Police say they were unable to find any human remains as their investigation into the disappearance of two children in Pictou County continues.
In an update on Wednesday morning, Mounties said two investigators, along with their police dogs, searched for Lilly, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, in Lansdowne Station late last month, covering a total of 40 kilometres, but were unable to find remains.
“The dogs are highly trained to detect and indicate the scent of human remains; therefore, if the dogs did not alert their handlers, it suggests the dogs were never in the presence of human remains odour,” said Staff Sergeant Stephen Pike. “However, this doesn’t definitively rule out the presence of remains in the areas that were searched. It means either the odour is there and couldn’t be detected or the odour isn’t there.”
According to RCMP, more than 860 tips have been received along with over 8,000 video files.
“At this stage, and as we’ve said all along, we’re considering all possibilities,” said Staff Sergeant Rob McCamon. “We’ll keep going until we determine, with certainty, the circumstances of the children’s disappearance and they’re found.”
Five months since disappearance
The siblings have not been seen since May 2, when their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, reported them missing from their rural home in Lansdowne Station, where she lived with her partner, Daniel Martell, the siblings and the couple’s baby.
It prompted a widespread search in the small community as drones and hundreds of search and rescue volunteers and police descended on the area.
They combed through dense, rugged terrain and went back several times to places they wanted to look again, but did not turn up much evidence that could be linked to the children.
RCMP conducted at least four polygraphs during their investigation— the first two were on May 12 with the children’s parents at the detachment at Bible Hill, N.S. Martell’s polygraph “indicated he was truthful,” as did the test for Brooks-Murray that found she was truthful when answering specific questions, although the list of questions is redacted in documents released to The Canadian Press.
The children’s biological father, Cody Sullivan, underwent a polygraph test on June 12 and was deemed to be truthful. According to police, the biological father has not had a relationship or seen the children in three years.
An unidentified investigator’s comment included at the end of a section on the results of both of those polygraphs says, “At this point in the investigation Jack and Lilly’s disappearance is not believed to be criminal in nature.”