Items discovered during volunteer search for missing N.S. children not relevant: RCMP
After a grueling day wading through rushing river waters and climbing through dense woods, some family members of two missing Nova Scotia children were left disappointed that their last-ditch search for the siblings before the snow flies did not result in a breakthrough.
A few items of interest were discovered during the search for Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 5, on Saturday in Lansdowne, N.S., but RCMP say none of the items hold any relevance to the disappearance of the two children.
Many had hoped they would find the children.
“That’s not what happened today," said Angeline Maloney-Arsenault, a childhood friend of the children’s mother. "I do feel that we have more questions, especially with finding things throughout the woods.
“I do feel disappointed.”
Saturday’s search was led by the Ontario-based non-profit Please Bring Me Home. Volunteers —many of them family and friends of the children — gathered at the Union Centre Community Hall and were split into six groups, destined to cover roughly five kilometres each along the banks of the Middle River of Pictou.
Nick Oldrieve, executive director of the organization, said the search was to focus on waterways that may have moved or concealed clues during earlier searches.
“Enough time has passed now that revisiting these waterways … it’s a high probability that they are there, if the theory is that they wandered off,” said Oldrieve, who drove 18 hours from his home in Ontario to manage the search.
Oldrieve said Please Bring Me Home has helped locate more than 50 missing people since 2018.
On Saturday, crews were faced with extremely challenging conditions.
At times, volunteers were forced to wade through waist-deep water, climb across downed trees and push back thick brush, all while keeping their eyes peeled for clues.
Those efforts resulted in a few items of interest, however, RCMP said in an email Sunday that investigators reviewed the materials and found they "hold no relevance."
Volunteers came upon a child’s black T-shirt with a blue design. Oldreive said a photo of a T-shirt was sent to RCMP, who then sent it to the children’s mother, but she didn't recognize it.
A geocaching kit was also uncovered. Geocaching involves hiding a container of items, such as papers and trinkets, and posting the GPS coordinates to an app for other people to find.
The kit had a log book containing the name of the children's stepfather. It read: ”Daniel Martell, May 3, 2014, left a 2012 quarter.” Martell and his family have lived in the area for decades.
A blue blanket was also found, and a child’s bicycle.
Searchers also visited the area where a drone detected two heat sources around 11:30 p.m. on May 2. In an email last week, RCMP said the signatures were investigated on foot by an RCMP officer and determined they were not relevant. It's believed they were emitted by a bear in the area.
One group also came across bones that were wrapped in a blanket, but Oldrieve said the group’s anthropologist determined they were animal bones after being sent a photo.
Oldrieve said Please Bring Me Home will compile a report to send to the RCMP, which will include photos of the items and their GPS coordinates.
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