Some ‘items of interest’ located in ‘last-ditch’ search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan
Ontario-based not-for-profit led Saturday’s search over rough terrain along Middle River
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The paternal grandmother of Lilly and Jack Sullivan is grateful for an Ontario-based not-for-profit that made the trek to Pictou County to resume the search for her missing grandchildren.
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But Belynda Gray questioned why it took a group from outside the province to return to the woods, looking for evidence linked to the siblings who have been missing for over six months.
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“I’m disappointed in the community, to be honest. It has to take a group that’s not from this province that’s willing to do this,” said Gray, who made the hour-long drive from her Upper Musquodoboit home Saturday morning to the rendezvous point at Union Hall Community Centre, about 15 kilometres from where the children disappeared.
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“I thought more people in the community would have gotten involved. I know they have their reasons. But there’s a lot of private property signs now that weren’t up on May 2 (the date the children were reported missing). It’s disappointing to see that. Even the ones that can’t search. This is the day that a search is taking place. If you have property, do your own search on your own property so that way we can mark it off, to know that it’s been done.
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“I hope we find something that tells us we’re on the right path.”
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Led by Nick Oldrieve, co-founder of the not-for-profit Please Bring Me Home, about 40 local volunteers divided into six groups congregated at the community hall before combing through a vast, heavily wooded area directly across the road from the children’s home in Lansdowne Station.
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Much of the focus was on a five-kilometre loop along the banks of Middle River.
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“We’re clearing this river system,” Oldrieve told the group inside the small community hall. “We are only here today to work on if they entered the river system, not how they entered it but if they entered Middle River. You are responsible for that square foot around you. Before you take that next step, you must be confident there is nothing in that square foot around you. It’s not a race.”
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Oldrieve called the search a last-ditch effort before the first snowfall.
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“Maybe something can be located before winter,” he said. “We’re going to do our best, but even if we come out and don’t locate anything, we can be confident that they’re not in that portion of the river system. Any evidence is helpful.”
When reached by phone later Saturday, Oldrieve said some “items of interest” were retrieved during the search. But the terrain along the river was impassable in spots.
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“We were able to clear a lot of area, but the problem that we ran into was the terrain and the lack of a cell signal played a factor, just checking in with the groups,” Oldrieve said.
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“Each team did cover roughly five kilometres of the search area. But some of the areas were unreachable. We did locate some items that could be items of interest. It’s too early to tell. We were communicating with the RCMP and there were some things that may be important to them.”
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Oldrieve didn’t disclose what those items were.
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Since its founding in 2018, Please Bring Me Home has assisted in locating 50 missing people. Oldrieve said the organization mainly focuses on historical cases and, for weeks, didn’t want to get involved in the Sullivan case.
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But that changed after speaking to family members.
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“After they reached out to us, we could feel the anxiety from them that winter is approaching,” Oldrieve said.
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“We really felt that the RCMP and search and rescue were doing an incredible job trying to locate these kids. And we felt that from a search perspective, there likely wasn’t very much of a need, but we could certainly push out information on our platforms and people would come forward. But after talking to the family, we wanted to do more.”
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The young siblings’ disappearance sparked extensive searches and a massive investigation led by RCMP that have so far turned up little evidence.
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In September, two RCMP police dogs from Western Canada specifically trained in human remains detection were brought in to search the woods but did not find any remains.
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Natalie Blanchard, a volunteer from Pictou, said it was time for “a different perspective.”
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“The RCMP did a fantastic job, the man hours and cadaver dogs and everything else that was involved,” Blanchard said. “At the end of the day, they weren’t able to find anything. This group does this for a living and they’re working for the community and they want to help find these kids.
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“I noticed water levels have gone up. I thought it was interesting that their thought process was to check the rivers again because if something was submersed, maybe the water levels have brought that out. Maybe a mitten. We’re looking for the children but also any clues that might lead us in that direction.
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“This has been a long process of two children in Nova Scotia that have gone completely off the grid. No trace, no signs. So, anything anybody can do at this point is going to be helpful. I’m glad to see that people are willing to do it, even after so much time has passed. A lot of people think it’s futile at this point. But I’d like to believe that there’s hope.”
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Gray refuses to lose hope but acknowledges that each day that has passed since her grandchildren’s disappearance has been a struggle.
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“It’s been six months, it’s tough,” Gray said as she choked back tears. “It’s something that just doesn’t go away.
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“But this is better than sitting at home doing nothing. I believe there’s things out there that we can find. I would’ve liked to see a whole lot more searches. But I’m glad to see this one. I appreciate everybody coming out.”
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Oldrieve left Pictou County on Sunday morning, on the road home to Ontario. His group might be back in the spring.
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“We’re still involved and we’re going to be involved until the children are found,” he said. “From a social media perspective, we’ll share information. And we’re already scheduling to come back in the spring time, all dependent on what the RCMP does, though.”
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