October 30, 2025 • 29 mins
On May 2, 2025, two young children—Lily (6) and Jack Sullivan (4)—disappeared without a trace from their home in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. There were no sounds, no signs of struggle, and no clues were found despite the deployment of hundreds of volunteers, helicopters, and even search dogs. However, what was most shocking was not the disappearance of the children... but the cold reaction of their mother, Malayaia Brooks Murray, and the strange behavior of their stepfather, Daniel Martell, which sparked public speculation: did they know more than they were letting on?In this episode, you will learn how silence can be the biggest clue in the case of the disappearance of these two children, why their parents' behavior has come under scrutiny by investigators, and how this case is now being used as a psychological study by Canadian law enforcement agencies. This is not just a story of loss—it is a story of lies, public image, and how two children could vanish from the world without leaving a trace.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My heart tells me these these babies are gone. My
heart tells me that if this is.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Not a criminal investigation, now, I'd be totally surprised.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I know the truth. I didn't kill Willeen Jack, and
I just think a lot of people online just they're
seeking drama, that's the main thing.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
On May second, twenty twenty five, six year old Lily
Sullivan and her four year old brother Jack vanished without
a trace from their quiet family home in rural Lansdowne Station,
Nova Scotia, a disappearance that has since become one of
the most baffling mysteries in Canadian history. The two children
were living with their mother, Malayia Brooks Murray, their stepfather,
(00:40):
Daniel Martel, and their infant sister when they were suddenly
reported missing, with no sounds, no struggle, and no clear
signs of where they could have gone. In a now
viral interview, Daniel broke down in tears as he pleaded
for answers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Very stressful, I mean, ever since the Friday morning when
we noticed that the children were gone, immediately jumped in
the vehicles, surveyed all the area, as many dirt road,
as many CalArts as it could and waited for the
police to get there.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
What followed was an all out search involving over one
hundred and sixty volunteers, RCMP officers, helicopters, drones, search dogs,
and underwater teams scouring the thick woods, creeks, and dangerous
terrain surrounding the area. But not a single clue was
ever found, and while public attention focused on the search,
(01:36):
a subtle moment during the mother's interview sparked a new
wave of speculation. As she calmly described the morning her
children went missing, many began to wonder if she was
concealing more than she was saying.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I'm just staying as hopeful as possible.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I want them home, I want to hold them, and
I want them home.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Now people are asking, is she aggrieving mother trying to
stay strong, or is she hiding something beneath that calm exterior.
At the time this video is being made, the case
remains unsolved, and everything you're about to hear comes from
public reports, online sources, and alleged witness accounts, not confirmed
(02:18):
facts from law enforcement. But before we dive deeper into
the twists of this mystery, let's take a closer look
at the family itself and why. Some believe both the
mother and the stepfather might know more than their willing
to admit. It all begins with Malaya Brooks Murray, born
in nineteen ninety eight into a mick Mock family in
(02:39):
Nova Scotia. Raised by her mother, Cindy Murray, Malaya was
surrounded by tradition, culture, and the teachings of her indigenous roots.
But even those deep cultural ties couldn't protect her from
a life shadowed by instability. By the age of twenty three,
Malaya was already a mother to two children, Lily and Jack,
(03:00):
whose father was reportedly absent from their lives. Some sources
claimed he was under house arrest, while others suggested he'd
simply disappeared from the picture. Nothing about that chapter of
her life was clear, And then came twenty twenty three,
the year she met Daniel Martel, a man six years
older who worked at a local sawmill. The relationship moved quickly.
(03:24):
Within months, Malaia packed up her children and moved into
Daniel's secluded home on Gerloch Road, buried deep in the
woods of Lansdowne Station. On the surface, it looked like
a fresh start. A young couple a new baby named Meadow,
a house tucked away in nature, but neighbors weren't convinced.
(03:45):
They described the home as eerie, with cars arriving in
the middle of the night, shouting from within, and strange
chemical smells seeping into the air. One neighbor chillingly recalled,
I always thought something weird was going on there, but
I had no idea children lived in that house. Although
Maleya was registered as a stay at home mom, people
(04:07):
who knew her spoke of her frequent absences, especially in
the evenings. Meanwhile, Daniel, despite being employed in the lumber industry,
was only known to work one day a week, which
raised eyebrows. How were they supporting a family of five
with almost no visible income. This question would become far
more important once the investigation into the children's disappearance began.
(04:31):
Even more troubling was the way the children were described
by those who saw them. Teachers said Lily and Jack
were quiet and often came to school looking tired and disengaged.
Their school bus driver, Brian Ward, remembered the children sometimes
falling asleep during the ride home, unusual for kids so young.
They had no neighborhood friends, didn't participate in community events
(04:55):
and were never seen playing outside. In a tight knit
community where everyone one knows everyone, Lily and Jack were
practically invisible. The last week of April twenty twenty five
marked a pivotal moment in the family's timeline. Starting on
April twenty ninth, the children stopped attending school. Malaya allegedly
(05:16):
told the school that Lily had fallen ill, but no
doctor's notes or medical records were ever provided. What went
on inside that house in those final days remains one
of the most haunting unanswered questions in the entire case.
Then came May first, a crucial turning point. According to
RCMP data released on May twenty eighth, the children were
(05:38):
seen in public that afternoon with family members in New Glasgow.
That piece of information sent shock waves through the community.
If Lily and Jack were alive and seemingly well in
public just hours before they vanished, then what happened during
the eighteen hours that followed. We would soon learn that.
On May second, at exactly ten o'clock in the morning,
(06:00):
Malahee Brooks Murray made a call to nine one one.
Her two children were missing, she said, But what immediately
struck dispatchers was not just the content of the call,
it was the tone. Her voice was eerily calm, flat,
almost rehearsed. She said my children are missing with the
(06:21):
emotionless cadence of someone reporting a broken window. When the
dispatcher asked for more information, her answers were short and robotic,
no shaking, no cracking voice, no signs of panic or
maternal distress. Even the dispatcher noted how cold and mechanical
she sounded, something rarely seen in cases involving missing toddlers,
(06:43):
and her behavior after that call only deepened the mystery.
Rather than joining the frantic community search, Malehia stayed inside,
speaking with officers in the same strangely detached voice. Search
and rescue teams expected a grieving mother pleading for help,
pacing with worry, sobbing, and desperation. Instead, they met a
(07:06):
woman who seemed disturbingly unaffected by the disappearance of her children. Then,
just twenty four hours later, on May third, she gave
her first and only televised interview. What the public saw
raised even more questions. Her posture was closed, she avoided
eye contact, her voice remained flat.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I'm just staying as hopeful as possible. I want them home.
I want to hold them, and I want them home.
What happened was we woke up.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I heard them playing in the next room beside us,
and I was drifting in and out of sleep. And
they're not the type of kids we tell them not
to go outside on their own. We always make sure
that we're out there with them, watching them. And they
happened to just get out that sliding door and we
can't hear it when it opens, and they were outside playing,
(07:58):
but we weren't aware of it at the time. And
the next thing we knew the room like it was quiet,
and we get up and I tell him, my partner, Daniel,
I tell him to hear the kids, and he says no,
and we get up instantly we're looking outside, We're looking everywhere,
yelling for them, and I instantly just called number one.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
It's just.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I just had the instinct I needed to call. They're
both really good, lucky children. They're so sweet. They talk
to anyone. They'll talk your year off. They they will
speak to anyone in a store, everyone. They're just extremely
sweet kids. I appreciate the huge search for going on
(08:47):
right now.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
But then came something far more alarming, Just thirty six
hours after her children were declared missing, while search teams
were still combing the woods and volunteers were putting up flyers,
Maalhia logged onto Facebook. She didn't post a tribute, she
didn't share their photos. She didn't even plead for help. Instead,
(09:09):
she changed her relationship status from in a relationship to single.
Within minutes, her profile photo was updated too, this time
showing a posed, smiling selfie. It was as if nothing
had happened, But the post that followed disturbed everyone. She wrote,
I want my babies home. My children are not shy,
(09:32):
They'll go with anyone. They don't understand stranger danger. Someone
must have taken them to the average person. It sounded
off to law enforcement and criminal psychologists. It was deeply troubling.
She wasn't just stating facts. She was telling the world
exactly how vulnerable her children were. In essence, she was
(09:53):
handing out a blueprint for how easy it would have
been to abduct them. Experts called it one of the
most reckless and bizarre public posts ever seen in an
active missing person's case. And yet, despite everything, she didn't
ask people to share photos or describe what they were
wearing or beg strangers to keep an eye out. Her
(10:15):
posts didn't sound like a cry for help. It sounded
like a narrative being planted. Then came the most surreal
moment of all. On May fourth, during a scheduled search
briefing at Lansdowne Station Road, Malayhia stood up mid presentation
and quietly walked out. She didn't panic, she didn't break down.
(10:35):
She walked calmly into an ambulance parked outside. At first,
people feared she'd collapsed, but no, it was a panic attack.
According to multiple witnesses, She looked fine one minute and
gone the next. Some believed that something revealed during the
briefing may have contradicted her story, something that came too
close to the truth. After that, she was gone, with
(10:59):
her infant daughter in tow. Malaya left the area with
her mother, Cindy Murray, without notifying search coordinators or leaving
any contact information. She didn't say goodbye to Daniel Martel,
the man she had lived with. She didn't speak to
the press. She didn't appear at another search event again.
The vacuum she left behind became a problem. While Daniel
(11:22):
continued cooperating with authorities, giving interviews and speaking with police.
Malayhia cut off all public involvement. When journalists tried reaching
out to her in the weeks that followed, she simply said,
the RCMP advised me not to speak to the media.
But experts pointed out police don't tell desperate mothers to
(11:42):
stay quiet, they encouraged them to keep the public talking.
That kind of silence is usually reserved for suspects, not victims,
And sure enough, her status in the investigation quietly shifted.
She was no longer just the grieving mother. She became
a person of interest. She moved in with her mother
to Wentworth, nearly an hour away from where her children vanished.
(12:06):
Not only did she leave behind her home and partner,
she removed herself entirely from the scene, both physically and emotionally.
It wasn't just strange to many, it was unforgivable. Even
her own community noticed. The Sapecnocatic First nation to which
Lily and Jack belonged, released emotional public statements begging for
(12:27):
answers and supporting the search, But in every statement there
was not a single mention of Malayia. In mick mock tradition,
families and communities stay united during times of pain, but
her absence and her people's silence about her spoke louder
than any press release. Then came June second, in the
(12:48):
town of Stellarton, a public vigil was held. Hundreds of
people came together, lighting candles and releasing lanterns into the
night sky. Children who had never met Lily and Jack clutched,
teddy and prayed for their return. Parents cried, strangers hugged.
Lanterns floated upwards, symbolizing a community's shared hope. But once again,
(13:11):
Malahia wasn't there.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Tonight is about saying a prayer, and we're going to
light the way home for them.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
A paper lantern for four year old Jack, another for
six year old Lily, released into the twilight sky as
a beacon of hope.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Eluminate the path for Lilian Jack guide their footsteps home.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
While these unknown people stood in the cold crying for
Lily and Jack, their own mother, Malayia Brooks Murray, remained
at home. Her absence wasn't just noticed, it was felt.
Some attendees openly voiced their anger and confusion. How can
we feel more than their own mother? One Morner asked.
(13:57):
It was a question that lingered long after the candle's breut,
but the signs had already been there on her social media.
An analysis of Malayhia's Facebook and Instagram posts from the
days leading up to the disappearance revealed a troubling pattern.
Her last few posts before May second hinted at emotional
(14:17):
distress and cryptic mentions of needing change. Darker tones, distant captions,
and vague references to starting over painted a picture of
a woman unraveling, or perhaps planning something she couldn't say
out loud. Then came the most disturbing part. Within forty
eight hours of her children vanishing, Malaya began referring to
(14:39):
them as angels, not missing, not lost, not taken, angels,
a word most parents avoid at all costs unless they've
reached the unthinkable. For most, angel is reserved for memorials,
used carefully whispered months or even years after the truth
is known. But for Malehia, it came immediately, almost as
(15:04):
if grief had skipped every natural step and jumped straight
into acceptance, or worse, as if she already knew they
were never coming back. Digital Forensics also noted that Shortly
after May second, Malehia's entire online presence began to shift.
She deleted multiple family photos, she altered her privacy settings,
(15:26):
she stopped posting about motherhood. It was as if she
was intentionally distancing herself from her role as Lily and
Jack's mother, as if the life she had built, including
the children, was being carefully erased. And then came the
most sinister detail of all. When RCMP publicly confirmed the
children were seen in New Glasgow on May first, it
(15:47):
became clear that Malahya already knew about this sighting. Investigators
later revealed that surveillance footage of the children existed, yet
Malahaya never brought it up, never referenced it, and never
used it to support the search. Any innocent mother would
have clung to those frames proof their children were alive,
(16:08):
proof that hope remained. But she said nothing. That silence
didn't just raise eyebrows, It was deafening, because if she
knew they were seen, if she knew they looked healthy,
and if she believed in their return, why hide it.
Why withhold that key piece of information unless she feared
what else those final hours might reveal. By June twenty
(16:31):
twenty five, the public image of Malayhia Brooks Murray had shattered.
What remained was the chilling profile of a woman whose
every action, from the eerily emotionless interview to her vanished
online presence to the cold, single status update, stood in
direct contrast to everything an innocent mother should be. Her
(16:51):
story became a case study. Literally, law enforcement agencies across
Canada and beyond began using the Sullivan case in training modules,
analyzing her interviews, her digital trail, her public reactions as
a textbook example of how behavior can betray guilt long
(17:11):
before evidence surfaces. Because this isn't just the story of
two missing children. It's the story of a mother who
vanished emotionally before her children vanished physically. A woman who,
when faced with tragedy, chose to protect herself instead of
fight for them. A woman who didn't break down because
(17:32):
deep down she didn't expect a reunion.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
Just to go to a first point. There's been a
lot of searchers here and we can't thank them enough
for being here. They've given up. A lot of them
have been here since day one and they have given up.
Some have taken time off work, some have left their
families behind, and we are very grateful for that, saying
(17:58):
that we will look in on them and their senior
managers to give us some recommendations of what else we
can do, but we will take that and we will
explore whatever we have and whatever we can do to
check it in spots that need to be checked or whatever.
But at this point in time, after today, we just
(18:19):
won't see all these searchers here.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Now. If you thought Malayia Brooks Murray's behavior was chilling,
wait until we get to Daniel Martel, the stepfather, because
everything about him screamed contradiction. In his first on camera interview,
Daniel wept visibly emotional, describing how he searched until his
throat hurt, how he outran drones, and how he ran
(18:43):
through waste deep water just to find the kids. He
painted himself as a desperate, grieving stepfather, the only one,
as he put it, fighting for them. It was dramatic, raw,
and clearly designed to pull at the public's heartstrings. But
if you watched closely, if you really paid attention, something
(19:04):
didn't sit right because while the words were powerful, the
performance was almost too perfect. There was no mud on
his shoes, no visible exhaustion on his face, no tear
stained cheeks, just a man in clean clothes, speaking as
if he'd memorized every line the night before. What stood
(19:24):
out most wasn't what Daniel said. It was how he
seemed to rehearse grief like an actor reading from a script.
His emotions flicked on and off like a light switch.
One moment, he'd break down mid sentence, his voice cracking
with sorrow. The next he'd collect himself in an instant
and begin listing technical details about drone surveillance and infrared scanners,
(19:47):
as if he were a search team commander rather than
a frantic parent. Real grief doesn't move that way. Real
panic isn't clean and composed, and real fathers don't narrate
their pain like a press release. They live it. But Daniel,
he presented grief like a monologue, not a meltdown.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Does I know some weren't there? Immediately jumped right in
the vehicle and surveyed all the area, every dir road,
every call over leg to find Yah just absolutely loved bugs, dinosaurs.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And anything like that. But Lily, Lily loves girly things.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
But she also loved doing everything with Jack Bogs they're
like best friends. How does brother insist?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Even more disturbing was his obsession with optics. From day one,
he emphasized his cooperation with police, proudly telling reporters he
handed over everything from bank statements to Google Maps data.
But he didn't just offer information, he flaunted it, using
his transparency as evidence of innocence. Over and over, he
(20:48):
reminded the public that he was helping investigators, that he
was being honest, that he had nothing to hide. But
that level of self promotion raised eyebrows. A truly deva
stated stepfather wouldn't be concerned about public opinion. He'd be
tearing through the woods, clinging to the smallest thread of hope. Daniel,
(21:09):
on the other hand, seemed more interested in managing his
image than finding two missing kids. And then there was
the polygraph, a move that caught everyone off guard. Daniel
didn't just agree to take a lie detector test, he
demanded it. He went on record saying he requested one
early on and that police were flying someone in to
(21:30):
conduct it. But here's where things get suspicious. Canada's RCMP
has trained polygraph specialists. They don't need to fly anyone
in unless something's off. Was this delay convenient? Was it
a tactic to buy time, to let critical hours slip
away while public attention fixated on his willingness to cooperate.
(21:53):
Some believed it was a distraction, a strategic move to
appear innocent while the trail went cold. His language also
gave away more than he likely intended. During interviews, Daniel
repeatedly used the past tense when referring to the children.
Jack loved bugs, he said, Lily loved girly things, not
(22:15):
loves loved. These weren't just verbal slips. They were consistent,
and in the eyes of investigators and forensic psychologists, that's
a red flag because people clinging to hope don't speak
of their children in the past tense. They don't describe
them as memories. They described them as living, breathing, human
(22:35):
beings who are coming home. Daniel spoke like someone who
already knew that wasn't going to happen, And then came
the contradictions. In one breath. Daniel said he didn't see
Jack that morning, only heard him in the kitchen, Yet
somehow he described the boy's exact outfit, blue dinosaur boots.
(22:56):
He also said Lily had her white backpack with strawberries
on it, but then added, I think now in the forest,
it's probably brown. That line haunted people. It wasn't just
the imagery, it was the implication. Why would a stepfather
assume the bag was in the forest, Why comment on
(23:18):
how the color had changed. It felt like he had
already imagined or seen the backpack abandoned, dirty, decomposing. It
was a detail no hopeful parent would conjure. Even when
asked about how the family survived financially, Daniel's answers were evasive.
He only worked one day a week at the saw mill,
(23:39):
yet supported a household of five. He chalked it up
to seasonal slow down, but anyone who's worked in forestry
knows that's not how saw mills operate. The math didn't
add up, and people started asking where did the money
come from, how did they afford grocries, bills, and allegedly drugs,
because yes, Nay had reported parties, strangers arriving late at night,
(24:03):
cars pulling in and out until two in the morning.
One neighbor even confessed he didn't know children lived at
the house. He thought it was a drug den. And
while Daniel tried to portray himself as the only one
fighting for the kids. His own relatives, people who knew
Lily and Jack from birth, openly accused him of knowing
more than he admitted. In fact, a physical altercation nearly
(24:28):
broke out at the scene when his family tried to
confront him. He later said, my mother had to kick
people off the property because they were saying I did
it think about that. On day one, before the news
even fully broke, people close to the children were already
pointing fingers, not at strangers, not at abductors, but at
(24:50):
Daniel himself. The strangest and perhaps most telling moment came
on May third, just one day after the disappearance, Daniel
and Malayhia at ended a public search briefing. In the
middle of the presentation, Malayia suddenly got up and walked
out straight into an ambulance and left with her own mother,
(25:10):
taking her infant daughter with her. She blocked Daniel on
social media, cut all communication, left without explanation. It was
like the entire family fractured overnight, but instead of panicking,
Daniel continued speaking to the media as if nothing had happened.
It was cold, clinical, calculated. He didn't even ask the
(25:31):
public for help finding the mother of his child, just
the missing kids, as if his world hadn't just exploded.
By May fifteenth, Daniel was no longer receiving search updates
from RCMP. That kind of cutoff usually signals a shift
from concerned parent to person of interest. Police had seized
(25:51):
his phone, demanded access to financial records and geolocation data,
and even started tracking his movements from the past month.
His complaints, they want to know everything I did, didn't
sound like those of an innocent man. They sounded like
someone trying to push back, someone frustrated that the noose
was tightening. And through all of it, Daniel kept performing.
(26:16):
His voice would tremble at just the right moment. He'd
describe bugs, backpacks, and bedtime stories with just enough detail
to seem authentic. But it was always too clean, too precise,
too rehearsed. He wasn't the dad ripping through underbrush or
sleeping in his car by the search site. He was
(26:36):
the man holding press conferences, pacing through sound bites, trying
to control the narrative before anyone could piece together what
really happened. Now here's the part that keeps people awake
at night. If Daniel Martel knew something anything about what
happened to Lily and Jack, why did he work so
hard to convince us he didn't. Why demand a polygraph
(26:58):
if it wasn't going to be used court. Why memorize
outfits he claimed he never saw. Why use the past tense?
Why distance himself from the very people accusing him of involvement.
As of the making of this video, the Sullivan case
remains officially open, but the optimism that once surrounded the
early days of the search has all but evaporated. The
(27:22):
RCMP has shifted from public search efforts to a more
silent investigative phase, no longer providing daily updates or briefing
the media, Daniel Martel has reportedly moved away from the area,
his once vocal presence now eerily silent. Malihia Brooks Murray,
the children's mother, remains absent from all public appeals, interviews,
(27:44):
or community gatherings. Neither parent has joined a single vigil,
helped with any local search parties, or made another plea
for their return. In over two months, investigators continued to
comb through digital evidence, bank records, text laws, GPS data,
but without bodies or concrete evidence. No arrests have been
(28:05):
made for now. Both parents remain persons of interest, not
officially suspects, though law enforcement has made it clear they
are not ruling out foul play. The most chilling update,
RCMP sources confirmed that cadaver dogs had hit on a
location near a wooded area just two kilometers from the
(28:25):
trailer home back in early June. That lead, however, has
not yet resulted in any confirmed discoveries. Whether it was
a false alarm, decayed animal remains, or something yet to
be revealed, officials remain tight lipped. The children's names are
still listed on every missing person database in the country,
but as weeks turned to months, hope continues to dim, and,
(28:49):
perhaps most disturbingly, no credible sightings have been reported since
May first, the last time they were seen in public alive.
That was the day before the nine MOE one call,
the day before silence fell. If you, or anyone you
know has even the smallest piece of information about the
disappearance of Lily and Jack Sullivan, no matter how minor
(29:11):
it may seem, please don't stay silent. Contact the RCMP
or your local authorities. These children deserve to be found.
They deserve the truth, because silence, as we've seen in
this case, isn't just suspicious, it's deafening, and in that silence,
justice remains just out of reach. Now, let's dive into
(29:35):
the part that everyone's been whispering about. What do you
think really happened to Lily and Jack? Could it be
that both parents were involved or was it just the
mother hiding something only she knows
My heart tells me these these babies are gone. My
heart tells me that if this is.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Not a criminal investigation, now, I'd be totally surprised.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I know the truth. I didn't kill Willeen Jack, and
I just think a lot of people online just they're
seeking drama, that's the main thing.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
On May second, twenty twenty five, six year old Lily
Sullivan and her four year old brother Jack vanished without
a trace from their quiet family home in rural Lansdowne Station,
Nova Scotia, a disappearance that has since become one of
the most baffling mysteries in Canadian history. The two children
were living with their mother, Malayia Brooks Murray, their stepfather,
(00:40):
Daniel Martel, and their infant sister when they were suddenly
reported missing, with no sounds, no struggle, and no clear
signs of where they could have gone. In a now
viral interview, Daniel broke down in tears as he pleaded
for answers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Very stressful, I mean, ever since the Friday morning when
we noticed that the children were gone, immediately jumped in
the vehicles, surveyed all the area, as many dirt road,
as many CalArts as it could and waited for the
police to get there.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
What followed was an all out search involving over one
hundred and sixty volunteers, RCMP officers, helicopters, drones, search dogs,
and underwater teams scouring the thick woods, creeks, and dangerous
terrain surrounding the area. But not a single clue was
ever found, and while public attention focused on the search,
(01:36):
a subtle moment during the mother's interview sparked a new
wave of speculation. As she calmly described the morning her
children went missing, many began to wonder if she was
concealing more than she was saying.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I'm just staying as hopeful as possible.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I want them home, I want to hold them, and
I want them home.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Now people are asking, is she aggrieving mother trying to
stay strong, or is she hiding something beneath that calm exterior.
At the time this video is being made, the case
remains unsolved, and everything you're about to hear comes from
public reports, online sources, and alleged witness accounts, not confirmed
(02:18):
facts from law enforcement. But before we dive deeper into
the twists of this mystery, let's take a closer look
at the family itself and why. Some believe both the
mother and the stepfather might know more than their willing
to admit. It all begins with Malaya Brooks Murray, born
in nineteen ninety eight into a mick Mock family in
(02:39):
Nova Scotia. Raised by her mother, Cindy Murray, Malaya was
surrounded by tradition, culture, and the teachings of her indigenous roots.
But even those deep cultural ties couldn't protect her from
a life shadowed by instability. By the age of twenty three,
Malaya was already a mother to two children, Lily and Jack,
(03:00):
whose father was reportedly absent from their lives. Some sources
claimed he was under house arrest, while others suggested he'd
simply disappeared from the picture. Nothing about that chapter of
her life was clear, And then came twenty twenty three,
the year she met Daniel Martel, a man six years
older who worked at a local sawmill. The relationship moved quickly.
(03:24):
Within months, Malaia packed up her children and moved into
Daniel's secluded home on Gerloch Road, buried deep in the
woods of Lansdowne Station. On the surface, it looked like
a fresh start. A young couple a new baby named Meadow,
a house tucked away in nature, but neighbors weren't convinced.
(03:45):
They described the home as eerie, with cars arriving in
the middle of the night, shouting from within, and strange
chemical smells seeping into the air. One neighbor chillingly recalled,
I always thought something weird was going on there, but
I had no idea children lived in that house. Although
Maleya was registered as a stay at home mom, people
(04:07):
who knew her spoke of her frequent absences, especially in
the evenings. Meanwhile, Daniel, despite being employed in the lumber industry,
was only known to work one day a week, which
raised eyebrows. How were they supporting a family of five
with almost no visible income. This question would become far
more important once the investigation into the children's disappearance began.
(04:31):
Even more troubling was the way the children were described
by those who saw them. Teachers said Lily and Jack
were quiet and often came to school looking tired and disengaged.
Their school bus driver, Brian Ward, remembered the children sometimes
falling asleep during the ride home, unusual for kids so young.
They had no neighborhood friends, didn't participate in community events
(04:55):
and were never seen playing outside. In a tight knit
community where everyone one knows everyone, Lily and Jack were
practically invisible. The last week of April twenty twenty five
marked a pivotal moment in the family's timeline. Starting on
April twenty ninth, the children stopped attending school. Malaya allegedly
(05:16):
told the school that Lily had fallen ill, but no
doctor's notes or medical records were ever provided. What went
on inside that house in those final days remains one
of the most haunting unanswered questions in the entire case.
Then came May first, a crucial turning point. According to
RCMP data released on May twenty eighth, the children were
(05:38):
seen in public that afternoon with family members in New Glasgow.
That piece of information sent shock waves through the community.
If Lily and Jack were alive and seemingly well in
public just hours before they vanished, then what happened during
the eighteen hours that followed. We would soon learn that.
On May second, at exactly ten o'clock in the morning,
(06:00):
Malahee Brooks Murray made a call to nine one one.
Her two children were missing, she said, But what immediately
struck dispatchers was not just the content of the call,
it was the tone. Her voice was eerily calm, flat,
almost rehearsed. She said my children are missing with the
(06:21):
emotionless cadence of someone reporting a broken window. When the
dispatcher asked for more information, her answers were short and robotic,
no shaking, no cracking voice, no signs of panic or
maternal distress. Even the dispatcher noted how cold and mechanical
she sounded, something rarely seen in cases involving missing toddlers,
(06:43):
and her behavior after that call only deepened the mystery.
Rather than joining the frantic community search, Malehia stayed inside,
speaking with officers in the same strangely detached voice. Search
and rescue teams expected a grieving mother pleading for help,
pacing with worry, sobbing, and desperation. Instead, they met a
(07:06):
woman who seemed disturbingly unaffected by the disappearance of her children. Then,
just twenty four hours later, on May third, she gave
her first and only televised interview. What the public saw
raised even more questions. Her posture was closed, she avoided
eye contact, her voice remained flat.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I'm just staying as hopeful as possible. I want them home.
I want to hold them, and I want them home.
What happened was we woke up.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I heard them playing in the next room beside us,
and I was drifting in and out of sleep. And
they're not the type of kids we tell them not
to go outside on their own. We always make sure
that we're out there with them, watching them. And they
happened to just get out that sliding door and we
can't hear it when it opens, and they were outside playing,
(07:58):
but we weren't aware of it at the time. And
the next thing we knew the room like it was quiet,
and we get up and I tell him, my partner, Daniel,
I tell him to hear the kids, and he says no,
and we get up instantly we're looking outside, We're looking everywhere,
yelling for them, and I instantly just called number one.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
It's just.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I just had the instinct I needed to call. They're
both really good, lucky children. They're so sweet. They talk
to anyone. They'll talk your year off. They they will
speak to anyone in a store, everyone. They're just extremely
sweet kids. I appreciate the huge search for going on
(08:47):
right now.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
But then came something far more alarming, Just thirty six
hours after her children were declared missing, while search teams
were still combing the woods and volunteers were putting up flyers,
Maalhia logged onto Facebook. She didn't post a tribute, she
didn't share their photos. She didn't even plead for help. Instead,
(09:09):
she changed her relationship status from in a relationship to single.
Within minutes, her profile photo was updated too, this time
showing a posed, smiling selfie. It was as if nothing
had happened, But the post that followed disturbed everyone. She wrote,
I want my babies home. My children are not shy,
(09:32):
They'll go with anyone. They don't understand stranger danger. Someone
must have taken them to the average person. It sounded
off to law enforcement and criminal psychologists. It was deeply troubling.
She wasn't just stating facts. She was telling the world
exactly how vulnerable her children were. In essence, she was
(09:53):
handing out a blueprint for how easy it would have
been to abduct them. Experts called it one of the
most reckless and bizarre public posts ever seen in an
active missing person's case. And yet, despite everything, she didn't
ask people to share photos or describe what they were
wearing or beg strangers to keep an eye out. Her
(10:15):
posts didn't sound like a cry for help. It sounded
like a narrative being planted. Then came the most surreal
moment of all. On May fourth, during a scheduled search
briefing at Lansdowne Station Road, Malayhia stood up mid presentation
and quietly walked out. She didn't panic, she didn't break down.
(10:35):
She walked calmly into an ambulance parked outside. At first,
people feared she'd collapsed, but no, it was a panic attack.
According to multiple witnesses, She looked fine one minute and
gone the next. Some believed that something revealed during the
briefing may have contradicted her story, something that came too
close to the truth. After that, she was gone, with
(10:59):
her infant daughter in tow. Malaya left the area with
her mother, Cindy Murray, without notifying search coordinators or leaving
any contact information. She didn't say goodbye to Daniel Martel,
the man she had lived with. She didn't speak to
the press. She didn't appear at another search event again.
The vacuum she left behind became a problem. While Daniel
(11:22):
continued cooperating with authorities, giving interviews and speaking with police.
Malayhia cut off all public involvement. When journalists tried reaching
out to her in the weeks that followed, she simply said,
the RCMP advised me not to speak to the media.
But experts pointed out police don't tell desperate mothers to
(11:42):
stay quiet, they encouraged them to keep the public talking.
That kind of silence is usually reserved for suspects, not victims,
And sure enough, her status in the investigation quietly shifted.
She was no longer just the grieving mother. She became
a person of interest. She moved in with her mother
to Wentworth, nearly an hour away from where her children vanished.
(12:06):
Not only did she leave behind her home and partner,
she removed herself entirely from the scene, both physically and emotionally.
It wasn't just strange to many, it was unforgivable. Even
her own community noticed. The Sapecnocatic First nation to which
Lily and Jack belonged, released emotional public statements begging for
(12:27):
answers and supporting the search, But in every statement there
was not a single mention of Malayia. In mick mock tradition,
families and communities stay united during times of pain, but
her absence and her people's silence about her spoke louder
than any press release. Then came June second, in the
(12:48):
town of Stellarton, a public vigil was held. Hundreds of
people came together, lighting candles and releasing lanterns into the
night sky. Children who had never met Lily and Jack clutched,
teddy and prayed for their return. Parents cried, strangers hugged.
Lanterns floated upwards, symbolizing a community's shared hope. But once again,
(13:11):
Malahia wasn't there.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Tonight is about saying a prayer, and we're going to
light the way home for them.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
A paper lantern for four year old Jack, another for
six year old Lily, released into the twilight sky as
a beacon of hope.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Eluminate the path for Lilian Jack guide their footsteps home.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
While these unknown people stood in the cold crying for
Lily and Jack, their own mother, Malayia Brooks Murray, remained
at home. Her absence wasn't just noticed, it was felt.
Some attendees openly voiced their anger and confusion. How can
we feel more than their own mother? One Morner asked.
(13:57):
It was a question that lingered long after the candle's breut,
but the signs had already been there on her social media.
An analysis of Malayhia's Facebook and Instagram posts from the
days leading up to the disappearance revealed a troubling pattern.
Her last few posts before May second hinted at emotional
(14:17):
distress and cryptic mentions of needing change. Darker tones, distant captions,
and vague references to starting over painted a picture of
a woman unraveling, or perhaps planning something she couldn't say
out loud. Then came the most disturbing part. Within forty
eight hours of her children vanishing, Malaya began referring to
(14:39):
them as angels, not missing, not lost, not taken, angels,
a word most parents avoid at all costs unless they've
reached the unthinkable. For most, angel is reserved for memorials,
used carefully whispered months or even years after the truth
is known. But for Malehia, it came immediately, almost as
(15:04):
if grief had skipped every natural step and jumped straight
into acceptance, or worse, as if she already knew they
were never coming back. Digital Forensics also noted that Shortly
after May second, Malehia's entire online presence began to shift.
She deleted multiple family photos, she altered her privacy settings,
(15:26):
she stopped posting about motherhood. It was as if she
was intentionally distancing herself from her role as Lily and
Jack's mother, as if the life she had built, including
the children, was being carefully erased. And then came the
most sinister detail of all. When RCMP publicly confirmed the
children were seen in New Glasgow on May first, it
(15:47):
became clear that Malahya already knew about this sighting. Investigators
later revealed that surveillance footage of the children existed, yet
Malahaya never brought it up, never referenced it, and never
used it to support the search. Any innocent mother would
have clung to those frames proof their children were alive,
(16:08):
proof that hope remained. But she said nothing. That silence
didn't just raise eyebrows, It was deafening, because if she
knew they were seen, if she knew they looked healthy,
and if she believed in their return, why hide it.
Why withhold that key piece of information unless she feared
what else those final hours might reveal. By June twenty
(16:31):
twenty five, the public image of Malayhia Brooks Murray had shattered.
What remained was the chilling profile of a woman whose
every action, from the eerily emotionless interview to her vanished
online presence to the cold, single status update, stood in
direct contrast to everything an innocent mother should be. Her
(16:51):
story became a case study. Literally, law enforcement agencies across
Canada and beyond began using the Sullivan case in training modules,
analyzing her interviews, her digital trail, her public reactions as
a textbook example of how behavior can betray guilt long
(17:11):
before evidence surfaces. Because this isn't just the story of
two missing children. It's the story of a mother who
vanished emotionally before her children vanished physically. A woman who,
when faced with tragedy, chose to protect herself instead of
fight for them. A woman who didn't break down because
(17:32):
deep down she didn't expect a reunion.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
Just to go to a first point. There's been a
lot of searchers here and we can't thank them enough
for being here. They've given up. A lot of them
have been here since day one and they have given up.
Some have taken time off work, some have left their
families behind, and we are very grateful for that, saying
(17:58):
that we will look in on them and their senior
managers to give us some recommendations of what else we
can do, but we will take that and we will
explore whatever we have and whatever we can do to
check it in spots that need to be checked or whatever.
But at this point in time, after today, we just
(18:19):
won't see all these searchers here.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Now. If you thought Malayia Brooks Murray's behavior was chilling,
wait until we get to Daniel Martel, the stepfather, because
everything about him screamed contradiction. In his first on camera interview,
Daniel wept visibly emotional, describing how he searched until his
throat hurt, how he outran drones, and how he ran
(18:43):
through waste deep water just to find the kids. He
painted himself as a desperate, grieving stepfather, the only one,
as he put it, fighting for them. It was dramatic, raw,
and clearly designed to pull at the public's heartstrings. But
if you watched closely, if you really paid attention, something
(19:04):
didn't sit right because while the words were powerful, the
performance was almost too perfect. There was no mud on
his shoes, no visible exhaustion on his face, no tear
stained cheeks, just a man in clean clothes, speaking as
if he'd memorized every line the night before. What stood
(19:24):
out most wasn't what Daniel said. It was how he
seemed to rehearse grief like an actor reading from a script.
His emotions flicked on and off like a light switch.
One moment, he'd break down mid sentence, his voice cracking
with sorrow. The next he'd collect himself in an instant
and begin listing technical details about drone surveillance and infrared scanners,
(19:47):
as if he were a search team commander rather than
a frantic parent. Real grief doesn't move that way. Real
panic isn't clean and composed, and real fathers don't narrate
their pain like a press release. They live it. But Daniel,
he presented grief like a monologue, not a meltdown.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Does I know some weren't there? Immediately jumped right in
the vehicle and surveyed all the area, every dir road,
every call over leg to find Yah just absolutely loved bugs, dinosaurs.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And anything like that. But Lily, Lily loves girly things.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
But she also loved doing everything with Jack Bogs they're
like best friends. How does brother insist?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Even more disturbing was his obsession with optics. From day one,
he emphasized his cooperation with police, proudly telling reporters he
handed over everything from bank statements to Google Maps data.
But he didn't just offer information, he flaunted it, using
his transparency as evidence of innocence. Over and over, he
(20:48):
reminded the public that he was helping investigators, that he
was being honest, that he had nothing to hide. But
that level of self promotion raised eyebrows. A truly deva
stated stepfather wouldn't be concerned about public opinion. He'd be
tearing through the woods, clinging to the smallest thread of hope. Daniel,
(21:09):
on the other hand, seemed more interested in managing his
image than finding two missing kids. And then there was
the polygraph, a move that caught everyone off guard. Daniel
didn't just agree to take a lie detector test, he
demanded it. He went on record saying he requested one
early on and that police were flying someone in to
(21:30):
conduct it. But here's where things get suspicious. Canada's RCMP
has trained polygraph specialists. They don't need to fly anyone
in unless something's off. Was this delay convenient? Was it
a tactic to buy time, to let critical hours slip
away while public attention fixated on his willingness to cooperate.
(21:53):
Some believed it was a distraction, a strategic move to
appear innocent while the trail went cold. His language also
gave away more than he likely intended. During interviews, Daniel
repeatedly used the past tense when referring to the children.
Jack loved bugs, he said, Lily loved girly things, not
(22:15):
loves loved. These weren't just verbal slips. They were consistent,
and in the eyes of investigators and forensic psychologists, that's
a red flag because people clinging to hope don't speak
of their children in the past tense. They don't describe
them as memories. They described them as living, breathing, human
(22:35):
beings who are coming home. Daniel spoke like someone who
already knew that wasn't going to happen, And then came
the contradictions. In one breath. Daniel said he didn't see
Jack that morning, only heard him in the kitchen, Yet
somehow he described the boy's exact outfit, blue dinosaur boots.
(22:56):
He also said Lily had her white backpack with strawberries
on it, but then added, I think now in the forest,
it's probably brown. That line haunted people. It wasn't just
the imagery, it was the implication. Why would a stepfather
assume the bag was in the forest, Why comment on
(23:18):
how the color had changed. It felt like he had
already imagined or seen the backpack abandoned, dirty, decomposing. It
was a detail no hopeful parent would conjure. Even when
asked about how the family survived financially, Daniel's answers were evasive.
He only worked one day a week at the saw mill,
(23:39):
yet supported a household of five. He chalked it up
to seasonal slow down, but anyone who's worked in forestry
knows that's not how saw mills operate. The math didn't
add up, and people started asking where did the money
come from, how did they afford grocries, bills, and allegedly drugs,
because yes, Nay had reported parties, strangers arriving late at night,
(24:03):
cars pulling in and out until two in the morning.
One neighbor even confessed he didn't know children lived at
the house. He thought it was a drug den. And
while Daniel tried to portray himself as the only one
fighting for the kids. His own relatives, people who knew
Lily and Jack from birth, openly accused him of knowing
more than he admitted. In fact, a physical altercation nearly
(24:28):
broke out at the scene when his family tried to
confront him. He later said, my mother had to kick
people off the property because they were saying I did
it think about that. On day one, before the news
even fully broke, people close to the children were already
pointing fingers, not at strangers, not at abductors, but at
(24:50):
Daniel himself. The strangest and perhaps most telling moment came
on May third, just one day after the disappearance, Daniel
and Malayhia at ended a public search briefing. In the
middle of the presentation, Malayia suddenly got up and walked
out straight into an ambulance and left with her own mother,
(25:10):
taking her infant daughter with her. She blocked Daniel on
social media, cut all communication, left without explanation. It was
like the entire family fractured overnight, but instead of panicking,
Daniel continued speaking to the media as if nothing had happened.
It was cold, clinical, calculated. He didn't even ask the
(25:31):
public for help finding the mother of his child, just
the missing kids, as if his world hadn't just exploded.
By May fifteenth, Daniel was no longer receiving search updates
from RCMP. That kind of cutoff usually signals a shift
from concerned parent to person of interest. Police had seized
(25:51):
his phone, demanded access to financial records and geolocation data,
and even started tracking his movements from the past month.
His complaints, they want to know everything I did, didn't
sound like those of an innocent man. They sounded like
someone trying to push back, someone frustrated that the noose
was tightening. And through all of it, Daniel kept performing.
(26:16):
His voice would tremble at just the right moment. He'd
describe bugs, backpacks, and bedtime stories with just enough detail
to seem authentic. But it was always too clean, too precise,
too rehearsed. He wasn't the dad ripping through underbrush or
sleeping in his car by the search site. He was
(26:36):
the man holding press conferences, pacing through sound bites, trying
to control the narrative before anyone could piece together what
really happened. Now here's the part that keeps people awake
at night. If Daniel Martel knew something anything about what
happened to Lily and Jack, why did he work so
hard to convince us he didn't. Why demand a polygraph
(26:58):
if it wasn't going to be used court. Why memorize
outfits he claimed he never saw. Why use the past tense?
Why distance himself from the very people accusing him of involvement.
As of the making of this video, the Sullivan case
remains officially open, but the optimism that once surrounded the
early days of the search has all but evaporated. The
(27:22):
RCMP has shifted from public search efforts to a more
silent investigative phase, no longer providing daily updates or briefing
the media, Daniel Martel has reportedly moved away from the area,
his once vocal presence now eerily silent. Malihia Brooks Murray,
the children's mother, remains absent from all public appeals, interviews,
(27:44):
or community gatherings. Neither parent has joined a single vigil,
helped with any local search parties, or made another plea
for their return. In over two months, investigators continued to
comb through digital evidence, bank records, text laws, GPS data,
but without bodies or concrete evidence. No arrests have been
(28:05):
made for now. Both parents remain persons of interest, not
officially suspects, though law enforcement has made it clear they
are not ruling out foul play. The most chilling update,
RCMP sources confirmed that cadaver dogs had hit on a
location near a wooded area just two kilometers from the
(28:25):
trailer home back in early June. That lead, however, has
not yet resulted in any confirmed discoveries. Whether it was
a false alarm, decayed animal remains, or something yet to
be revealed, officials remain tight lipped. The children's names are
still listed on every missing person database in the country,
but as weeks turned to months, hope continues to dim, and,
(28:49):
perhaps most disturbingly, no credible sightings have been reported since
May first, the last time they were seen in public alive.
That was the day before the nine MOE one call,
the day before silence fell. If you, or anyone you
know has even the smallest piece of information about the
disappearance of Lily and Jack Sullivan, no matter how minor
(29:11):
it may seem, please don't stay silent. Contact the RCMP
or your local authorities. These children deserve to be found.
They deserve the truth, because silence, as we've seen in
this case, isn't just suspicious, it's deafening, and in that silence,
justice remains just out of reach. Now, let's dive into
(29:35):
the part that everyone's been whispering about. What do you
think really happened to Lily and Jack? Could it be
that both parents were involved or was it just the
mother hiding something only she knows
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