Nova Scotia is boiling over with one burning question six months after Lilly Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, disappeared from their Lansdowne Station backyard: How does a mom stay in a home where her own babies were reportedly suffering—day after day—while the world now screams for answers?

Malehya Brooks-Murray’s latest emotional plea on November 10, 2025, begging strangers to “bring my babies home before Christmas,” has detonated across social media, racking up 600,000 shares in 48 hours. But beneath the tears, furious parents and armchair detectives are zeroing in on the same gut-punch: old whispers of neglect, bruises noticed by teachers, hunger complaints, and child-welfare files that allegedly piled up long before May 2—yet Mom never left stepfather Daniel Martell.

Facebook groups with 90,000 members are flooded with screenshots of alleged prior reports—claims teachers filed about unexplained marks, kids arriving in the same dirty clothes for days, and neighbors hearing cries that “didn’t sound like normal kid stuff.” One viral post from a former classmate’s parent reads: “Everyone in Pictou County knew something was off. Teachers begged CFS to do more. How many chances did those babies need before someone got them out?”

RCMP refuses to confirm or deny any pre-disappearance investigations, citing privacy laws, but unsealed warrants show zero charges against Brooks-Murray or Martell—despite both passing polygraphs and handing over every phone, bank record, and inch of property. That contradiction has fueled a firestorm: “If everything was fine, why are people saying the kids were falling apart?” one top comment with 12,000 likes demands.

Brooks-Murray’s own words aren’t helping calm the storm. In her November statement, she wrote, “I see their faces in every room and pray someone brings them home.” Critics pounced: “You were IN those rooms every day—why didn’t YOU protect them?” Another mega-thread with 45,000 reactions lists alleged red flags: Martell’s kids from a previous relationship supposedly removed by CFS years earlier, Brooks-Murray allegedly warned multiple times, yet she married him anyway in 2024.

Community insiders tell CTV News off-record that teachers fought for months to get Lilly and Jack help—mandatory reports filed, social workers visiting, but cases closed with “insufficient evidence.” One retired educator posted anonymously: “We did everything by the book. The system failed those children long before they vanished.”

The $150,000 reward—still unclaimed—now feels like salt in the wound. Tips have topped 950, but RCMP admits most are “recycled rumors” about the parents. Lead investigator Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon pleaded Monday: “Speculation helps no one. If you know something concrete, call us.” Yet the public isn’t letting go of the central rage: “If Mom knew they were suffering, why stay?”

Martell broke his silence on Facebook Live after the latest backlash, voice cracking: “Stop attacking a grieving mother. We took those tests, we opened our home—where are our kids?” Commenters fired back within minutes: “Where were YOU when they needed saving at home?”

Winter is closing in fast on Pictou County, blanketing the search zone in snow and freezing the ground-penetrating radar teams planned to use one last time. The roadside memorial—pink balloons for Lilly, blue for Jack—now sits under a tarp, but the questions keep growing louder.

Child-welfare advocates are using the case to demand nationwide reform. “This isn’t just about two missing kids,” one petition with 180,000 signatures reads. “It’s about every child stuck in a home where adults see the suffering and do nothing.”

RCMP insists the investigation remains wide open—“every scenario” on the table—but refuses to address the elephant in the room: If prior reports were real, why didn’t the system force Brooks-Murray to choose between her partner and her children’s safety?

As Christmas lights go up across Nova Scotia, two empty stockings hang in the Sullivan home. The province that once rallied 160 volunteers now rallies around a single, furious demand: Someone has to answer how a mother stays when her babies were clearly hurting—and why no one made her leave sooner.

Tip line: 1-833-622-7672. Reward: $150,000. Two little faces still on every billboard from Halifax to Cape Breton. The clock is ticking louder than ever.