{"id":1668,"date":"2025-07-17T02:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T02:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/1668\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T02:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T02:56:08","slug":"police-examining-blanket-other-items-found-during-search-for-missing-nova-scotia-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/1668\/","title":{"rendered":"Police examining blanket, other items found during search for missing Nova Scotia children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Jack and Lilly Sullivan were reported missing on May 2.HO\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Mounties say a pink blanket, found on a gravel road near the home of Jack and Lilly Sullivan<\/a> on day one of the search for the missing Nova Scotia children, is one of a variety of seized items that is being forensically examined as part of an \u201cintensive\u201d and \u201cdeliberate\u201d major crime investigation. <\/p>\n

In an update Wednesday, the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit said family confirmed the pink blanket belonged to Lilly, 6, who mysteriously disappeared along with her brother Jack, 4, from their home in Lansdowne more than two months ago. <\/p>\n

The blanket was found off Lansdowne Road, a wooded sparsely populated connector road with no cellular signal. It\u2019s less than a kilometre from the children\u2019s home. <\/p>\n

\u201cPolice are investigating if and how it relates to her and her brother\u2019s disappearance,\u201d said RCMP Corporal Carlie McCann at a media availability Wednesday. <\/p>\n

She said forensic examinations are continuing for all items seized: \u201cThey take a pretty extensive time sometimes to ensure that it\u2019s done thoroughly and properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Missing Nova Scotia children were assessed by child welfare agency months before disappearance<\/a><\/p>\n

RCMP from other provinces are assisting in the missing persons investigation, including a forensics team in Ontario and New Brunswick officers who are helping to interview witnesses, she added.<\/p>\n

However, police declined to say whether they believe the children are still alive, or whether they believe the children met foul play \u2013 reiterating as they have in the past that all avenues are being investigated and that nothing has been ruled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur collective efforts will continue every day until we determine with certainty the circumstances surrounding Lilly and Jack\u2019s disappearance,\u201d said Staff Sergeant Rob McCamon, acting officer in charge of major crime and behavioural sciences, in a statement. <\/p>\n

Jack and Lilly were reported to have wandered off the property of their home on May 2. At about 10 a.m. that day, the children\u2019s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, called 911 to report them missing. <\/p>\n

Both she and the children\u2019s stepfather, Daniel Martell, have told the media they were dozing in the bedroom with their younger child when they awoke to a silent home and went looking for the children. Both have said they presume the children put on their boots, slid open the back patio door and escaped from the fenced-in yard. <\/p>\n

Earlier that same morning, Ms. Brooks-Murray reported the children absent from school because of illness, Mr. Martell has also said. <\/p>\n

Police say the children were observed on the afternoon of May 1<\/a> with family members in public. <\/p>\n

Search and rescue teams, helicopters, drones, police dogs and divers have scoured the thickly wooded forest and nearby lakes surrounding the run-down mobile home where the family lived for the past two years. Search teams have returned to the area several times to zero in particular locations, check abandoned mine shafts and search the septic tank at the home. <\/p>\n

Mr. Martell and Ms. Brooks-Murray have since separated and are no longer in contact. <\/p>\n

Police in their update Wednesday said they are working on 800 investigative tasks, reviewing 5,000 video files, assessing more than 600 tips and interviewing more than 60 people. They say they have also submitted warrants to seize and search materials, and administered polygraph tests to some people. <\/p>\n

Mr. Martell has said he took a polygraph test and performed \u201cfavourably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cpl. McCann said there was only one blanket located and seized early in the investigation. <\/p>\n

Mr. Martell has previously told The Globe and Mail that he found part of the same blanket seized from Lansdowne Road in his week-old garbage around the same time of the discovery. He said this suggests the blanket was planted and that he told police about his discovery.<\/p>\n

Mr. Martell did not respond to a further request for comment on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

The Globe asked RCMP to confirm Mr. Martell\u2019s account but did not hear back by deadline. <\/p>\n

Many of Mr. Martell\u2019s family members, including some of his uncles and his father, live on Lansdowne Road, where the blanket was found. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Jack and Lilly Sullivan were reported missing on May 2.HO\/The Canadian Press Mounties…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}