Amid ‘gaping hole in investigation,’ the search for missing N.S. children continues

Jack and Lilly Sullivan, who were reported missing from their home in Nova Scotia's Pictou County on May 2, 2025, are pictured.

Six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan were last seen at their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., the morning of May 2, and haven’t been seen since.

Former homicide investigator Steve Ryan has been following the case closely and believes the lack of witnesses is likely presenting a major obstacle.

“The story that the mom and the stepdad have provided to the police, was that they woke up and the kids were gone,” said Ryan. “Given that there is no witness to what happened, that leaves a very gaping hole in this investigation.”

After almost a week of searching more than six square kilometres of dense forest, the RCMP called back the 160 ground search and rescue workers.

“The active search efforts to locate Lily and Jack will be scaled back,” Staff SGT Curtis MacKinnon announced on May 7.

Ryan says the search may have been scaled back but a multi-layered investigation is still active.

“There is an awful lot going on behind the scenes, around the clock while the police look for these two children or try to see if there was foul involved in any way,” he said.

In addition to suspecting foul play, kidnapping has not been ruled out.

“The worst-case scenario is they are deceased, and if they are deceased, they need to be recovered,” said CTV News public safety analyst Chris Lewis. “We need to determine if there some criminal act that occurred.”

According to Ryan, missing persons cases are traumatizing for any community, especially a small closely knit area like Lansdowne Station, N.S.

“Everybody is a suspect,” said Ryan. “You’ve got a small community, and they are all peering out of the window looking at vehicles driving by and wondering if this could be the person that took these two children, and they want to know what happened to these two children.”

The longer the Sullivan children remain missing, Ryan says, the more residents from the area will be deeply affected, but can take comfort in knowing the RCMP investigation is ongoing.