jack has shaken our communities deeply. Investigators are working day and night. But we need the public’s help. If you know anything, come forward.”

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched an official missing persons investigation within hours of the children’s disappearance. Despite extensive ground and aerial searches involving hundreds of officers, volunteers, K9 units, and drones, no trace has yet been found.

RCMP confirmed that a new coordinated ground search will take place this coming Saturday in an effort to comb areas that may have previously been overlooked or newly relevant due to tips.

What makes this case so chilling?

Unlike most missing children cases, there is no evidence of abduction, foul play, or even a struggle. The children simply… disappeared. The dense woods of Lansdowne Station have become the focal point of the search, but questions remain:

Did they wander too far from home and become lost?

Could someone have taken them without leaving a trace?

Or is something more sinister at play?

Authorities are not ruling out any possibility.

A reward with a purpose

The province has made it clear that the $150,000 reward will be issued based on the investigative value of any tip provided. That means even the smallest detail — something that might seem unimportant — could be the key to unlocking the mystery.

If you have information, contact the RCMP at 1-800-803-RCMP or submit a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

“We just want our babies back.”

As the days stretch into weeks, the Sullivan family remains hopeful — but time is critical. “We believe someone knows something,” said a close family friend. “Even if it seems insignificant, please speak up. Don’t let silence be the reason these children stay missing.”

Nova Scotians — and people across the country — are watching, waiting, and hoping.

That’s how one search volunteer described the baffling disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan, two young siblings who vanished from their rural Nova Scotia home in early May. The mystery has gripped the province and baffled even the most experienced investigators. Now, over two months later, with no confirmed sightings, no forensic evidence, and no trace of the children’s whereabouts, officials have issued a $150,000 reward in hopes of breaking what’s become a case defined by silence.

Lilly, age 6, and Jack, 4, were last seen on the morning of May 2, 2025, at their family’s home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County. According to their mother, the children were playing together in the next room around 10:00 a.m. She stepped away momentarily—minutes, she said—and when she returned, they were gone. The sliding patio door at the rear of the home was open.

Their stepfather, Daniel Martell, later told police that the children had been kept home from school for two days because Lilly had a minor cough. Thursday had been a sick day, and Wednesday a scheduled teacher in-service. That meant the children had not been in the public eye since at least Tuesday, four days before they were reported missing.

That detail—that so much time passed before anyone outside the home saw them—has become central to public scrutiny. And investigators appear to be taking it seriously.

The home backs onto a sprawling stretch of dense woodland, filled with steep ravines, thick underbrush, and wildlife. Search teams, including ground units, canine teams, drones, and helicopters, combed the area for weeks. No footprints. No dropped toys. No items of clothing. Only a single blanket fragment—identified by Martell as belonging to Lilly—was ever found, but even that yielded no usable DNA.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Erica Milburn addressed the public during a press conference last week: “This case remains an active and ongoing investigation. While we continue to explore all possibilities, we are now appealing to the public once again for any information, no matter how small.”

She then announced that the province of Nova Scotia, in partnership with the RCMP and local partners, had approved a $150,000 reward for credible tips that lead to the discovery of the children or information that significantly advances the investigation. It is the largest reward ever offered for a missing child case in the region.

But what happened to Lilly and Jack?

That question has consumed the community, igniting everything from public vigils to online sleuthing campaigns. And in the absence of answers, suspicion has slowly crept in.

Inconsistencies in the parents’ statements have drawn attention. At one point, Martell said the RCMP were called immediately after the children were discovered missing, and that officers arrived within 12 minutes. But timestamps and neighbor interviews suggest a longer delay. A series of text messages he shared during a June livestream included phrases like “kids were not seen at the mall!!” and “RCMP were called before 10:00 a.m. and took 12 minutes to arrive!!” Viewers noted the deliberate punctuation—two exclamation marks here, one there—as if trying to emphasize or defend specific points. It only deepened the questions.

Police have not named any suspects and continue to emphasize that all avenues are being explored. Martell and the children’s mother, Erin Sullivan, have both cooperated with investigators, according to the RCMP. Still, community members have expressed quiet doubts.

A neighbor who participated in the search on Day 3 recalled the eerie quiet behind the house. “It just didn’t feel like a place where two kids went running off to play,” she said. “We’ve searched every inch. I don’t believe they wandered.”

Complicating matters further, several potential witness statements turned up dead ends. A local couple reported seeing a red pickup truck near the forest trailhead the morning of the disappearance, but surveillance footage failed to confirm it. A farmer a few kilometers away thought he saw a young girl on the edge of his property that week—but it turned out to be a neighbor’s child.

Speculation has now turned to the possibility that the children were never outside that morning at all—or at least, not for long. While police haven’t confirmed or denied that theory, recent reports indicate a shift in focus toward digital evidence and call records. Martell’s phone logs have reportedly been reviewed more than once. RCMP have also issued renewed requests for dashcam or surveillance footage from the area between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on May 2.

For Erin Sullivan, the children’s mother, the grief appears immeasurable. In her few public comments, she’s said only that “nothing makes sense” and begged the public not to give up. “My babies are out there. I don’t know how, but they are,” she said at a June candlelight vigil, standing beside posters of her children—Lilly smiling proudly in her yellow raincoat, Jack clutching a toy dinosaur.

Lilly is described as 4’2” with long brown hair and green eyes. Jack is 3’6”, smaller for his age, with short dark hair and a nervous smile. They were last seen in casual clothes—Lilly in a pink hoodie and leggings, Jack in a blue T-shirt and sweatpants. Both children were reportedly barefoot.

The community has not stopped searching. Volunteers continue to organize weekly walks through nearby wooded areas. Flyers remain taped to gas pumps and grocery store doors. Some locals have started tying yellow ribbons to mailbox posts, a small sign of hope in a case now weighed down by fear.

This isn’t just a missing persons report anymore—it’s a haunting. The kind of disappearance that leaves people sleeping with their porch lights on. The kind that makes parents hold their kids tighter at night. The kind that shouldn’t happen in a quiet corner of Nova Scotia, but somehow did.

As the days drag on, the RCMP’s plea is simple: if you know anything—anything at all—please come forward. Your tip could bring Lilly and Jack home. Or at the very least, bring their family the answers they so desperately need.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or the Pictou County RCMP detachment. Tips can be made anonymously. The $150,000 reward remains active.

Somewhere, there is a truth. Somewhere, someone knows what happened that morning.

And until that truth comes out, two children are still missing—swallowed by silence, as if they simply vanished into the woods.

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