🚨 BREAKING – 30 MINUTES AGO: MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN LILY & JACK SULLIVAN CASE 🚨

Police have CONFIRMED: The children’s stepfather Daniel Martell has been taken into custody right now.

Sources close to the investigation say RCMP investigators just delivered shocking news straight to the family — triggering a dramatic, game-changing shift in this nine-month nightmare.

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In a stunning escalation to one of Canada’s most baffling missing-children cases, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have taken Daniel Martell — the stepfather of 6-year-old Lilly Sullivan and 4-year-old Jack Sullivan — into custody, sources confirmed to multiple outlets just moments ago on February 12, 2026.

Investigators reportedly delivered “shocking news” directly to family members earlier today, prompting a dramatic shift in the direction of the nine-month-old investigation. While RCMP has not yet issued a full public statement detailing the reasons for the custody action or any new charges related to the children’s disappearance, the move marks a significant turning point in a probe that has remained under the province’s Missing Persons Act without formal criminal designation until now.

Lilly and Jack were reported missing at 10:01 a.m. on May 2, 2025, when their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, called 911 from the family trailer on Gairloch Road in the remote Lansdowne Station area of Pictou County. Brooks-Murray and Martell told police the children had been put to bed the previous evening (May 1) between 9 and 10 p.m. and appeared to have wandered away overnight or early morning into the surrounding dense woods.

The largest search operation in recent Nova Scotia history followed: more than 1,700 personnel contributed over 12,000 search hours across 8.5 square kilometers, deploying drones, helicopters, cadaver dogs, and ground teams. Key finds included a pink blanket believed to belong to Lilly hanging in a tree about 1 kilometer from home, and child-sized boot prints matching Lilly’s rainbow rubber boots on a nearby trail. No bodies, additional clothing, toys, or conclusive evidence of the children’s fate has ever been recovered.

Surveillance from a Dollarama in nearby New Glasgow captured the entire family — Lilly, Jack, their baby sister, Brooks-Murray, and Martell — together and alive on the afternoon of May 1 at 2:25 p.m., marking the last verified public sighting.

The case has been dogged by inconsistencies and household scrutiny from the start. Unsealed court documents from January 2026 revealed Brooks-Murray’s prior allegations of physical abuse by Martell, including incidents where he allegedly blocked her, held her down, pushed her, and took her phone to prevent calls to her mother. Martell underwent a polygraph early in the probe, as did Brooks-Murray, who participated voluntarily.

On January 26, 2026, Martell, 34, of Lansdowne, was arrested by Pictou County RCMP and charged with assault, sexual assault, and forcible confinement involving an unrelated adult complainant. He was released on conditions, including no contact with the alleged victim, and is scheduled to appear in Pictou Provincial Court on March 2, 2026. RCMP repeatedly emphasized those charges were separate from the children’s disappearance.

Neighbor statements added intrigue: court records detailed reports of a “loud vehicle” coming and going multiple times after midnight into the early hours of May 2, including activity around 1:30 a.m. near railroad tracks close to where evidence was later found. RCMP reviewed surveillance and initially stated no vehicle activity was substantiated as key, though timelines remained under review.

Paternal grandmother Belynda Gray has been outspoken, sharing private conversations with Martell and accusing Brooks-Murray of inconsistencies while calling for greater transparency. Maternal grandmother Cyndy Murray and friends close to Brooks-Murray have described the mother as grieving privately, “taking it day by day,” amid intense public pressure.

RCMP has reviewed over 8,000 video files, conducted 75 interviews, and followed more than 1,000 tips. Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon of the major crime unit affirmed in early February interviews that the investigation “is not going to be a cold case” and expressed confidence in ongoing efforts. A $150,000 provincial reward for information of investigative value remains in place.

Today’s custody development — described by sources as a “major breakthrough” — has reignited speculation that new evidence may have emerged linking Martell more directly to the disappearance, potentially shifting the probe toward criminal charges. However, without official confirmation, authorities continue to stress the case’s status under the Missing Persons Act, with no public pivot announced.

The remote, thickly wooded location has long complicated theories: accidental wandering and exposure remain possible, but the lack of environmental evidence, timeline discrepancies, and household dynamics have fueled widespread suspicion of foul play or concealment.

Brooks-Murray has stayed largely out of the spotlight, though friends told CBC News in recent days she continues to cope amid the uncertainty. Family members on both sides have expressed profound grief, with Gray vowing to keep speaking out until answers arrive.

As details of the custody action trickle in, the small Pictou County community — already scarred by months of vigils, volunteer searches, and online speculation — braces for what could be the decisive chapter. Is this arrest the breakthrough that finally reveals what happened to Lilly and Jack? Or another layer in an enduring tragedy?

RCMP urges anyone with information to contact investigators immediately. Until verified updates emerge, the fate of two young siblings remains one of Canada’s most heart-wrenching unsolved mysteries — now hanging on the edge of a potential resolution.