All scenarios being considered, RCMP say 5 weeks after N.S. children disappeared

Aly Thomson · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 2:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

A subordinate of the RCMP's large transgression portion says it's taking "longer than we hoped" to beforehand the probe into 2 missing Nova Scotia children who vanished from a rural community much than 5 weeks ago.

In a quality merchandise Wednesday, RCMP provided an update into the case, detailing the investigative tools that person been employed, the areas that person been searched and the assorted units and agencies present progressive successful the case.

Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, were reported missing from their location successful Lansdowne Station connected May 2, sparking an extended six-day hunt done dense woods that included up to 160 hunt and rescue officials, dogs, helicopters and drones.

The Mounties accidental much than 11 units are moving connected the investigation, including the large transgression unit, integer forensic services, constabulary canine services and its behavioural sciences group, transgression investigation work and information verification section, which works with polygraph tests.

It's besides moving with the National Centre for Missing Persons, Canadian Centre for Child Protection, and provincial and municipal constabulary agencies from Nova Scotia and different parts of Canada.

"We're committed to doing what is indispensable to find Lilly and Jack and beforehand the investigation, which whitethorn instrumentality longer than we each hoped," said Cpl. Sandy Matharu, the probe pb with the Northeast Nova RCMP major transgression unit. 

"We're accessing, evaluating and analyzing a important measurement of accusation from a assortment of sources. We person a precise co-ordinated and deliberate attack to marque definite each accusation is meticulously scrutinized, prioritized and actioned to guarantee thing is missed."

The RCMP said they have extensively searched the Pictou County spot wherever the children went missing, including the home, grounds, outbuildings and nearby septic systems, wells, excavation shafts and culverts.

In a quality league connected Wednesday afternoon, Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay was asked whether abduction is being considered, since police initially said determination was nary grounds the siblings had been taken erstwhile they were archetypal reported missing.  

Tremblay responded that "every missing persons lawsuit is considered suspicious," and he did not code the anticipation of an abduction.

The Mounties accidental they person been pursuing up connected 488 tips they've received from the nationalist and person been granted galore judicial authorizations to prehend and analyse materials and devices that whitethorn supply accusation utile to the investigation.

"The probe is being led by a tenacious, committed radical of investigators who are gathering and assessing accusation regular to larn much astir the circumstances of Lilly and Jack's disappearance truthful we tin find them," said Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon, serviceman successful complaint of large crime and behavioural sciences.

Investigators person collected hundreds of hours of video from areas surrounding Lansdowne Station, including footage taken on Gairloch Road — wherever the children's location is located — betwixt April 28 and May 2.

They person formally interviewed 54 people, and successful immoderate cases polygraph tests were administered.

Tremblay said gathering arsenic overmuch accusation arsenic possible is important successful processing a timeline of the events on the days starring up to the kids' disappearance, though helium would not remark connected the specifics of this investigation.

He said this is modular protocol successful each missing persons cases. 

"You tin get tips and accusation from the days anterior oftentimes, and it tin pb to different investigative avenues," helium said.

The wide-scale crushed hunt was rolled backmost connected May 7, but consequent searches person taken place, including crushed searches around the children's location connected Gairloch Road, underwater searches of bodies of h2o successful the region, and a pipeline trail, wherever a boot people was antecedently located.

RCMP said the accusation gathered truthful acold in the investigation, including the crushed hunt and rescue efforts, has not identified caller hunt areas.