Court documents shed light on relationship of mother, stepfather of missing N.S. children
CBC
Newly released court documents in the case of Jack and Lilly Sullivan offer more details on the relationship between their mother and stepfather leading up to the children's disappearance more than eight months ago.
Lilly, 6, and Jack, 5, have been missing since May 2, 2025, when their mother Malehya Brooks-Murray called 911 to report they had wandered away from their home in Lansdowne, N.S., a sparsely populated area about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
Their disappearance sparked an extensive grid search of the thick woods surrounding their rural home that turned up little evidence apart from a pink blanket and child-size boot print.
Over the past eight months, authorities have brought in cadaver dogs, conducted 75 interviews and several polygraph examinations, reviewed 1,066 tips and 8,000 video files and have assigned RCMP units from multiple provinces to investigate the case.
At the time of their disappearance, the children were living with Brooks-Murray, their stepfather, Daniel Martell, and the couple’s baby daughter. The family, including Lilly and Jack, were last seen in public the day before the two children were reported missing.
As part of the case, police sought 12 search warrants between May 16, 2025 and July 16, 2025.
More details of those applications for warrants are laid out in court records that were obtained by CBC News and The Globe and Mail this week.
In those court documents, there are details of an interview conducted by police with Brooks-Murray. She discusses her relationship with Martell, saying she moved in with him on his mother’s property in Lansdowne around August 2023.
Brooks-Murray was asked if Martell was ever physically abusive.
“Malehya said he would try to block her, hold her down and once he pushed her,” the documents said.
“She said he would also take her phone from her when she tried to call her mom, which would sometimes be physical and hurt.”
Meanwhile, Martell told investigators they had recently been fighting about money, but otherwise their relationship was “good.”
“They have ups and downs like any couple,” the documents said, recounting what Martell told police during an interview.
“He said they would yell at each other when they were fighting, but there was no physical violence in their relationship.”
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