The stepfather of two Nova Scotia children who have been missing for nearly 10 months has been arrested and charged with sexual assault, the RCMP says.
Nova Scotia RCMP confirmed to The Epoch Times that Daniel Martell, 34, was arrested on Jan. 26 by Pictou County District RCMP. Martell is facing charges of assault, sexual assault, and forcible confinement involving an adult. He was released on conditions and is scheduled to appear in Pictou Provincial Court on March 2.
Martell is the stepfather of Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, who were reported missing in May 2025 after disappearing from their home in Lansdowne Station, about 140 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
Martell was living with the children and their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, when the siblings disappeared.
Brooks-Murray reported the children missing on May 2, 2205, and had told police she believed the children had wandered away from home.
The last time the children were seen outside of their home was on May 1, when they were recorded on video surveillance at a Dollarama store with both Brooks-Murray and Martell.
Police conducted searches for the children in the wooded area near their home, but scaled back their search efforts on May 7. Ground and air searches were resumed 10 days later, with RCMP saying they were going to focus on specific areas rather than a broader search. More than 100 volunteers also helped search the 5.5 kilometres of wooded area near the family home.
RCMP said they used tracking dogs, aerial drones and helicopter crews to help find the children, searching around the home where the siblings lived, including looking in outbuildings, nearby septic systems, wells, mineshafts and culverts.
Underwater recovery teams were also brought in to search bodies of water around Lansdowne Station but did not find any evidence to help the investigation,police said.
In July 2025, police said they received more than 600 tips from the public in the case and that several family members had taken polygraph, or lie detector, tests.
RCMP said they conducted at least four polygraphs during their investigation—including of Martel and Brooks-Murray, with results showing they both answered truthfully. An unnamed investigator’s comments on the results of the polygraph indicates that the children’s disappearance was “not believed to be criminal in nature.”
The government of Nova Scotia has offered a cash reward of up to $150,000 for information in the disappearance of the two young siblings.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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