70 Days Missing: Where Are Lilly and Jack Sullivan? 🕯️

It’s now been over two months—70 long, agonizing days—since siblings Lilly (6) and Jack (4) Sullivan vanished from their rural home in Lansdowne, Nova Scotia, early on the morning of May 2, 2025. What began as a hopeful search has since become a haunting mystery—one with no answers, no evidence, and no clear direction.

Their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, reported them missing around 10:00 a.m. She told RCMP investigators that she woke up expecting a normal morning, only to find their beds empty and the house eerily quiet. The back sliding door, she noted, was slightly ajar.

“They were outside playing, but we weren’t aware of it at the time,” she said in a tearful local TV interview. “And the next thing we knew, it was quiet. Too quiet.”

The children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, also stated he was asleep at the time. According to him, once they realized the children were gone, he immediately began searching the wooded and gravel-lined property. He covered the surrounding trails and culverts on foot and by ATV. Daniel noted that the children had taken their boots—an important detail in a region known for its rocky terrain—and that Lilly had her white backpack with strawberries on it, often used to carry toys or snacks.

Despite the frantic search that followed, not a single item belonging to the children has ever been recovered.

Massive Search Yields No Clues

The disappearance triggered one of the largest search operations in Nova Scotia’s recent memory. Over 200 volunteers, dozens of officers, tracking dogs, mounted patrols, divers, and infrared-equipped drones scoured over 8 square kilometers of forest, swamps, and gravel roads surrounding the Sullivan home.

The only potential clue? A small boot print found near the edge of a clearing behind the house. The print, photographed and cast in plaster, was consistent in size with a child’s—but due to wind, rain, and overlapping treads, it could not be definitively linked to either Lilly or Jack. Investigators quickly admitted the impression was too degraded to be useful in court.

No discarded clothing, no backpack, no broken twigs with traces of fabric. Not even footprints leading away from the sliding door.

And perhaps most confounding of all: no surveillance footage. Neighbours in the remote Lansdowne area don’t have outdoor cameras, and the home itself had no Ring or similar doorbell system.

Inconsistent Details, No Confirmed Evidence

More than two months later, the only known account of what happened that morning comes from Malehya and Daniel. Both gave statements to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the early hours of the investigation, and both have repeated their version in separate interviews.

Both claim to have been asleep at the time of disappearance.

Both emphasize the silent sliding door, noting it opens “without a sound.”

Both have publicly stated how small and “easy to carry” the children are.

These repeated descriptions have raised eyebrows among armchair investigators and online sleuths, who argue the narrative has remained unusually consistent for a situation marked by trauma and panic. The phrasing—particularly the comment about the children being “easy to take”—has been dissected and debated online.

But perhaps the most perplexing element of the case is not what’s been said—but what hasn’t.

Despite numerous pressers, the RCMP has never publicly classified this as an abduction. From early on, officials insisted that there was “no evidence of foul play.” They reiterated their position on Day 7, then again on Day 30. No amber alert was issued, citing “lack of abduction indicators.”

That position has left many—including some within the local community—deeply unsettled.

“If you’re telling me two kids under the age of seven vanished with no trace, and there’s no sign of a struggle, and no nearby roads for them to wander to… what else could it be?” asked Sarah O’Brien, a volunteer searcher and mother of three. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Family Under Pressure, Public Frustration Growing

In the absence of solid leads, public scrutiny has begun shifting toward the adults in the children’s lives.

Though no one has been named a suspect, the community has noticed a shift in tone from law enforcement—from urgency to measured neutrality. Rumors abound, but facts remain scarce. Malehya and Daniel continue to assert their innocence and remain in the family home.

They’ve participated in multiple interviews and community vigils, though their appearances have grown increasingly rare in recent weeks. Some speculate that they’ve been advised to remain quiet by legal counsel. Others fear they may be retreating due to the growing hostility online.

At a vigil held on June 23, Malehya said through tears, “We just want them home. If anyone knows anything, please—we’re begging.”

Yet for many, frustration is turning into cynicism.

“Seventy days is too long to have zero updates,” says Danica Flynn, a local teacher who helped organize the first volunteer search grid. “It’s like we’re being told to move on without answers.”

Still No Answers — Only Theories

Online forums have exploded with speculation: was this a stranger abduction? A wildlife incident? A cover-up? Some theorists question whether the children ever left the property at all. Others believe the case may involve a custody conflict or a mental health crisis that authorities are quietly managing.

Investigators have remained tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying any theory. Publicly, they maintain the children are still missing and that the case remains open and active. But there have been no press updates since June 12, and media coverage has dwindled.

Still, the question remains as loud as ever:

Where are Lilly and Jack Sullivan?

As summer deepens and the forest grows thicker with each passing day, so too does the uncertainty. The toys in their bedrooms remain untouched. The backpack, the boots, the laughter — all vanished without a trace.

Until there’s a breakthrough, one terrible possibility grows harder to ignore: the truth may be farther away than anyone imagined.