Quinton Simon (Chatham County Police Division)
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. – The seek for a lacking Georgia toddler presumed lifeless by police shifted Tuesday to a landfill exterior Savannah the place investigators deliberate to start out shifting by trash for the kid’s stays.
Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley mentioned investigators had proof that prompted the landfill seek for the physique of 20-month-old Quinton Simon, however he declined to say what it was.
“We imagine that he was positioned in a selected dumpster at a selected location and it was introduced right here by common technique of disposal,” Hadley mentioned throughout a information convention. “I’ve each perception that we are going to discover his stays right here on the landfill.”
Police started trying to find Quinton on Oct. 5 when his mom known as 911 and mentioned the boy had gone lacking from his playpen. After greater than per week spent looking the home and surrounding neighborhood, Hadley introduced Thursday that police imagine the kid is lifeless.
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He additionally named the boy’s mom, Leilani Simon, because the a suspect in her son’s demise and disappearance. Practically per week later, she has not been arrested or charged.
Hadley mentioned his division and the FBI spent days planning and getting personnel and gear in place to go looking the landfill.
“We would like justice for Quinton identical to all people else,” the police chief mentioned, “and we wish to discover his stays so we may give him a correct resting place.”
Dozens of FBI brokers had been available to help law enforcement officials, mentioned Will Clarke, supervisory agent for the bureau’s satellite tv for pc workplace in Savannah.
Clarke mentioned investigators had been focusing their search on a selected space of the landfill, the place particles could be deposited on a chosen search deck for authorities to comb by one pile at a time.
“This won’t be fast, it won’t be straightforward and the end result is unsure,” Clarke mentioned.
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Leilani Simon had no listed cellphone quantity and it wasn’t recognized Tuesday if she had a lawyer who might communicate on her behalf. Court docket information confirmed she represented herself in two civil instances filed since March involving her custody of her youngsters and baby help.
Police reviews and courtroom paperwork present there was turmoil in latest weeks between the kid’s mom and grandmother, Billie Jo Howell, who had authorized custody of him and an older sibling. Quinton, his mom and his mom’s boyfriend lived with Howell.
Simon known as police on Sept. 7 following an argument together with her mom over laundry wherein she mentioned Howell had shoved her towards a wall, in response to a police report. Nobody was charged and an officer discovered no accidents aside from Simon’s reddened elbow.
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The next day, Quinton’s grandmother filed papers in Chatham County Justice of the Peace Court docket to have Simon and her boyfriend evicted from her residence, WTOC-TV reported.
Just a few weeks later, on Sept. 28, a Superior Court docket choose ordered Leilani Simon to pay $150 per 30 days in baby help.
Quinton’s mom reported him lacking per week later.
“We’re not able to cost anybody but,” Hadley mentioned Tuesday when requested why no arrests had been made. “We nonetheless have work to do. We nonetheless have an investigation to do. We’re not going to do something preemptively that may hurt a future prosecution.”