In a stunning development that has shocked observers worldwide, authorities have announced the final conclusion to the baffling disappearance of Canadian siblings Lilly and Jack Sullivan, with a suspect now in custody. The breakthrough came late on January 18, 2026, when police confirmed the arrest of the individual at exactly 22:00 local time—nearly eight months after the children vanished without a trace from their remote home in Lansdowne Station, Nova Scotia.

Lilly, then 6, and Jack, then 4 (now 5), were reported missing on May 2, 2025, by their mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, who claimed the pair had wandered away while the family slept. What followed was one of Canada’s most exhaustive missing-persons searches: hundreds of volunteers, cadaver dogs, drones, ground teams, and major-crimes investigators scoured dense forests, rural roads, and waterways. Despite relentless efforts, no bodies, clothing, or definitive clues emerged beyond a single pink blanket linked to Lilly found in the vicinity.

The investigation long hovered in limbo—officially a missing-persons matter under provincial law rather than a confirmed homicide—yet suspicion lingered over the home environment. Newly unsealed court documents from earlier this month detailed allegations of intimate-partner violence between the mother and her common-law partner, Daniel Martell, including claims of physical abuse in the household. Polygraph tests were administered to several people close to the family, and RCMP repeatedly stressed no evidence of abduction while refusing to rule out foul play.

Today’s bombshell arrest signals a decisive shift. While full details of the suspect’s identity, motive, and exact charges remain under wraps pending formal proceedings, police described the conclusion as the result of “new, pivotal evidence” that propelled the case from unresolved mystery to criminal resolution. Sources close to the probe suggest advances in forensic analysis, witness statements, or digital records may have cracked what had been labeled an “extremely rare” cold-case scenario in just months.

The arrest at 10 p.m. on January 18 unfolded amid tight security, with tactical units reportedly involved in detaining the suspect. Family members, including the children’s paternal grandmother who has publicly pleaded for answers and expressed hope for resolution, have yet to comment officially. Community members in Pictou County, still haunted by the case’s grip on national headlines, expressed a mix of relief and sorrow at the news that closure may finally be near—though many questions about what truly happened to the innocent siblings remain.

This arrest marks a potential end to months of anguish for a family torn apart and a province gripped by one of its most perplexing child-disappearance mysteries. As legal proceedings begin, the world watches to learn the full, heartbreaking truth behind Lilly and Jack’s fate.