'My heart tells me these babies are gone,' says grandmother of missing N.S. children

Belynda Gray awoke to the show of flashing reddish and bluish lights arsenic 2 constabulary cars pulled into the driveway of her location successful the aboriginal greeting hours of May 3.

She already knew wherefore they were there.

Her son, Cody Sullivan, is the biologic begetter of 2 children who vanished from a agrarian Nova Scotia assemblage the time before.

"They travel inside. They lone stood successful the kitchen," said Gray of the constabulary officers who came to her location connected Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore.

"They wanted maine to aftermath Cody up and they wanted to cognize erstwhile was the past clip helium had seen the kids and that they were conscionable making definite that the kids weren't here. And past they left."

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The erstwhile morning, constabulary received a 911 telephone reporting that Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, had wandered distant from their location successful Lansdowne Station, a sparsely populated and heavy wooded assemblage successful Pictou County.

Their disappearance sparked extensive searches that person truthful acold turned up small evidence, arsenic astir a twelve RCMP units effort to portion unneurotic what happened to the young siblings amid aggravated planetary interest.

After watching the probe unfold implicit the past six weeks, Gray has decided to stock her family's communicative successful the hopes of keeping Lilly and Jack's lawsuit successful the nationalist eye. 

Gray, 62, said her lad was successful a narration with the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, for astir 3 years.

"I thought they were the picture-perfect family," said Gray. "Then Malehya started to archer maine that they were having problems and she wasn't happy."

Brooks-Murray decided to extremity the relationship, and Sullivan chose to locomotion distant from the children, said Gray. Their parent petitioned the tribunal for sole custody, she said.

"When she did that, helium said that helium was done. He conscionable didn't privation nary portion of it," said Gray of her 29-year-old son, who is presently surviving with her aft losing his operation job, flat and conveyance 9 months ago.

"He hasn't seen the kids for 3 years."

Despite the fallout, Gray wanted to support her own narration with the children and Brooks-Murray had nary objections. 

"Any clip we wanted to spot the kids, she'd travel by for a visit. She'd bring them by each the time," Gray said.

But interaction betwixt Gray and her grandchildren yet dwindled and stopped wholly after Brooks-Murray moved successful with her caller boyfriend, Daniel Martell, successful Lansdowne Station.

The past clip Gray saw Lilly and Jack was astir 2 years ago.

WATCH | Grandmother of Jack and Lilly Sullivan speaks to CBC News:

On the day of May 2, she received a telephone from a relative asking if she had heard the quality astir the children. Gray texted Brooks-Murray, who confirmed Lilly and Jack were missing.

"I was successful a authorities of panic, shock, but successful the backmost of my caput I kept saying, 'Well, they'll find them,'" she said.

Gray headed to Pictou County the pursuing time to assistance hunt the dense woods that surround the home wherever the children were living.

"I'm yelling for Lilly and Jack. We ever called Jack 'Jackie boy.' His practice is Irish," said Gray done tears, pausing to constitute herself.

"I started to consciousness that I can't spot them being successful the woods.… There's trees everywhere. You virtually person to ascent implicit trees, ascent nether bushes. It is really, truly thick."

Over six days, hunt and rescue teams combed done the wood arsenic helicopters and drones whirred overhead.

The wider ground hunt was scaled backmost connected May 7, but subsequent targeted searches person taken spot since then. RCMP accidental they person extensively searched the children's location and spot arsenic good arsenic adjacent wells, excavation shafts and septic systems arsenic good as underwater searches of lakes.

Gray said she does consciousness the country has been extensively searched, describing the galore orangish and pinkish ribbons tied to trees to people disconnected areas that person been covered off.

"You could spot places astir wherever they played and you could spot places astir wherever you mightiness privation to research arsenic a kid," she said.

"But beyond those exploration points, there's nary crushed for immoderate kid to rotation heavy into the woods."

For his part, Martell agrees the woods astir his location person been extensively searched, adding that a drone was flown into a hatch that leads underneath his home.

He said helium feels investigators are doing each they tin to lick the "mysterious" and "strange" case.

Nevertheless, the ordeal has taken a toll connected his family, attracting attraction from radical astir the world.

"My beingness has been ripped isolated successful a 1000 pieces. And six weeks after, the pieces are inactive laying connected the floor," Martell told CBC News successful a caller interview.

Relatives of Brooks-Murray have told CBC News she has been advised by constabulary not to talk to media.

RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said it's "quite rare" for 2 children to spell missing astatine the aforesaid time.

"Investigations similar this instrumentality a agelong time," said Tremblay successful a caller interview.

"They enactment a large toll connected archetypal responders and investigators and I can't ideate what the family's going done each day."

Tremblay repeated that each missing persons probe is considered suspicious until they person crushed to judge otherwise.

He said constabulary person not uncovered immoderate grounds to suggest the children were abducted.

Gray said a fewer days aft the children went missing, constabulary returned to instrumentality photos of her vehicles, inquire for surveillance footage and questioned her lad for astir 20 minutes.

A fewer weeks later, they returned a 3rd time, formally questioning Gray for 2 hours and Sullivan for an hr and a fractional successful a constabulary vehicle.

"I didn't mind.… I privation they would person done it sooner," she said. "My lad was a small upset astir it. He said they made him consciousness similar helium did thing wrong."

Last week, Gray said constabulary contacted her and said "they weren't looking his mode anymore, that everything's fine."

She besides dispelled online rumours that her lad lives successful Western Canada and is successful jail. 

Gray described Lilly arsenic her "little imagination girl."

"I loved that she had the brownish hairsbreadth and she had a abstraction betwixt her teeth, which I had erstwhile I was a kid," she said. "She was our small princess."

Jack, connected the different hand, was sober and serious, adjacent arsenic a baby, she said.

"You could tickle him and helium would look astatine you ever truthful serious, similar helium was truly studying you."

Gray said she speaks of the children successful the past tense due to the fact that she does not judge they are alive. 

"My bosom tells maine these babies are gone," she said. "I conscionable privation them back.

"These are everybody's grandchildren. They're not conscionable excavation now. It does look similar the full satellite cares."