RCMP say cadaver dogs will be deployed to search for missing N.S. children

Cadaver dogs will soon scour for two children who disappeared from rural Nova Scotia more than four months ago, but RCMP maintain they do not have reason to believe Lilly and Jack Sullivan are dead.

Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, were reported missing on May 2, when police received a 911 call from their mother saying they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne Station, a sparsely populated community in Pictou County about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.

Their disappearance sparked an extensive grid search that spanned 8.5 square kilometres of mostly dense woods and involved about 160 ground search and rescue volunteers, service dogs, drones and helicopters.

But cadaver dogs, trained to pick up the scent of human remains, were not deployed during that search.

On Friday, police said there are “searches planned,” but would not say where and when, citing safety concerns. They did confirm the searches will not happen this weekend. The Mounties did say the searches would be conducted in “areas of highest probability.”

Search and rescue crews and other responders are seen on May 5, 2025, during the ongoing search for Lilly and Jack Sullivan in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County. (Truro & Colchester Code 1 Coverage/Facebook)
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During a media availability Friday, Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said police have taken a number of investigative avenues, including the ground searches, following up on more than 800 tips and reviewing more than 8,000 videos.

Deploying cadaver dogs is a next step in the investigation, he said.

“What’s important to remember is that at this time, we don’t have any definitive information to support that the children are deceased. But we have to keep our minds open and look at all investigative avenues,” said Tremblay.

“This is another example of utilizing all services that are available to our officers and we have to remain patient. I know the public, our officers, want to know what happened and we’re not going to stop until we find out what happened.”

Belynda Gray is the paternal grandmother of Lilly and Jack Sullivan. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)

The children’s paternal grandmother, Belynda Gray, said she wanted to “jump up and down” upon hearing the news Friday. Gray has long called for cadaver dogs to be brought in.

Nevertheless, she feels the investigation is not progressing quickly enough and she’s troubled by the lack of information being provided by police.

“It’s really been a roller-coaster. You get through your days and you just do the best you can.”

Daniel Martell, Lily and Jack’s stepfather, said he has also called for the RCMP to include cadaver dogs in the investigation.

“I’m actually pretty happy about that because it’s been about three months I’ve been asking for them and it’s just been delayed,” said Martell.

Martell said waiting for answers has taken a toll.

“It’s physically exhausting, mentally exhausting, emotionally exhausting, but every day it’s just you wake up and it’s a new day. New hope,” said Martell.

Tremblay said police dogs that were deployed during previous searches are trained to pick up the scent of a living person or someone who had recently died.

Staff Sgt. Stephen Pike, program manager of the RCMP Police Dog Services Training Centre in Innisfail, Alta., said human remains detection dogs are highly specialized and highly trained to detect the distinct odour of decomposition.

None of the roughly six to eight dogs that are in service in Canada are based in Nova Scotia, he said. There is one dog team on P.E.I., but they are not currently operational due to a medical leave.

Sgt. Dave Whalen and his dog Kitt will join Insp. Luke Rettie and his dog Narc to conduct the searches over the coming days and weeks, RCMP said. Both are based in British Columbia.

The two children went missing from this home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, on May 2, 2025. (Josh Hoffman/CBC)

Speaking generally, Pike said cadaver dogs are usually brought in when there is reason to believe decomposition has taken place and other possibilities — such as the person wandering off — have been ruled out.

He said the success of the dogs depends completely on whether the odour is present and being released. If the remains are somewhere airtight, the odour may not be detectable.

There is no definitive timeline on how long the scent can remain detectable, as it depends on the size of the person and environmental factors, said Pike. But he noted a case in which a dog uncovered material related to an investigation two years later from the ocean floor at low tide.

They’re also able to detect scents underwater and underground. Even in challenging environments like septic fields or landfills, the dogs can be effective because human decomposition is unique.

“They don’t rely on the visual. They will take us to that foliage. They will take us to those somewhat concealed or buried or whatnot [areas]. If there’s odour present, the dogs will locate it,” said Pike, who has been a dog handler for 25 years and is not directly involved in the case of Lilly and Jack.

WATCH | RCMP scrutiny of missing children’s mother, stepfather suggests no criminal involvement:

In late August, CBC asked the RCMP if cadaver dogs would be deployed. A spokesperson said any searches for human remains “will be based on information gathered through the ongoing investigation.”

“Officers are continuing to assess information and forensic evidence, including that collected from the large search area,” Cindy Bayers said in an email statement on Aug. 25.

Those items included a pink blanket that was seized on Lansdowne Road early in the search.

Court documents released in late August revealed that as of July 16,

“They’re finally doing something that to me should have been done a couple of months ago at least,” said Gray, whose son Cody Sullivan is Jack and Lilly’s biological father, although he has not been in their lives for three years.