RCMP to provide update on search for missing N.S. children

The RCMP will soon provide an update on the search for two children who are believed to have wandered away from their home in northeastern Nova Scotia six days ago.

The Mounties are expected to hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. AT.

As many as 140 crew members have been involved in the search each day for six-year-old Lily Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan, who police believe wandered from their rural home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station last Friday morning.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Josh Wiese, the incident commander, said some of the searchers have been there since Day 1.

“They’re tired and they’re optimistic. They have one job. This is all search and rescue does is they try and bring people home safely,” Wiese said on Tuesday near the search area, about 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow.

“They’re trying to stay on mission. They’re sacrificing their personal lives. They’re sacrificing a lot to be here to try and help this family out to bring these two children home.”

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carlie McCann said crews were expected to continue searching late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning “with the tools and resources that are identified as being necessary.”

On Tuesday afternoon, McCann said the case remains a missing persons investigation.

“Police are pursuing all investigative avenues and there’s a variety of teams involved who are applying the tools and the skills and the expertise needed to locate and and bring Lily and Jack home,” she said.

Drones took to the skies late Monday and into Tuesday, using “forward-looking infrared technology” to spot differences in temperature, which can point people toward specific areas for ground searches.

But McCann would not say if there’s been any sign of the children. She repeated that police were following up on all information as it comes in.

Police dogs and helicopters have also been assisting in the search, and it’s the first time the Nova Scotia Guard — a provincially organized volunteer group — has been deployed. The public has been asked to stay away as crews conduct their work.

Daniel Martell, the stepfather of the children, has said he believes the children 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 have descended upon the rural community.

The children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, left the area to be with her family in another part of the province.

The children’s grandmother, Cyndy Murray, spoke to The Canadian Press 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.”