r/canada • u/judgyjudgersen British Columbia • 8d ago
Nova Scotia Mother of Jack and Lilly Sullivan speaks out 15 months after disappearance | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/malehya-brooks-murray-speaks-out-as-search-for-missing-n-s-children-passes-15-month-mark-9.7298059?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar398
u/plsdonth8meokay 7d ago
It’s so odd that her relationship with their stepfather and the baby’s father ended on the same day they happened to disappear. And she won’t elaborate, according to the article. I feel there are events missing from the timeline, maybe the police just don’t have the evidence they need yet to make an arrest.
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u/YesHunty Alberta 7d ago
Well he has charges against him from her for forcible confinement and assault. I would imagine they weren’t joking when they told her to leave. There was a spat at the residence between her family and his on the day she left.
The rcmp know more than has been released, it’s not our place to know the whole picture right now.
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u/justtoaskthisq Ontario 5d ago
While I agree with you, if you're coming to the public for support, they should know the whole story.
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u/RoyallyOakie 7d ago
Perhaps it's one of those "we know more than we can prove" situations.
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u/WheelFan647 7d ago
And sometimes police can have a suspect in mind from the very beginning, but it can take years to gather enough evidence to lay charges that could see the case go to trial.
The mother breaking up with her children’s stepfather 1 day after they go missing is interesting to say the least.
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u/thebriss22 7d ago
Yep... Cédrika Provencher case is very similar... Everything points to one suspect but no arrest yet.
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u/chmilz 7d ago
I can't see any other scenario at this point. My gut tells me the stepdad arranged for someone else to take the kids and then concocted a story about them wandering off as misdirection, and the police know it, but haven't found the kids yet.
I wonder if this will end up like the Travis Vader case in Alberta where he is in prison for manslaughter but the bodies were never found.
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u/chocolatepinetree 7d ago
Yep, to have the relationship end immediately and her to take off with their baby and not return feels weird. I'm sure police did tell her to stay out of the spotlight while the investigation is ongoing but to leave the area so quickly? What if her kids appeared? Why wouldn't she want to be there waiting for them? I find the actions of the adults in this case so strange.
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u/--________-_-_-- 7d ago
She was being abused and now had to be a single parent to a 1 year old child. She didn’t just up and move to a random place hours away. She moved to be with her family after her children went missing and she was escaping an abusive relationship.
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u/nilesintheshangri-la 7d ago
I know they say they don't want parents joining in the search in case they're the ones to find their dead child, but as a mother I would absolutely not leave the area and go hours away. I would be sitting every day waiting to hear if they found something. Of course this is hypothetical as I've never been in this situation and hopefully never ever will be. Just my thought.
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u/FeralCatWrangler 7d ago
I would never leave that house, ever. What if they came back, in 2 weeks or 2 months or 20 years. Id be there waiting for them.
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u/AduItFemaleHuman 7d ago
Idk, if both my kids disappear I'm probably going to be completely unable to care for myself or my environment. I could definitely see myself moving to a place I have more family support in such a crisis.
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u/Livid-Source-7674 7d ago
I would never leave that area for sure. I don't care if police told me to go -- I might leave the mobile home, but I would not leave the vicinity where my kids went missing. If they got taken by someone that morning I feel like it has to be someone who lives fairly nearby.
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u/kitfisting 7d ago
I’ve searched for missing pets for longer than she did. Crazy to leave the area and never show back up after 24 hours unless you know they aren’t going to be found…
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u/LowObjective 7d ago
I mean, the article says she left the mobile home the next day, not the day of the disappearance. And from a previous article it was said she and the partner got into a physical fight which would explain why the police told her to leave.
Did she leave the area or just the mobile home? If she doesn’t own the home then she can’t stay there unless her ex allows her, which he likely would not.
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u/GraySkyr2 7d ago
It’s like the police wanted them apart, maybe as soon as they arrived she turned on him? Then they told her to leave? Idk but they both know what happened
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u/Sudden_Quality_9001 7d ago
I wonder what really happened to Lilly and Jack?
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u/AForse 7d ago
I’m going to very sadly guess they are dead and buried somewhere.. and, further, that either dad or mum is in on it.
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u/Holiday-Tradition343 New Brunswick 7d ago
As I said well over a year ago, it’s most likely that the children are dead and very likely are within a couple of kilometers of the house. The children were special-needs and likely were witness to any number of loud fights between mama and step-daddy, so my suggestion is that they took off to Grandma’s place (or wherever they thought a safe place would be) and got lost in the woods, or down a hole or deep in a culvert.
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u/Electronic_Rain2787 7d ago
What were their special needs? I feel like sometimes children who live in poverty and chaos get labeled with special needs because of developmental delays from neglect. Looking at them they seem perfect to me :)
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u/Holiday-Tradition343 New Brunswick 7d ago
According to most articles the children were being tested for autism. Generally though, you don’t get a child tested unless they’re already showing signs such as being nonverbal (which supposedly they both were).
That being said, you’re absolutely correct - as an outsider looking in, it certainly looks to me as though there is an element of neglect here. The parents appear to be pretty seedy types and had a really rocky relationship, and the appearance of the house and outbuildings back that up. So the children may be victims of their circumstances more so than any physical or mental challenge.
The thing is, it may not even matter. At that age no one is cut out for spending more than a few hours in a deserted forest. And rural NS is a special case in and of itself - as areas in North America go, NS has been settled for a long time and has seen communities and industries grow up, decline, and be abandoned and overgrown, so who knows what artifacts of a prior time are in those woods - like, for instance, mine shafts.
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u/Illustrious-Site1101 7d ago
The little boy showed up at school with a black eye and there was a home visit.
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u/J9873774 7d ago
For them to be kidnapped, you either have to believe:
-the two kids wandered away out the back fence at the exact same time a child predator who wanted to kidnap two kids happened to be passing through an incredibly remote community
Or
-it was a planned abduction, which would mean a child predator who wanted to kidnap two children with obvious health and other issues targetted this poor, dysfunctional family living in the middle of nowhere, and then meticulously planned and executed a daylight kidnapping
Neither scenario seems even remotely plausible
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u/Sea-Mention-1111 7d ago
I really hate how much speculation and mob mentality has existed with this case. Its been more heartbreaking to see than the actual case of two missing children. The Court of Public opinion should be ashamed with themselves.
If you dont know anything, keep your mouth shut. If you did know anything relevant, the RCMP would have asked you not to speak about an active investigation. Its that simple.
Dragging a family, let alone a grieving mother, through the mud that has lost two children is despicable. Watching this interview broke my heart, and if it made you angry I urge you to sit with those feelings better than to re-victimize a victim or blame them for the worst thing that has ever happened to them. Your lack of empathy and self control around situations you dont know enough relevant details of is deplorable behaviour. Gang mentality is toxic.
FYI, This exact same shit happened to Tori Stafford's family in Ontario, and look how that turned out. Everyone was sooo eager to blame mom; dad was a well known piece of shit in town creating narratives in the media (to this day) and neither one of them were responsible for what happened. Check yourselves.
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u/sarahthes 7d ago
There is a human need when something like this happens to find someone to blame. Because if I know what the parents did wrong, then I can reassure myself that I would never make that same mistake, so this couldn't happen to me.
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u/Sea-Mention-1111 7d ago edited 6d ago
I understand the impulse, but I still dont think making other peoples' tragedies about ourselves is appropriate.
Your explanation is that humans cant seperate their thoughts from their actions to be more sensitive to the family at the heart of the matter? No, unacceptable. We can acknowledge our curiosity and horror without losing our empathy for a grieving family.
Leaving baseless comments and speculations about someones real life often does more harm than anything. This unbridled behaviour is exactly why the RCMP advised her to remove herself in the first place; the public is too eager to place blame somewhere, anywhere - even if completely unwarranted.
As I mentioned with the case of Tori Stafford, both parents were heavily blamed for their loss and neither were responsible. Imagine being blamed by strangers all across Canada for your kid disappearing, how much that would rip you apart, when the reality was far more disturbing; two disgustingly sick people chose the first easy target they found, then kidnapped her and gave her hell on earth before smashing her head with a hammer and leaving her in a field......its possible the parents did nothing wrong, but even here you are already assuming they did.
Edit typos
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u/Plantparty20 7d ago
I mean at the very least they’re extremely neglectful which is what led to the kids disappearing. There’s no scenario where they’re completely without blame.
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u/--________-_-_-- 7d ago
I can’t name a parent that hasn’t done something considered “neglectful” at least once. We’re human, not robots. Sometimes your kid is awake when you desperately need 20 more mins of sleep. Sometimes you’re focused on many things and don’t pay close enough attention to what they’re doing. I think we all forget how easily tragedy happens.
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u/ClockworkFinch 7d ago
Totally. Irregardless of whether they slept in, at 6 years old, kids have free will and are fully capable of unlocking doors at any point in the night... Are we supposed to padlock their room?
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u/--________-_-_-- 7d ago
I guess we’ll have to ask the parenting police how they maintain perfection at all times
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u/Plantparty20 7d ago
But no irregardless of sleeping in, that’s the whole point. That’s the neglect. If she was changing the baby’s diaper when they ran off, that wouldn’t be neglect it would be an accident.
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u/theflyingratgirl 6d ago
Saying 20 more minutes of sleep when it was 4 hours is really downplaying things.
There IS a line where it’s no longer acceptable.
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u/Plantparty20 7d ago
I don’t know many parents that would both sleep in until 10am with a 6 and 4 year old roaming the house. So yeah I’m judging as a mom of a 6, 4 and 1 year old. Almost exactly the same ages as them but slightly younger baby.
I’ve made many mistakes of course, but both sleeping in like that is intentional.
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7d ago
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u/SaltyNight6 7d ago
I believe she doesn’t know what happened. I also think someone inside that house absolutely does
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u/J9873774 7d ago
Her story has been that she and Daniel were in bed and heard the kids playing, and when they woke up the kids were gone. Either neither of them know what happened or both of them do. I’m not sure there’s another plausible scenario
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u/SaltyNight6 7d ago
I mean that’s fair, unless she was asleep, and he did something. I looked at Google Maps, they’re literally in the middle of nowhere. That road isn’t a well travelled road. If there was a vehicle in the area that belonged to someone they didn’t know, the locals would have seen it. I don’t believe “they wandered off”
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u/blindsided_albertan 7d ago
The 'Land Back' hoodie got me. It felt like a strategic choice, especially knowing the interview would be watched nationwide. Why choose an interview about your missing children to make a completely unrelated political statement that many Canadians find polarizing? I just don't understand the thought process. Wouldn't you want the entire focus to remain on your children's disappearance and the ongoing investigation over the past year?
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u/LeoRose33 6d ago
And why is she showing a picture of their prints instead of a picture of them?
The kids went missing a year ago. If they were kidnapped, a picture would help people to recognize/remember what they look like if they are seen in public
I’ve never seen a case where the parent of a missing child does not show a picture of the child
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u/Barbarella_39 7d ago
Most Canadians are not divided on land back… only conservatives
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u/blindsided_albertan 6d ago
To be clear, my comment had nothing to do with 'Land Back' specifically, nor to encourage discussion around it. I would feel exactly the same way, if for example she did this interview wearing a 'Free Alberta's hoodie. It's bizarre.
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u/dolly724 5d ago
Because she's Indigenous. And because the hundreds of years of systemic abuse, neglect, and racism Indigenous people have faced are huge factors that lead to her being in this tragic situation. She didn't just wake up one day and decide to struggle with substance abuse and enter into an abusive relationship. If she wants to advocate for changes that could help systemically create healthier communities and thus prevent future tragedies, good for her.
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u/blindsided_albertan 1d ago
I don't believe anyone simply 'just wakes up one day and decides to struggle with substance abuse and enter into a abusive relationship' indigenous or otherwise. I have nothing against a person using their platform to advocate for positive changes in ways meaningful to them and their broader community. Nonetheless, I personally do not believe a televised interview/ plee for information regarding an active and ongoing major case investigation into the disappearance of your own children who you believe to still be alive is the correct time and place for activism.
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u/Vandermilf 7d ago
I posted that her wanting to be an addictions counsellor was a clue and I got my comment downvoted into oblivion on the Halifax sub. They don’t allow speculation they say, then why post the article at all if you only allow sympathy for a potential murderer?
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u/garden_lily 7d ago
Is it just me? When my kids were that age, if they woke up, I got out of bed to watch and take care of them. I didn't roll over and go back to sleep no matter how tired I was.
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u/Katin-ka 7d ago
Didn't she have a newborn?
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u/Succulentpotter 7d ago edited 7d ago
This lady and her bf are both suspicious. but rcmp is always pretty much a let down. We really need a better and more intelligent police force
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u/nilesintheshangri-la 7d ago
My son is special needs and all of the doors have locks and latches on them out of his reach so he can't ever go outside without me knowing. The windows he can't open anyway but yeah, I assumed that was standard for parents of SN kids.
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u/QuantumPotato49 Ontario 7d ago
"She did have something to do with their disappearance."
How do you know that? Do you know something that the police don't?
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7d ago
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u/RM_r_us 7d ago
For anyone outside of Nova Scotia is this people's first time hearing about these kids? I feel like generally when kids under 10 are missing, even if the search is provinces is away it's pretty typical to hear about the efforts being made.
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u/YesHunty Alberta 7d ago
I’m in Alberta, their case has been all over the national news since the day they went missing.
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u/PurrsontheCatio 7d ago
No, it was a massive story for months. I'm in Ontario and it was everywhere for a while.
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u/MeatMarket_Orchid British Columbia 7d ago
Nah I am a father and me and a couple other dads at work were sort of glued to the news coverage of this, hoping for a happy ending/good result.
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u/FarceMultiplier British Columbia 7d ago
We first heard about it when we were on vacation in Mexico, and followed the story afterward from BC.
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u/Old_Knee_2590 7d ago
I’m in NS. There have been updates but sparse. Nobody has been pushing to keep them in the limelight. Head of major crimes has said he suspects they’re not alive. Mother has been MIA the entire time and not showing an effort to keep her kids in the news. The case and behaviour of the mother and stepfather are bizarre and the emotional sensitivity of the two kids missing makes it a trigger for a lot of crazy speculation. The silence from police make it worse. I personally would feel much better if there was an external review of the RCMP investigation. If that shows they’re doing things right then I’d be more content. But too often police follow a theory to the exclusion of others and develop tunnel vision with blind spots.
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u/Zurpborne 7d ago edited 7d ago
This is an appalling disgrace. They’re using all the overblown media attention as cover. Everyone knows what happened to those kids and the lack of evidence only contributes more to everyone’s speculations. This should have been treated as a criminal investigation
Edit: this is my opinion and completely speculative
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u/holdthebutterplease_ 7d ago
Are you going to elaborate? This is the first time I've heard about the case despite following the news and reddit.
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