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Lansdowne Road near the home of missing kids Jack and Lilly Sullivan in Pictou County, N.S., in May. Police say they are now using cadaver dogs in the investigation.Steve Wadden/The Globe and Mail
Nova Scotia RCMP are deploying dogs that are specially trained to detect human remains in “areas of highest probability” in the search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan, children who mysteriously disappeared months ago from their home in the wooded community of Lansdowne, N.S.
Staff Sergeant Stephen Pike from the Police Dog Service Training Centre in Innisfail, Alta., told reporters Friday that using cadaver dogs in an investigation means there is reason to believe human remains are present.
Cadaver dogs are trained to find lost or hidden dead bodies, using their highly sensitive noses to detect the smell of decomposing human remains. The dogs are trained to detect these odours deep in the ground, in ashes of burned bodies and underwater, said Staff Sgt. Pike, who is not directly involved in the case. They can also locate original scenes after a body has been moved, he added.
“If decomposition materials were left or remain – whether that be on tools, equipment, in the soil – our dogs can indicate,” Staff Sgt. Pike said during a media availability after the RCMP announced that two dog handlers and their animals would be mounting a search for the missing children’s remains.
RCMP say it’s unlikely two children missing in rural Nova Scotia are alive as search efforts are scaled back
Earlier: Two Nova Scotia children are still missing. Here’s a timeline of key events since the siblings vanished
Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, were reported missing from their home by their mother and stepfather more than four and a half months ago. The parents have said they awoke to a quiet home and assumed the children wandered out the back door and into the forest.
Hundreds of ground search and rescue volunteers combed the surrounding thick woods and steep terrain but found no sign of the children, whose last verified appearance outside the home was the afternoon of May 1, the day before they were reported missing. Police also scoured lakes, drained septic tanks and searched abandoned mine shafts in the area.
RCMP spokesperson Cindy Bayers said deploying cadaver dogs at this point aligns with the investigative efforts so far in the missing persons case.
“There is nothing definitive to support the children are deceased, however, the extensive searches to date have obviously not located Lilly and Jack,” Ms. Bayers wrote in an e-mailed statement.
Neither the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, nor their stepfather, Daniel Martell, responded to a request for comment.
The children’s paternal grandmother Belynda Gray welcomed the news of the dog search, but said she wished it would’ve happened sooner.
“It is about time,” she said. “To me it seems to be like a lifetime.”
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Four-year-old Jack Sullivan, left, and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan, right, went missing on May 2, 2025, in the Nova Scotia community of Lansdowne.Supplied/The Canadian Press
When asked why it has taken so long to bring on cadaver dogs, Ms. Bayers said police were reviewing and following up on a large volume of information in the early days of the investigation, including possible sightings of the children.
She said resources were also a factor. There is only one police-trained cadaver dog and handler in the Atlantic region, and that team, based in Prince Edward Island, was unavailable owing to medical reasons.
RCMP Sergeant Dave Whalen and his dog Kitt, and Inspector Luke Rettie and his dog Narc will soon travel from British Columbia to Nova Scotia to begin the search. However, police declined to specify when or where their search would start because of officer safety and the integrity of the investigation.
Police reiterated on Friday that Lilly and Jack’s disappearance continues to be investigated by major crime investigators under the provincial Missing Persons Act, with all scenarios still under consideration.
So far, police say they’ve reviewed more than 8,000 videos from the area, conducted 80 interviews and received more than 800 tips, which continue to come in.
“It’s critical for investigators to remain open to all possibilities to ensure our investigation is fully comprehensive,” said Ms. Bayers.
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Police believe missing siblings Lilly, six, and Jack, four, wandered away from the backyard of their home in Lansdowne.Lindsay Jones/The Globe and Mail
