The attorney general, Judith Collins, said on Thursday the decision to establish a public inquiry was due to the significant public interest in the case, and concern with the children's welfare. The inquiry will look into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children, Collins said in a statement.
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A 13-year-old Louisiana girl who went missing after meeting a man online was found alive in a box at his home several states away in Pennsylvania along with evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, according to authorities. Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, faces charges of human trafficking, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a child after police in Pittsburgh said they arrested him on Thursday.
The rural Nova Scotia community is part of Pictou County, an area of dense forests and meandering rivers, where memories of recent tragedies in the province-a horrific mass killing in 2020 and a missing toddler that same year-remain vivid. Over four months after the siblings' disappearance, a sense of unease permeates the region, even as residents rally at vigils and in community Facebook groups to try to keep hope alive.