'Exhaustion and optimism' as search for missing children enters 6th day

Searchers who are scouring the woods near where two children went missing in northeastern Nova Scotia six days ago are feeling "exhaustion and optimism," an RCMP incident commander says.

As many as 140 crew members have been involved in the search each day for six-year-old Lily Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan, who police believe wandered from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station last Friday morning.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Josh Wiese, the incident commander, said some of the searchers have been there since Day 1.

"They're tired and they're optimistic. They have one job. This is all search and rescue does is they try and bring people home safely," Wiese said on Tuesday near the search area, about 25 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow.

"They're trying to stay on mission. They're sacrificing their personal lives. They're sacrificing a lot to be here to try and help this family out to bring these two children home."

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carlie McCann said crews were expected to continue searching late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning "with the tools and resources that are identified as being necessary."

On Tuesday afternoon, McCann said the case remains a missing persons investigation.

"Police are pursuing all investigative avenues and there's a variety of teams involved who are applying the tools and the skills and the expertise needed to locate and and bring Lily and Jack home," she said.

Drones took to the skies late Monday and into Tuesday in the rural community in the province's northeast, using "forward-looking infrared technology" to spot differences in temperature, which can point people toward specific areas for ground searches.

But McCann would not say if there's been any sign of the children. She repeated that police were following up on all information as it comes in.

Police dogs have been assisting in the search, and it's also the first time the Nova Scotia Guard — a provincially organized volunteer group — has been deployed. The public has been asked to stay away as crews conduct their work.

Daniel Martell, the stepfather of the children, has said the last time he saw the children was Friday morning when he and their mother were in their bedroom with their one-year-old baby. 

The 33-year-old man said Lily came into the bedroom several times and he could hear Jack in the kitchen. The children must have opened the sliding back door, which is almost silent, and left, he said.

The home borders a heavily wooded area with steep banks and thick brush.