Siblings, Jack, 4, and Lilly, 6, disappeared from their family home without a trace – and more than six months later, the worrying search continues as their mum issues a heartbreaking message
It’s been six months since siblings Jack, 4, and Lilly Sullivan, 6, mysteriously vanished from their bedroom – and they still haven’t been found.
Jack and Lilly disappeared from their rural home in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, on May 2, 2025. Their mum, Malehya Brooks-Murray, reported her two young children missing after she believed they wandered off from the family home, where they lived with their mum, stepdad, Daniel Martell, and younger sister Meadow.
According to reports, their mum heard the two children playing in the next room of their home at around 10am, but when she later checked on them, they had vanished. They are thought to have left through the patio door.
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An intensive search for the missing Canadian children was launched, and interviews were conducted. One local resident, Brad Wong, reported hearing a “loud vehicle” driving near the home in the early hours of May 2.
In court documents, RCMP Corporal Charlene Curl wrote that Wong “said his residence is elevated from Daniel’s [Martell] residence and he could see vehicle lights over the treetops.”
It also stated: “He said the vehicle left three or four times after midnight and into the early hours of the morning. He said the vehicle would drive off in the distance and he could hear it stop and then return. He said it remained in earshot the entire time,” reports The Sun.
Another neighbour, Justin Smith, also told police that he heard a vehicle turning around by the railroad tracks near the family’s home at around 1.30am. “[Smith] later spoke with Brad Wong who informed him Daniel’s vehicle came and went five or six times that night. Wong said the car Smith heard was Daniel,” the constable said.
Daniel informed police that he had gone to bed “fairly early” and didn’t wake up until the next morning. He also told police that no one had left the family home, and they didn’t have any visitors on that mysterious day.
Meanwhile, the children’s mum, Malehya, reportedly told investigators that her partner said he stayed up to clean, but wasn’t sure what, as “it wasn’t clean when she got up.”
Despite best efforts, the two young children have still not been found.
Six months since she last saw her children, Malehya wrote a heartbreaking post on Facebook. It read: “As a mother I love my children more than life itself and feel so heart broken not being able to hold my two children Lilly and Jack.
“The longing I have for them to come home back to me is a greater feeling than I could never imagine. There is not one single day, minute, or second that goes by that I am not thinking about my children.”
While various theories of their disappearance have circulated online, it is still thought that they wandered from their home together. Sergeant Rob McCamon said that the case remains a missing persons investigation and there is no evidence of criminal activity at this time.
The search continues, and an intense operation is planned for November 15 in an attempt to find Jack and Lilly, particularly as temperatures drop. Volunteers will join in the search, as arranged by the Canadian organisation Please Bring Me Home.
While the organisation doesn’t usually help in missing persons cases, executive director Nick Oldrieve said they were eager to help. He told Daily Mail: “We feel like there is something we can do to assist because, and it’s likely the last ditch effort for these kids before snowfall hit.
“As fellow Canadians and as a group who run searches for missing people, we offer our group to come and assist. We’ve been on searches before and had successes.”