Volunteer in search for missing N.S. children cautions against speculating on their fate

Questions remain as the search for Lily and Jack Sullivan in Nova Scotia continues.

HALIFAX — A police investigation is continuing into the disappearance of two young children reported missing last week from their home in northeastern Nova Scotia.

On Wednesday, RCMP Staff Sgt. Robert McCamon, a senior major crime investigator, confirmed detectives have been involved in the case since last Saturday, a day after six-year-old Lily Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan are believed to have wandered from their rural home in Lansdowne Station, N.S.

McCamon said detectives are always involved in missing persons cases to determine if they are “suspicious in nature.”

The search was scaled back Wednesday after the RCMP said there was little chance the siblings could have survived after six days in a densely wooded area, about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, N.S.

Meanwhile, a volunteer who helped with the search is urging the public to avoid harmful speculation.

Salvation Army Maj. Daniel Roode says some people have been “unwisely” speculating about the children’s fate on social media, which he says is creating more stress in the surrounding communities.

Still, Roode says he was reassured by residents’ donations of water and snacks, as his team provided a steady stream of meals to hundreds of search and rescue volunteers tasked with combing through the dense woodlands.

RCMP say some of the areas that have already been searched will receive a second look to make sure no clues have been overlooked, and the Mounties say they may bring in dogs capable of finding human remains.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2025.