In a quiet corner of rural Nova Scotia, Canada, a family’s nightmare began on the morning of May 2, 2025. Two young children — 6-year-old Lily Sullivan and 4-year-old Jack Sullivan — vanished without a trace from their home on Gerlock Road in the tiny town of Landsdown Station. What began as a typical morning, with the children playing and their mother, Maleia Brooks Murray, drifting back to sleep, quickly spiraled into a search that would involve 160 searchers, K9 units, drones, and helicopters, covering over 5.5 km² of rugged terrain. But despite the extensive efforts, Lily and Jack remained missing, leaving the small town in shock.
Three weeks into the search, authorities are now focusing their attention on a new lead: the trail cameras of a local property owner, Melissa Scott. The footage captured in the days leading up to the children’s disappearance may hold the key to understanding what happened to Lily and Jack, or perhaps even reveal a truth someone is desperately trying to hide.
The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) major crime unit has been involved since the early days of the investigation, but new revelations, such as the footage from Melissa’s cameras, are shifting the focus back to the time before the 911 call was made. The discovery of something crucial on those cameras could change everything.
A Family’s Last Known Moments
The morning of May 2nd began like any other. Lily and Jack had been at home with their mother, Maleia, after she decided to keep them out of school due to Lily’s cough. Maleia was in the middle of taking a nap when she awoke to find that her children were gone. Their boots, left by the sliding door, were the only sign that they had disappeared. No footprints, no screams — just silence.
Maleia and her partner, Daniel Martell, searched desperately for the children in the surrounding area. Daniel, unable to find any sign of them, began driving back roads, hoping for a glimpse of the children, but still — nothing. The couple had no idea where the children could have gone or how they could have disappeared so quickly.
The RCMP launched a massive search operation, using ground teams, K9 units, helicopters, and drones to comb through the thick woods surrounding the family’s property. But despite their efforts, no trace of Lily and Jack was found. The search covered two square miles of dense forest, but the children were nowhere to be found.
The Trail Cameras: A New Lead
Days turned into weeks, and the frustration for Maleia, Daniel, and the community only grew. Then, on May 20th, the RCMP took a significant step in the investigation by focusing on the footage captured by Melissa Scott’s trail cameras. Melissa, who owned a property located 5 kilometers from the Sullivan home, had seven trail cameras set up on her property, capturing footage between April 27th and May 2nd. These cameras may hold the key to understanding what happened in the critical days before Lily and Jack disappeared.
The RCMP visited Melissa Scott’s property to gather the footage from her cameras. They were particularly interested in footage from April 27th to May 2nd, the timeframe in which the children were last seen. Melissa recalled the seriousness of the officers’ visit and was instructed to hand over the footage. But the RCMP’s interest in this specific timeframe raised new questions. Why were they focused on dates as far back as April 27th, five days before the 911 call was made? And why were they now investigating footage from days before the children vanished?
Melissa’s cameras cover a remote dirt road that passes through the woods, only 18 minutes from the Sullivan home. The RCMP confirmed that Lily and Jack were last seen at Salt Springs Elementary on April 29th, but Maleia had kept them home on May 1st and 2nd due to illness. Was there something in the footage from those earlier dates that could explain their sudden disappearance?
Melissa Scott, who had been cooperative, is waiting anxiously for the RCMP to confirm if anything significant is on the footage. Did the cameras catch a stranger lurking in the area? Was there an unfamiliar vehicle driving through the woods? Or, even more chillingly, did someone from inside the Sullivan home appear on camera before the 911 call was made?
The Questions That Remain
The RCMP’s silence on the investigation has only added to the mystery. Why, after three weeks, has the major crime unit become so focused on this new lead? Are they revising their timeline? And why are they now asking for camera footage from earlier in the week? Could they have missed something crucial in the days before Lily and Jack’s disappearance?
These questions have led some experts to wonder if the RCMP is considering new theories. Glenn Brown, a retired RCMP K9 handler, questioned how two young children could simply vanish into the woods without leaving any trace. “It’s hard to believe a 6- and 4-year-old can just disappear like that,” Brown said. “Children that young don’t wander off far. They follow paths, they stay close to home.”
Robert Koester, an expert in lost person behavior, supported this observation, saying that most children who wander off are found within 6.6 km of their home, and 98% are found alive within the first 24 hours. But Lily and Jack had been missing for three weeks, and still, there was no trace of them.
The RCMP’s decision to revisit the timeline and investigate footage from earlier in the week suggests that they are considering other possibilities. Could the children have been seen after they were supposed to be at school? Or could something from that footage expose a lie?
The Shifting Focus: A Family’s Strain
As the investigation continues, tensions within the Sullivan family are rising. Maleia and Daniel’s relationship has come under scrutiny as authorities look for any inconsistencies in their account of events. Daniel has been cooperative, giving up his phone and even volunteering for a polygraph test, but some details don’t add up. How did Daniel manage to search the back roads for hours without a trace of Lily and Jack? And what role did the RV — located on Maleia’s mother’s property — play in the timeline?
Reports indicate that Maleia has left town to stay with family and has blocked Daniel on social media. This unexpected move has raised eyebrows. Why is she distancing herself from Daniel? Is she blaming him for the disappearance, or is she protecting herself from something more troubling?
A Town on Edge
Landsdown Station, a small town of just 100 people, is now at the center of a mystery that has gripped the entire community. In a place where secrets are hard to keep, rumors are beginning to swirl. Some neighbors are whispering about a “party house” in the area, and the local school bus, which stops at the Sullivan home every day, may have witnessed more than anyone realized.
The RCMP’s silence on certain aspects of the investigation has only fueled these whispers. What do they know that they aren’t saying? Is someone in the community hiding something? As the search continues, the pressure on the family, the town, and the investigators only grows.
The Road Ahead: Hope for Answers
As the search for Lily and Jack Sullivan continues, the community remains hopeful that the trail cameras may provide the breakthrough needed to solve this heartbreaking mystery. With each new lead, the tension rises, and the hope that the children may still be found is what keeps everyone moving forward.
The investigation is not just about finding missing children — it’s about uncovering the truth, exposing the lies, and understanding what happened to Lily and Jack. The town of Landsdown Station is holding its breath, waiting for the truth to surface. The footage on those cameras might just be the key to bringing the children home, or it could reveal a much darker reality than anyone could have imagined.
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