A makeshift monument for Jack and Lilly Sullivan on Wednesday.Maria Collins/The Globe and Mail
Community members and relatives of two children who disappeared from their Nova Scotia home nearly six months ago gathered outside a local RCMP station Wednesday evening to pay tribute to Jack and Lilly Sullivan and to mark what would have been the little boy’s fifth birthday.
A single blue balloon floated on a string above the makeshift monument of teddy bears, Dinky cars and a pair of girls’ pink dancing shoes outside the Stellarton RCMP station as people signed a giant birthday card for Jack, read poems and spoke about the notorious case of the missing kids that has garnered national and international attention.
Belynda Gray, the paternal grandmother of Jack and Lilly Sullivan, holds a photo taken of the children on their first day of school.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Jack and Lilly’s mother and stepfather reported the kids missing from their home in the backwoods hamlet of Lansdowne around 10 a.m. on May 2. At the time, both Malehya Brooks-Murray and Daniel Martell have said they believed the children put on their boots, opened the sliding back door and left the fenced in backyard while the adults were dozing in bed with their toddler.
Major crime investigators led an intensive search for the children aided by helicopters, drones, hundreds of volunteers and cadaver dogs at the children’s home and in the thick forest that surrounds the sparsely populated stretch of highway connected to a network of dirt roads and trails.
The Warden of the Municipality of Pictou County, Robert Parker, addressed the sombre crowd of a few dozen Wednesday night, saying that the vast majority of the people in the community don’t believe the children wandered into the woods.
“We need the whole community to keep our children safe and think there’s a feeling with all of us right now that we didn’t do our job,” he said. “Something went wrong ... and people need to know what went wrong.”
RCMP find no evidence vehicle was involved in disappearance of Nova Scotia siblings
The children’s paternal grandmother Belynda Gray and their maternal aunt Haley Ferdinand both read poems for Jack and Lilly.
Wearing a shirt with the children’s smiling faces screen printed on it, Ms. Ferdinand said she was at the vigil to keep her niece and nephew’s faces out there. “All the days are the same,” she said in an interview. “You wake up and you go to sleep with the same thing on your mind. You just want answers and we have nothing.”
Six months after the children’s disappearance, the RCMP’s Northeast Nova Major Crime Unit insist the missing persons case hasn’t gone cold. RCMP spokesperson Allison Gerrard said investigators have been and continue to be “deep in the grind of this ongoing investigation.”
“A significant amount of work remains underway,” she said in a statement. “We continue to follow up on all tips, leads and evidence, and urge anyone with information that could assist investigators to contact us.”
Haley Ferdinand, left, and Cheryl Robinson at the vigil for Jack and Lilly Sullivan in Stellarton, N.S.Maria Collins/The Globe and Mail
At Wednesday’s vigil, Pictou County District RCMP Staff Sergeant Curtis MacKinnon told the crowd police have not wavered in their commitment to find out what happened to Lilly and Jack. “This case has truly affected many, as is demonstrated here this evening,” he said.
The children’s stepfather, Mr. Martell, who is now separated from their mother, stood under a bouquet of blue birthday balloons and wiped his eyes as a song written for the missing children was played over a speaker.
“Lilly was a big part of Jack’s birthdays, just like Jack was a part of Lilly’s birthdays,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing I’ll always miss is there was always laughter in the air and they were always so excited for everything.”
Mr. Martell admitted that he’s not the best voice to be speaking for Lilly and Jack “with all the accusations and allegations” that are out there about him, but he said he wants to continue to raise awareness. He said he doesn’t believe the children wandered away from the home anymore, and he also walked back previous statements that Ms. Brooks-Murray was involved in the abduction of her own children, saying he no longer believes that to be accurate.
“I don’t lie,” Mr. Martell said. “Everything I bring forward is in good faith for the children.”
Four-year-old Jack Sullivan, left, and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan, right, in a handout photo.HO/The Canadian Press
The children’s last verified appearance outside the home was the afternoon of May 1 at the Dollarama in the nearby town of New Glasgow with their mother and stepfather.
The three adults on the property at the time – Ms. Brooks-Murray, Mr. Martell and his mother Janie Mackenzie – have told police they heard the children playing the morning of May 2 prior to their reported disappearance.
Both parents have also told police they did not leave the home the night before.
Court documents describe two neighbours who reported to police hearing a vehicle in the early hours of May 2 driving in the vicinity of the home. Police say after reviewing surveillance footage they found no evidence of vehicle activity at that time.
Both neighbours told The Globe and Mail they stand by what they heard.
Daniel Martell signs a birthday card for Jack Sullivan’s 5th birthday at the vigil.Maria Collins/The Globe and Mail
Justin Smith said he was staying at the nearby Lansdowne Outdoor Recreational Park, about a kilometre from the children’s home when he heard a suspicious vehicle travelling Highway 289 and the surrounding dirt roads around 1:30 a.m. “This is the absolute truth,” he said.
Brad Wong reported to police he saw vehicle lights over the treetops from his home and described a loud vehicle coming and going from the area of the trailer three or four times in the early hours of the morning on May 2.
“I definitely stand by what I heard, saw and said,” Mr. Wong told The Globe on Wednesday. “Because it was two children it was the right thing to do to report it.”
Ms. Brooks-Murray was not present at the vigil. Ms. Ferdinand said she was holding a private gathering for Jack’s birthday and spending time with her toddler.