The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are deploying specialized cadaver dogs to search for two children missing for over four months in northeastern Nova Scotia. Six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan were reported missing by their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, on May 2. She told authorities she believed the children had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station. Police arrived at the scene 26 minutes after the report.

Cindy Bayers, a spokesperson for the RCMP, stated in a news release that the Police Dog Services Human Remains Detection Team will conduct searches as part of the ongoing investigation. "This is, however, the first time Police Dog Services teams specifically trained in human remains detection have conducted searches in relation to this investigation," Bayers said.

The family’s mobile home is located along a gravel road surrounded by dense woods. Investigators believe the children may have exited through a sliding glass door on the back patio. In the days following their disappearance, search teams scoured the area, finding minimal evidence, including two small footprints and a piece of a pink blanket confirmed to belong to Lilly.

Documents used to obtain search warrants indicate that the last confirmed sighting of the children was on May 1, when they were captured on video surveillance at a local Dollarama store with Brooks-Murray and Daniel Martell, their stepfather. The RCMP has conducted at least four polygraph tests during the investigation. Both Martell and Brooks-Murray were found to be truthful in their examinations.

On June 10, the children’s step-grandmother, Janie MacKenzie, took a polygraph test, but the results were inconclusive due to physiological issues. The children’s biological father, Cody Sullivan, also underwent a polygraph on June 12 and was deemed truthful.

In July, police announced they were conducting forensic tests on the pink blanket found near the family’s home. Although the blanket was confirmed to belong to Lilly, a sniffer dog dispatched to the area was unable to detect any scent related to the children.

At one point, Brooks-Murray suggested that the children’s biological father might have taken them to New Brunswick. However, after meeting with Sullivan on May 22, police reported that he claimed he did not know what happened to Jack and Lilly. Sullivan stated he had not left his home since the children went missing and had no contact with Brooks-Murray.

Authorities have received hundreds of tips regarding the case, including one from a witness who reported seeing two children walking along the road on the morning of May 2. The witness described the children walking toward a Caucasian woman, estimated to be between 50 and 60 years old, who was near an older model tan or gold sedan with the back door open.