Drones took to the skies overnight Monday in the search for two children who are believed to have wandered away from their home in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County five days ago.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carlie McCann said four drone operators were on hand for the search, which started last Friday morning when it’s believed Lily Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, strayed from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station.
McCann said drones are effective at night because they use “forward-looking infrared technology” to spot differences in temperature, which can point people toward specific areas for ground searches.
The region in the province’s northeast — about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow — is rural and heavily wooded.
As the drones zipped overhead in the night sky, roughly 60 specially trained ground search and rescue members were combing the area below. Police dogs have also been assisting in the search.
As many as 150 searchers have been scouring during daylight hours. It’s also the first time the Nova Scotia Guard — a provincially organized volunteer group — has been deployed.
Robert Parker, the warden of the Municipality of Pictou County, said everyone is hoping and praying for good news, but as the days pass, “we’re wondering what’s going to happen next.”
He described the mood in the rural region of roughly 43,000 people as “tense.”
“Nobody is giving up yet,” Parker told CBC’s Information Morning Nova Scotia on Tuesday morning. “These children have almost become everybody’s children in this county.”
Parker noted that it’s human nature to jump to conclusions, but he urged the public to temper their comments, especially on social media.
“There’s always people who want to say something that’s hurtful,” he said. “We have to remember kindness.”
Daniel Martell, the stepfather of the children, said the last time he saw the children he and their mother were in their bedroom with their baby on Friday morning.
He said Lily came into the bedroom several times and he could hear Jack in the kitchen. The children must have opened the sliding back door, which is almost silent, and left, he said.
“When we noticed that the children were gone, I immediately jumped in the vehicle, surveyed all the areas, [as] many dirt roads, [as] many culverts as I could and waited for the police to get there,” Martell told CBC News.
On Saturday, the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, spoke to CTV News.
“I’m just staying as hopeful as possible, I want them home, I want to hold them and I want them home,” she told CTV.
She said she appreciates the huge search effort but said she has been pushing for an Amber Alert to be sent.
“Not just that they could possibly be abducted — which it is a possibility that they could have been — but just an alert to let everyone know that they are missing.”
Police said on Friday there is no evidence the children were abducted, so no Amber Alert was issued. But the RCMP issued a vulnerable missing persons alert for Antigonish, Colchester and Pictou counties late Saturday afternoon.
Martell said Jack is in pre-primary and Lily is in primary. He said they were not at school on Friday because Lily had a cough, and they were also home sick from school on Thursday.
He said Jack and Lily are not just siblings — “they’re like best friends.” Jack loves bugs and dinosaurs, and Lily loves “girly things.”
A spokesperson for the Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education confirmed on Monday that the children attend Salt Springs Elementary in Salt Springs.
“During this difficult time, the school has additional support staff on site ready to help staff and students with questions and provide calm coping strategies,” Jennifer Rodgers wrote in an email.
“The school has also shared a message with its families which included a resource guide for parents.”
