Ground search for missing Pictou County kids likely to end Sunday
The ground search for two missing Pictou County siblings is likely to end Sunday, according to a person helping oversee the ground search and rescue effort.
Six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan went missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., on May 2. The sparsely populated area is about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
Initial ground search efforts were called off on May 7, with ground search and rescue teams only returning to the area on Saturday.
Amy Hansen, one of the search managers, said Saturday’s search went very well. She said searchers covered 1.5-square kilometres of area they hadn’t examined before, as well as “higher probability areas” around waterways.
She said the search would probably wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. AT. Hansen she wasn’t aware of anything being found during Saturday’s search effort.
“We’re not anticipating continuing tomorrow, but that’s a conversation that has to happen with the RCMP incident commander later on in the day,” said Hansen.
Hansen said the searchers did not cover as much ground as expected Saturday. She said searchers are being hampered by fallen trees and branches left by post-tropical storm Fiona, which hit Nova Scotia in September 2022.
“The ticks are always a problem,” she said. “We had some fresh bear prints found yesterday … it’s Nova Scotia woods at this point.”
Hansen said 115 people are taking part in Sunday’s search.
Searchers will resume scouring the area near the remote home of two missing Nova Scotia children, Lilly and Jack Sullivan, who disappeared two weeks ago, as questions grow over the RCMP’s handling of the case.
On Saturday, the Sullivan’s stepfather told CBC News he was grateful for the search efforts.