The stepfather of two missing children in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County is asking people to stop “attacking” their mother online as he tries to remain hopeful the siblings will be found safe.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Daniel Martell told CTV News. “One month has passed.”Martell says the grief is overwhelming and only made worse by the online speculation about what happened to six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan, especially when he has one child who still lives with her mother.
“Put your focus around Maleyha and toward the kids,” he said, referring to the children’s mother. “Don’t attack Maleyha because her mental health is going to be reflected on our daughter, so I don’t want anyone attacking Maleyha anymore.”
It’s believed the Sullivan children wandered away from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, N.S., the morning of May 2.
Their disappearance has stunned the community, with dozens of people coming together for a candlelight vigil in Stellarton, N.S., Monday evening. Martell attended the event, saying it brought out many emotions.
“They had some RCMP speakers and people from the community and there was even one guy who drove all the way from Sheet Harbour to come up and show his respect, so I appreciate that,” Martell told CTV News.
The children’s mother, Maleyha Brooks-Murray, did not attend the vigil.
Pictou County Warden Robert Parker says he understands a vigil may seem premature to some, but he feels it shows how deeply the community cares about Lilly and Jack.
“I always thought that perhaps it was a little early and perhaps it would show that we were sort of accepting the inevitable, and maybe we have to, but I think there was still hope here. I don’t think they were giving up,” said Parker.
“What else can you do? It’s a way they can show their emotion as best they can and that we haven’t forgotten.”
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