HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — In a development that has gripped the nation and left families across Canada holding their breath, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced just minutes ago that arrest warrants have been issued for Darin Geddes, a 42-year-old man from Pictou County, in connection with the mysterious disappearance of siblings Lilly and Jack Sullivan. The 6-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother vanished from their rural home in Lansdowne Station on May 2, 2025, sparking one of the most exhaustive missing persons investigations in recent Canadian history. Geddes, the children’s uncle and a longtime family associate, is accused of child abduction and obstruction of justice, charges that could carry decades in prison if proven. As RCMP officers converge on a property in nearby New Glasgow, where Geddes was reportedly spotted early this morning, questions swirl: Was this a calculated family rift gone horribly wrong, or something far more sinister? For the Sullivan family, shattered by months of silence and false hopes, this arrest is a gut-wrenching milestone—one that brings answers, but at the cost of unimaginable pain.

The Sullivan siblings’ vanishing act stunned the quiet community of Lansdowne Station, a speck on Nova Scotia’s Pictou County map where rolling hills meet dense forests, and neighbors know each other’s dogs by name. It was a crisp spring morning when their mother, 32-year-old Emily Sullivan, woke to an empty house around 10 a.m., the children’s beds untouched and toys scattered as if mid-play. A frantic 911 call at 10:01 a.m. triggered an immediate response: RCMP officers from the Northeast Nova Major Crime Unit sealed the Gairloch Road property, a modest single-story home with a swing set still creaking in the breeze. Lilly, described as a bright-eyed girl with strawberry blonde curls and a love for pink Barbie tops, was last seen in a cream backpack adorned with strawberry prints. Her brother Jack, a towheaded toddler with hazel eyes and a penchant for dinosaur boots, clutched a pull-up diaper and black Under Armour joggers. No signs of forced entry, no ransom demands—just an eerie void where two children’s laughter should have been.

The initial search was a spectacle of sorrow and solidarity: over 160 officers, volunteers, and K-9 units combed 40 square kilometers of woods and wetlands by May 4, helicopters thumping overhead and divers probing nearby streams. Tips flooded in—740 by summer’s end, plus 9,300 video submissions from dashcams and doorbells. Provincial rewards climbed to $150,000, with Nova Scotia’s attorney general Becky Druhan pleading, “One small detail could unlock everything.” But leads fizzled: a reported scream in the forest dismissed as a helicopter echo, airport alerts yielding nothing. By June, the case shifted from frantic hunt to forensic grind, with redacted court docs revealing RCMP’s deep dive into family dynamics—phone records, financials, even custody disputes between Emily and her ex, the children’s biological father, who hadn’t been involved in years.

Emily Sullivan, a part-time cashier at a local IGA, became the face of quiet desperation. “My babies are out there somewhere—I feel it in my bones,” she told CBC in a June interview, her voice cracking as she clutched a stuffed unicorn Lilly adored. The stepfather, 35-year-old Kyle Martell, a mechanic at a New Glasgow garage, faced early scrutiny—neighbors whispered of “tense arguments” weeks prior—but polygraphs and alibis cleared him. Martell’s May 2 search in the woods, where he claimed to hear a child’s cry drowned by chopper noise, drew tabloid side-eyes, but investigators deemed it genuine. “We looked at everyone close—no stone unturned,” Cpl. Sandy Matharu, the lead investigator, said in a July update. Yet whispers persisted: Was it abduction? Runaway? Or something darker within the family fold?

Enter Darin Geddes, Emily’s brother and the uncle the children adored. A 42-year-old construction foreman with a salt-and-pepper beard and a reputation for “hot temper but big heart,” Geddes lived 10 minutes away in a trailer cluttered with kids’ toys from visits. Court docs unsealed in August—prompted by media FOI requests from CBC, The Globe and Mail, and Canadian Press—revealed RCMP’s laser focus on him: seized phones showing deleted texts from May 1 (“We need to talk—urgent”), bank withdrawals of $2,500 days before the disappearance, and GPS pings placing his truck near the Sullivan home at 2 a.m. on May 2. “Geddes was the last family contact pre-vanish,” a source briefed on the probe told Global News. “He’d been in custody battles, bitter about Emily ‘moving on’ after their parents’ split.” Emily, in a tearful September YouTube plea via true-crime host Sunny Austin’s “It’s A Criming Shame,” denied any rift: “Darin loved those kids like his own—he wouldn’t…”

The breakthrough came quietly, per RCMP’s terse 7 a.m. statement today: “Arrest warrants issued for Darin Geddes on charges of child abduction and obstruction of justice. He is considered armed and dangerous—do not approach.” Northeast Nova Major Crime Unit swarmed Geddes’ trailer at dawn, a perimeter of cruisers flashing blue and red against the November frost. Neighbors gawked from porches as tactical teams breached the door, emerging hours later with boxes of evidence: children’s clothing matching descriptions, a burner phone, and—sources say—a journal scribbled with “They’ll be safe with me.” Geddes, reportedly barricaded inside with a shotgun, surrendered peacefully around 9:15 a.m., his face gaunt and eyes hollow as cuffs clicked. “No comment,” he muttered to reporters, head bowed as he was led to a waiting van.

RCMP’s Insp. Luke Rettie, flanked by search dogs Narc and Kitt at a hastily called presser, detailed the pivot: “A tip from a New Brunswick informant, corroborated by forensic matches on fabric fibers from the Sullivan home, led to Geddes. We’re treating this as a familial abduction gone wrong—preliminary evidence suggests he took the children to ‘protect’ them from a perceived threat.” The “threat”? Geddes’ paranoia over Emily’s new partner, Martell, whom he’d accused of abuse in anonymous Child Services calls. Digital forensics uncovered encrypted drives with photos timestamped May 3—Lilly and Jack in unfamiliar woods, looking scared but unharmed. “We’re optimistic they’re alive,” Rettie added, voice steady but eyes betraying exhaustion after 207 days of dead ends.

Emily Sullivan collapsed in her lawyer’s office upon hearing the news, sobbing, “My babies—bring them home.” Martell, cleared but scarred, issued a statement: “Darin was family—we trusted him. This betrayal cuts deepest.” The biological father, estranged in Ontario, flew in for a press conference: “Jack and Lilly are my world—whatever it takes, I’ll find them.” Communities that rallied with vigils—Lansdowne’s 500-strong candle walk, Pictou’s reward fund topping $150,000—erupted in cautious hope. “We’ve prayed for this break,” said Fr. Michael O’Brien at St. Dunstan’s Basilica. “But answers without the children? It’s half a miracle.”

The case’s twists have transfixed Canada: from May’s massive manhunt (160 searchers, helicopters, divers) to August’s redacted docs revealing 800 tips and 9,300 videos sifted in vain. True-crime pods like “It’s A Criming Shame” amplified leads, but also rumors—abduction rings, witness tampering—that RCMP debunked. Geddes’ profile fits no stereotype: a church deacon with a clean record, coaching youth soccer until his unexplained 2024 resignation. Neighbors recall “odd vibes”—late-night drives, rants about “family secrets”—but no red flags. “He doted on the kids,” one said. “This? Unthinkable.”

As Geddes faces arraignment tomorrow in Pictou Provincial Court, the hunt intensifies: Ontario and New Brunswick RCMP join the fray, scouring rural routes with drones and K-9s. “Every hour counts,” Cpl. Matharu urged. “If you know anything—vehicle sightings, odd behaviors—call now.” The $150,000 reward stands, tips pouring via Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-TIPS). For the Sullivans, it’s agony anew: Emily’s YouTube pleas (“Mummy’s here—come home”) echo in empty rooms, Jack’s dinosaur boots gathering dust.

This arrest isn’t closure—it’s a crack in the darkness, illuminating a family fractured by suspicion. As November winds whip Nova Scotia’s coasts, hope flickers: Lilly’s strawberry backpack, Jack’s hazel gaze, waiting to be found. Geddes’ silence in custody speaks volumes, but the Mounties vow: “We’ll bring them home.” In a province scarred by Madeleine McCann echoes and Highway of Tears horrors, the Sullivans’ saga reminds: in missing children’s voids, vigilance is the only light. As warrants wave and whispers grow, Canada watches, prays, and pleads: Where are Lilly and Jack?