CALGARY — The mother of two Nova Scotia children who have been missing for 15 months says she continues to believe her children are alive and could still be found.Jack Sullivan, 4, and his sister Lilly, 6, disappeared from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., on May 2, 2025. Despite an extensive search and an ongoing police investigation, the children have not been located.In an exclusive interview with CBC, Malehya Brooks-Murray, the mother of Jack and Lilly, said her silence was not a choice, but rather the result of instructions from the RCMP.“I just did whatever they told me to do because I didn't want to jeopardize the case in any way. And I also wasn't ready because I'm continuing to go through extreme trauma and even this is extremely hard for me,” Brooks-Murray said.“I don't feel I owe people anything. If anything, I'm owed answers and to have my children back to me.”She also firmly denied having any involvement in her children's disappearance..During the interview, Brooks-Murray described what she remembers from the morning the children disappeared.She said Lilly came into the bedroom while Brooks-Murray was with her then-partner, Daniel Martell, and their infant daughter.Brooks-Murray said she heard the children playing elsewhere in the home before falling back asleep. When she woke later, she said the house had become quiet.After realizing the children were missing, she and Martell began searching the property. Brooks-Murray eventually called 911 at 10:01 a.m.A large search operation followed, involving police, search-and-rescue personnel, dogs, helicopters and drones. The initial search of the surrounding area was later scaled back after investigators failed to find evidence establishing where the children had gone.Brooks-Murray also discussed the decision not to issue an Amber Alert after her children disappeared. Instead, police issued a vulnerable missing-person advisory.Brooks-Murray said she believes an Amber Alert should have been issued. The RCMP has previously explained that an Amber Alert "requires specific criteria," including information indicating that an abduction has occurred and information that can assist in locating the child and the person responsible..The Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit is leading the investigation into the children's disappearance, after Pictou County District RCMP initially responded to the report. Police have not confirmed that Jack and Lilly were abducted.In its latest public update, the RCMP said investigators were evaluating and prioritizing 1,191 tips and working through 1,534 investigative tasks. Investigators have also examined other information and potential sightings as part of the ongoing investigation.In April 2026, police said the likelihood of the children still being alive was considered “very slim,” while emphasizing that the investigation remained active.The province of Nova Scotia has offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information that helps locate the children. No suspect has been publicly identified in connection with their disappearance.Brooks-Murray said she hopes continuing to speak about her children will help keep their case in the public eye and ultimately lead to information that brings them home.
