Good morning. Two young children went missing in rural Nova Scotia more than three months ago. A closer look into their lives shows that all was not well, as their mysterious disappearance continues to baffle the country. More on their case below, plus what to know about a very Cold War-like summit and why collage art is back. But first:

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Good morning, I’m Lindsay Jones, The Globe’s Atlantic reporter based in Halifax. My colleague Greg Mercer and I have spent the past three months looking into the mysterious disappearance of Jack and Lilly Sullivan, two young children from rural Pictou County, N.S., who were reported missing by their mother and stepfather on May 2.

The case of Lilly, 6, and Jack, 4, has baffled the country and prompted endless online speculation. More than three months after one of the largest searches in Nova Scotia’s history and an intensive major crimes investigation, police still haven’t confirmed the circumstances of the children’s disappearance. But as Greg and I discovered, it appears that there may have been clues, even potential warning signs, in the children’s home life.

I first arrived in Lansdowne, N.S., to report on the case a few days after the children had been reported missing.

Born and raised in Nova Scotia, I had never heard of the community of Lansdowne until Jack and Lilly disappeared. It’s a blur of wilderness on a rural highway, a gritty corner of Pictou County with a few dozen homes, no cellular service, and a network of dirt roads that snake deep into the hillsides. But now, for many others here in the Maritimes and across the country, Lansdowne is on the map – a place where two children can just disappear.

One of the first people I spoke with was the children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell. He approached me as soon as I walked into the driveway, offering up the home WiFi and affably answering all my questions.

He explained how he and his partner Malehya, the children’s mother, had been dozing with their toddler on the morning of May 2 when they awoke to a silent house and realized Jack and Lilly were gone. He said he assumed they put on their boots and walked out the back door, leaving the fenced-in backyard.

In that interview, he was especially preoccupied that Malehya had left him and gone to stay with her mother.

“She’s going to try to blame everything on me, but she doesn’t get in trouble,” he said.

What would there be to blame? I asked. At that stage, search and rescue teams were still scouring the woods for Lilly and Jack, and many appeared to have hope the children would be found alive.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said.

What he said struck me. It continued to perplex me as Greg and I sought answers over the following weeks, gathering information from neighbours, friends, family members, elected officials and police. We learned that behind the scenes, people’s concern for the children’s welfare had already raised red flags.

As our questions about Jack and Lilly’s home life became more focused – around drug use, controlling behaviour, signs of potential abuse and neglect regarding the children, and financial struggles – Daniel stopped taking our calls and answering our messages.

Malehya has done only one interview – one of the few times she has made a public plea for Lilly and Jack.

Police have described the case of Jack and Lilly as highly unusual. Most missing-persons cases are resolved shortly after they’re reported. But the children’s disappearance has become a complex and intensive major crime investigation.

Dozens of people have been interrogated with some administered polygraph tests. Police seized electronic devices, viewed thousands of video files and are following up on hundreds of tips, as they await forensic tests on items found during the search, including Lilly’s pink blanket. The province, meanwhile, offered up a $150,000 reward.

Without answers, rumours and theories abound. There are those who believe the children are still alive. Others have resigned to a grim reality.

Greg and I won’t stop pressing for answers about Jack and Lilly. We plan to keep looking into what role provincial child protection social workers had in their lives prior to their disappearance, and how RCMP are investigating the case.