SANFORD, Maine — The Sanford Police Department said it conducted a small search in the Coos Canyon Campground area in Byron on Friday for Nicholas Hansen, Jill Sidebotham, and their two-year-old daughter, Lydia, who have all been missing since June 28.
Sidebotham's family said they were told the trio would be back from camping on June 30.
It's now been three weeks since they were set to return, and only two confirmed sightings have been reported by police.
For Nicholas Hansen's sister, Kelly Hansen, who said they lost their eldest sibling to drug abuse in 2021, she can't take another death.
"I can't stand to lose another sibling. I can't. It hasn't even been a year since I said goodbye to my oldest brother. I can't handle it again," Kelly Hansen said.
She's remaining hopeful that death isn't the only conclusion but said her brother has acted differently for the last few years due to alcoholism and childhood trauma.
"Nick was broken, and he never got the proper help with that. It broke him, but it would break anybody," Kelly Hansen said. "This isn't Nick, and it kills me to know that he's changed. And my niece, god forbid, is suffering because of this."
Kelly Hansen said Nick quit his job in June, about a month after he received a letter telling him he'd lost parental rights to his other two children from a previous relationship.
His sister said that's when he contacted Jill and Lydia.
Sidebotham's family said their mom was told that Jill and Nick were leaving to camp in the Philips area.
Reta Lyman, Sidebotham's oldest sister, said the last time Sidebotham contacted her family was on June 28.
"I'm not sure if maybe we misunderstood something. But I don't think she would pull this," Lyman said in a previous interview.
"I'm the oldest. I'm supposed to be the one that looks after them, but I can't. I don't know what to do," she added. "She's a good mom. We need her back."
Meanwhile, The Sanford Police Department said there have been no concrete leads outside the two sightings more than two weeks ago.
Lt. Matthew Gagne said he's received advice from both families about the parents' troubled past and said that doesn't change the goal of the investigation.
"We're trying to find them no matter what. We're following up on any information we get," Gagne said. "We don't want to jump to conclusions as to what it is because we just don't know."
Gagne said turnpike authorities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been notified of the 2005 silver Volkswagen Jetta the trio is reportedly traveling in, and game wardens are conducting aerial searches for the vehicle.