Mother Breaks 15-Month Silence After Jack, 4 and Lilly, 6 Vanished in Nova Scotia

Fifteen months. That is how long Jack Sullivan, 4, and Lilly Sullivan, 6, have been missing from a rural home in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and how long their mother stayed publicly silent before deciding she could not wait quietly any longer ²⁵⁶⁸⁹. The children were reported missing on May 2, 2025, from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne, also identified as Lansdowne Station, and have not been found ²⁵⁶⁸⁹. On August 10, 2026, their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, gave an exclusive interview that broke that silence, saying she still believes her children are alive and that she had nothing to do with their disappearance ²³⁸.

Brooks-Murray said she does not believe she is considered a suspect and she continues to hold out hope that Jack and Lilly are still alive ². That account comes from a single broadcast exclusive published August 10, 2026, with further coverage following on August 12 and 13, and it has not yet received broader independent confirmation ²³⁸. The underlying reporting summarized her position in substance, with one headline describing her stance as I need them home: Jack and Lillys mother believes her missing Nova Scotia children are still alive ³. No verbatim direct quotes beyond that headline formulation were provided in the research file, so her position must be understood as reported and paraphrased rather than as a transcript ²³⁸.

Central to her explanation for the long silence is investigators advice. She said she had stayed quiet because investigators advised her not to speak publicly, a claim carried in the broadcast narration and supported in substance, though not quoted verbatim, by the underlying reporting ²³⁸. She now expresses frustration that updates and explanations from investigators have become less frequent as the months have accumulated without answers or physical trace ²³⁸. For a parent more than a year into a disappearance with little trace, the shift is from advised silence to public pressure for information.

The early facts explain why the case drew sustained attention and why it remains difficult. On the day the children were reported missing, a piece of Lillys pink blanket was found hanging from a tree ²⁵⁶¹¹. RCMP Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon was the spokesperson during the initial six-day ground search in May 2025, and the RCMP briefed reporters on that search effort on May 7, 2025 ⁶. The search of the woods found little physical trace of the children, a scarcity that has defined the investigation ever since ²⁵.

By the one-year mark, the Nova Scotia RCMP said it continues an active and comprehensive investigation into the disappearance and asked the public for fact-based tips ⁴⁹. Investigators have stated there are still no reasonable grounds to believe something criminal in nature happened, and no suspects have been identified publicly, a position consistent with the few answers framing in anniversary reporting that investigators still cannot explain what happened ⁵. The investigation remains listed as a priority, and investigators say they remain committed to establishing what happened, but that commitment has not produced a criminal determination or a physical breakthrough ⁴⁵.

The months between the anniversary and the August interview added layers rather than clarity. On March 11, 2026, CBC reported that a second round of polygraph examinations had been conducted ¹¹. On April 26-27, 2026, Brooks-Murray joined a Please Bring Me Home search party for her children, nearly a year after the disappearance ⁷. On April 30, 2026, the RCMP issued its public appeal for fact-based tips as the investigation continued ⁴⁹. Retrospectives around May 1-2, 2026, stressed how unusual the case is, noting that most missing Canadian children are found within days, yet two young siblings vanished simultaneously in a way investigators still cannot explain ⁵⁶.

Readers arriving cold should know about a basic uncertainty in the record. Sources use both Lilly and Lily for the six-year-old, with Lilly appearing most often in primary reporting, while the childrens ages at disappearance, Jack 4 and Lilly 6, are consistent across sources ²⁵⁶⁸⁹. The specific claims that Brooks-Murray was advised by investigators not to talk and her frustration over reduced update frequency come from the broadcast narration and are supported in substance, but not quoted verbatim, by the underlying reporting ²³⁸. That distinction matters because the August account is still a single-source interview rather than a newly corroborated finding about where the children are.