HALIFAX — Court documents recently released provide new insights into the investigation surrounding the disappearance of two children from rural northeastern Nova Scotia. Six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan have been missing for over three months. The documents reveal initial police assessments of polygraph tests administered to the children's parents, as well as the discovery of a second piece of a pink blanket believed to belong to Lilly.

The information comes from court applications filed by investigators seeking permission to search phone records, banking records, and video footage related to the case. These documents contain unverified statements made by police and include redactions. According to a sworn statement by Cpl. Charlene Jordan Curl of the RCMP's Northeast Nova Scotia major crime unit, the children were reported missing by their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, at 10:01 a.m. on May 2. Brooks-Murray indicated to police that she thought the children had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S. Police arrived at the scene at 10:27 a.m.

The last confirmed sighting of the children was on May 1, when they were recorded on video surveillance at a local Dollarama store with Brooks-Murray and their stepfather, Daniel Martell. The RCMP conducted at least four polygraph tests during the investigation. The first two tests were administered on May 12 to the children's parents. Both Martell and Brooks-Murray were deemed truthful in their responses, although specific questions from the tests were redacted in the documents.

An investigator noted, "At this point in the investigation, Jack and Lilly’s disappearance is not believed to be criminal in nature. I do not have reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offense has occurred. Because Jack and Lilly are still missing, polygraph examinations were conducted with the intention of ruling out that possibility."

While polygraph results are not admissible in Canadian courts, they are used as an investigative tool. On June 10, the children's stepgrandmother, Janie MacKenzie, took a polygraph test, but her physiological responses were deemed unsuitable for analysis. The children's biological father, Cody Sullivan, also underwent a polygraph on June 12 and was found to be truthful.

In July, police announced they were conducting forensic tests on a pink blanket discovered in a heavily wooded area near the children's home. The family confirmed the blanket belonged to Lilly. The documents indicate that three family members found the blanket in a tree on Lansdowne Station Road on May 2, approximately one kilometer from the family home. A photo of the blanket was shown to Brooks-Murray and Martell, who confirmed it was Lilly's. A sniffer dog was later deployed to the area but did not detect any scent from either child.

On May 4, another piece of the blanket was recovered from a trash bag at the end of the children's driveway. Police confirmed that both pieces were part of the same blanket. The RCMP has sought numerous court orders, including one for video footage from the Cobequid Pass, a toll highway in Nova Scotia. They are looking for footage of vehicles leaving the province between May 1 and May 3.

On May 3, police received reports suggesting that Jack and Lilly might be with their biological father. Brooks-Murray later told police she suspected Sullivan had taken the children to New Brunswick. When police met with Sullivan on May 22, he stated he had not seen Brooks-Murray or the children in three years and had been paying child support.

Police have received hundreds of tips in the case, including one from a witness who reported seeing two children walking along the road on the morning of May 2. Natasha Haywood described the girl as having dark hair in pigtails and the boy as having dirty blond hair. She noted that the children were walking toward a Caucasian woman in her 50s or 60s, who was near an older tan or gold sedan with the back door open.

Investigators are currently working to determine if the children seen by Haywood were indeed Jack and Lilly. However, the documents state, "None of the tips so far have led to Jack and Lilly’s location or has any information that has been corroborated by the investigation." The investigation remains ongoing.