Lily and Jack Sullivan Mother: Malehya Brooks-Murray Case Update

Malehya Brooks-Murray called 911 on May 2, 2025, to report her two children missing from their rural Nova Scotia home. Lilly was 6 years old, Jack just 4 — siblings who reportedly loved the outdoors and were known to wander near their family property near Lansdowne Station. What followed was a massive search effort and a string of revelations from court documents that would reshape how the public understood the family behind the disappearance.

Mother’s name: Malehya Brooks-Murray · Disappearance date: May 2, 2025 · Location: Nova Scotia · Stepfather: Daniel Martell · Status: Missing

The following table summarizes the key identifying details for the Sullivan family case.

Who is Lily and Jack Sullivan’s mom?

Malehya Brooks-Murray is the biological mother of Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, the two children reported missing from their family home in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. She is also the mother of an infant daughter, Meadow, who was approximately 16 months old at the time of the disappearance. Brooks-Murray reported her children missing to RCMP on May 2, 2025, at 10:01 a.m., calling from their residence on Gairloch Road.

Background on Malehya Brooks-Murray

Court documents and witness statements obtained through FIPA BC reveal details about Brooks-Murray’s account of events. She told police she tucked the children into bed by 10 p.m. on the night of May 1, 2025, and that an alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. the following morning, prompting her to book the children off sick from school. Brooks-Murray stated to investigators that the children were possibly autistic and known to wander from the property — a detail she shared when reporting them missing. She also noted that their boots were missing from the home.

In media interviews following the search, Brooks-Murray expressed hope for her children’s return. “We just want them home as soon as possible,” she told CTV News. Her family, including her mother, became involved in efforts to locate the children.

Family living situation

The family lived in a rural home about 30 kilometres from New Glasgow, in a forested area that would later challenge search efforts. Brooks-Murray’s live-in partner was Daniel Martell, the children’s stepfather. Documents from FIPA BC indicate Martell and Brooks-Murray had been together approximately three years before the disappearance and had disputes over financial matters. Brooks-Murray also told RCMP that Martell had attempted to block her, hold her down, and on one occasion pushed her — claims that would surface in court filings released publicly in January 2026.

Where were Lily and Jack Sullivan from?

Lilly and Jack Sullivan were from Lansdowne Station, a rural community in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Their family home was located on Gairloch Road, approximately 30 kilometres from the town of New Glasgow. The area is characterized by forested terrain and rural properties, which factored significantly into the search strategy following the children’s disappearance.

Hometown and residence

Surveillance footage confirmed the family was together at a Dollarama store in Truro on May 1, 2025, between 1:53 p.m. and 2:25 p.m. — the last confirmed public sighting of all family members before the children vanished. Truro is a larger town in Nova Scotia roughly an hour’s drive from Lansdowne Station, suggesting the family traveled together that afternoon. The following day, Brooks-Murray called 911 from their Gairloch Road residence to report the children missing.

Nova Scotia context

The rural northeastern setting of Pictou County presented particular challenges for search teams. The forested surroundings and scattered properties made ground searches difficult, though authorities deployed dogs, drones, and helicopters during the large-scale effort on May 3, 2025. Family members who spoke to the media urged authorities to expand searches beyond local forests to provincial borders and transportation hubs, expressing concern that an abduction may have occurred.

Have they found Lily and Jack Sullivan?

As of late 2025, neither Lilly nor Jack Sullivan had been found. The RCMP Northeast Nova Scotia Major Crime Unit, led by investigators including Cpl. Charlene Jordan Curl and Cpl. Sandy Matharu, continues to actively pursue leads in the case. No confirmed sightings or recovery of the children have been reported.

Search efforts

The most intensive search operation occurred on May 3, 2025, involving over 100 people, canine units, drones, and helicopters combing the forested areas surrounding the family home. Items such as clothing and a water bottle were discovered during the search but were later determined not to belong to the children, according to reporting from Crime Timelines. Cadaver dogs were also deployed, though they did not locate human remains.

Brooks-Murray attended the search briefing on May 3 but left midway, sitting in an ambulance before departing with her mother. Court documents indicate she subsequently cut contact with Daniel Martell. The RCMP later narrowed the critical timeline based on parental accounts, establishing that the children were last believed to be seen around 10:00 a.m. on May 2.

Cadaver dog results

Despite the deployment of specialized detection resources, no evidence linking to the children’s location was uncovered. The investigation has relied heavily on witness statements, surveillance footage, and records obtained from digital communications. RCMP have maintained an active public appeal, requesting video footage from the area around the time of disappearance.

Who is the biological father of Lily Sullivan?

The biological father of Lilly and Jack Sullivan is Cody Sullivan, who was estranged from the family at the time of the disappearance. According to multiple sources including True Crime Society and Wikipedia, Cody Sullivan had not seen his children in approximately three years prior to May 2025. When Brooks-Murray called police on May 3, 2025 at 12:45 a.m., she suggested that he may have taken the children to New Brunswick.

Parentage details

RCMP responded quickly to Brooks-Murray’s report, checking Cody Sullivan’s home at 2:50 a.m. on May 3, 2025. He told officers he had not seen the children and had no contact with them during the estranged period. Court documents and police records have provided limited additional information about Cody Sullivan’s background or his relationship with the children’s mother.

Related family questions

The question of parentage has remained largely unresolved in public records. Brooks-Murray’s account suggesting the children’s father as a possible explanation for their disappearance was investigated and ruled out based on his statement to police. However, details about the circumstances of the estrangement or any formal custody arrangements have not been publicly disclosed.

What court documents reveal about the mother and stepdad?

Court documents and police affidavits released publicly in January 2026 provided new details about the family dynamics preceding the disappearance. The filings revealed abuse allegations made by Brooks-Murray against her partner Daniel Martell, along with witness statements that contradict parts of Martell’s account of the relevant timeframe.

Abuse allegations

Brooks-Murray told RCMP that Martell had on previous occasions attempted to block her, hold her down, and pushed her during an altercation. These statements were included in documents obtained by FIPA BC as part of the investigative disclosure. Martell, through his statements to investigators, denied any violent behaviour toward Brooks-Murray.

Relationship history

Friends of Brooks-Murray who spoke to CBC media in February 2026 described the family dynamic in the months before the disappearance. According to reporting from CBC, the couple had been together about three years and argued frequently, particularly over money. The relationship deteriorated following the children’s disappearance, with Brooks-Murray cutting off contact with Martell after leaving the search briefing on May 3, 2025.

Court documents also revealed conflicting accounts of vehicle movements on the night of May 1 into May 2. A witness reported the family vehicle leaving the property multiple times after midnight, while Martell denied any late-night driving. “My vehicle never moved out of the yard that night,” he stated in police interviews, calling the witness claims “complete nonsense.” Brooks-Murray told police the vehicle belonged to her. The disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan unfolds across a sequence of hours and days that investigators have worked to reconstruct from witness statements, surveillance footage, and digital records, and you can read more about the case here: Història de Sir John Rogerson’s Quay

Timeline of key events

The disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan unfolds across a sequence of hours and days that investigators have worked to reconstruct from witness statements, surveillance footage, and digital records.

Confirmed facts and open questions

The case presents a mix of established facts and unresolved questions that investigators continue to work through.

What people are saying

“My vehicle never moved out of the yard that night. And it never moved out of that yard the following day.”

— Daniel Martell, stepfather, in RCMP interview (FIPA BC)

“We just want them home as soon as possible.”

— Malehya Brooks-Murray, mother, in CTV News interview (Wikipedia)

“The family were hoping and praying for the recovery of the children.”

— Cyndy Murray, grandmother, speaking to media (True Crime Society)

Summary

The disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan from their rural Nova Scotia home on May 2, 2025, has evolved into one of Canada’s most closely watched missing children cases. Nearly a year later, the children remain missing while their mother Malehya Brooks-Murray continues to advocate for their return amid revelations from court documents that have complicated the family’s public narrative. The RCMP investigation remains active, though investigators have not publicly identified any suspects or confirmed the circumstances of how two young children could vanish from a supervised rural home. For the Sullivan family, the absence of answers has become its own kind of tragedy — every passing season without resolution deepening the uncertainty that has defined their lives since that May morning call to 911.

Related reading: Calgary Family Garrapata Beach Wave · Canadian Citizenship Law Changes

Court documents on family issues and stepdad claims align closely with details from the RCMPs latest case update, as RCMP searches intensify.

Frequently asked questions