Search and rescue teams renewed their efforts to find six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan on Saturday and Sunday, covering more ground and focusing on Gairloch Road, near their house.

The siblings have been missing from their Pictou County home since May 2.

“There were a few probability areas around waterways and stuff like that where we put teams back around,” says search manager Amy Hansen.

“Now that they haven’t found anything there, they have to determine their next steps based on tips and investigative leads.”

Hansen said everyone of the hundreds of tips they receive has to be followed.

“They are going to start closest to the children and work their way out,” says Chris Lewis, CTV’s public Safety Analyst and Former OPP Commissioner.

“If those children are not in that bush then what happened to them?”

RCMP scaled back the search on May 7. They said they will review the search effort from Saturday and Sunday to help the investigation. They declined to comment further.

The children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell says he hasn’t given up hope.

“It’s just pure exhaustion at this point, sadness just turns to anger at this point because there are no answers,” Martell said. “I mean I hope every day but the hope just turns into anger because there is nothing.”

The RCMP have not released their plans for the next phase of the investigation but Lewis says the public needs to trust the police.

“This isn’t their first rodeo,” he said. “This is not their first search and not their first major investigation.”

Lewis said the children may not be alive but they still have to be found.

“In terms of any evidence that might be provided and given closure to the family and friends that want to see those kids recovered in some way,” he said.

Premier Tim Houston commented on the search, which has gripped the entire province, on Tuesday.

“It’s hard on the entire community and certainly nationally it’s getting a lot of exposure,” Houston said.

“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.”

Martell says he wants police to exhaust all resources.

“Bring cadaver dogs, they search for anything they can find, I want as much as they can do,” he said.

Search and rescue will only return to the area at the request of the RCMP.

Search and rescue vehicles and personnel are pictured on a dirt road in Pictou County, N.S., during the search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan on May 18, 2025. (Emma Convey/CTV Atlantic)