Nova Scotia community ‘hurting’ as search for missing children continues

After more than a week of searching, there’s no sign of two missing Nova Scotia kids.

More than a week after two children went missing in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County, there is still no sign of them.

Six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan were reported missing from their home in Lansdowne Station on May 2.

Police believe the children wandered into the woods near their rural home, located roughly 30 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, N.S.

An extensive ground, air and water search lasted six days and involved 160 people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Police announced on May 7 they were scaling back the search, saying there was little chance the children were still alive.

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The RCMP say the search is ongoing, but is focused on smaller, more specific areas.

The municipality’s warden, Robert Parker, says many people in the community are struggling with the unknown.

“There’s a concern about what happened,” he said.

“There’s a lot of apprehension. Do you let your little ones out of sight? Do you let them just play as they normally do?”

The warden is urging the public to avoid speculating online and to be patient as the RCMP continues its work.

“It’s human nature to wonder and even blame when something’s unknown. But I’ve been reminding people to talk about that privately – not on social media,” said Parker. “Public speculation can hurt people. We need to be kind to one another and give the RCMP the time to do their job.”

He adds the community is proud of the effort by search and rescue teams and is hoping for a positive outcome.

“It’s easy to blame the RCMP or search teams when things don’t go the way we hope. But I give them full credit. They used everything: drones, dogs, skilled searchers,” he said. “They tried everything they could for six full days. It’s not for lack of effort.”

Parker said there is a lot of sadness in the community as people wonder what happened to Lilly and Jack.

“Please keep praying for little Jack and Lilly. We still hope they’ll come home alive,” he said. “And if someone did take them, we hope they’re safe and cared for. The community, especially the kids at their school, is hurting. We’re all hoping for answers.”

Police are asking anyone with information on Lilly and Jack’s whereabouts to call the Pictou County District RCMP at 902-485-4333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

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