Step-grandmother of missing N.S. kids recalls hearing their voices, followed by 'nothing'

Step-grandmother of missing Nova Scotia children says she heard them, then 'nothing'

Jenny Mackenzie, the step-grandmother of Lily and Jack Sullivan, says she still believes the children are alive.

Mackenzie, who lives in a trailer in the yard of the same house where her son Daniel Martell and his family live, said she was awakened on the morning of May 2 by the sound of her dog barking, a sound that always signaled children playing on the swings. She said she heard Lily and Jack; her bedroom is just steps from the swings.

"Then there was no more noise," she said.

A few minutes later, she heard her son Daniel calling the children's names. When she emerged from the trailer, she saw the children's mother, Malia Brooks-Murray, standing in the yard, holding their 1-year-old daughter. Malea told her the children were missing and had not been seen for about 20 minutes.

“I closed the door to the trailer, put on my boots, came out, ran into the woods,” Mackenzie said.

In an interview in front of her trailer, the first time reporters were allowed on the property, she said she had spoken to her brother on the phone for just two minutes at 8:48 a.m. local time and then fell asleep for a moment. During that time, the children were gone.

Despite weeks of extensive searching around the property, only two footprints and a piece of a blanket have been found. The Nova Scotia Mounted Police (RCMP), working with various crime units, have not yet released many details.

Lily, 6, and Jack, 4, were last seen that morning. Their photos were released by the Nova Scotia government a few weeks later.

Mackenzie decided to tell her story in the hope of shedding some light on the incident and putting an end to the rumors that have been circulating online.

“I blame myself for not waking up that morning to see the kids… If I had, this wouldn’t have happened,” she said through tears.

She recalled that first day as a chaotic scene, with officers, search teams and reporters swarming the rural area.

Two years ago, Maleya and Daniel moved into the property with their children. The children’s biological father had long since left their lives. They soon had a daughter. Mackenzie gave the young family a mobile home and lived in a small RV. She had built the wooden swing set in the yard herself, complete with a water slide and sandbox.

“They were in my life for two years,” she said. “When they came here, they became part of my family.”

Mackenzie insisted that she and her family have fully cooperated with the police, despite the international media attention the case has garnered. Only once, on the first day, did she refuse to let an officer into her trailer because she wanted to take her dog out first. The entire property was then searched multiple times, including the mobile home, trailer, well, and septic tank. They even used a drone to check under the house. Daniel Martel also took a lie detector test and said he passed.

However, accusations against Mackenzie and her son continue to surface online.

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