Police search Georgia landfill for missing toddler’s remains

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The seek for a lacking Georgia toddler presumed lifeless by police shifted Tuesday to a landfill outdoors Savannah the place investigators deliberate to start out sifting by way of trash for the kid’s stays.

Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley stated 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 consider that he was positioned in a selected dumpster at a selected location and it was introduced right here by common technique of disposal,” Hadley stated 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 referred to as 911 and stated the boy had gone lacking from his playpen. After greater than per week spent looking out the home and surrounding neighborhood, Hadley introduced Thursday that police consider the kid is lifeless.

He additionally named the boy’s mom, Leilani Simon, because the a suspect in her son’s dying and disappearance. Practically per week later, she has not been arrested or charged.

Hadley stated 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 stated, “and we need to discover his stays so we may give him a correct resting place.”

Dozens of FBI brokers have been readily available to help law enforcement officials, stated Will Clarke, supervisory agent for the bureau’s satellite tv for pc workplace in Savannah.

Clarke stated investigators have been focusing their search on a selected space of the landfill, the place particles can be deposited on a delegated search deck for authorities to comb by way of one pile at a time.

“This is not going to be fast, it is not going to be straightforward and the result is unsure,” Clarke stated.

Leilani Simon had no listed cellphone quantity and it was not recognized Tuesday if she had a lawyer who might converse 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 assist.

Police studies 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 referred to as police on Sept. 7 following an argument together with her mom over laundry by which she stated Howell had shoved her in opposition to a wall, in response to a police report. Nobody was charged and an officer discovered no accidents aside from Simon’s reddened elbow.

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.

A couple of weeks later, on Sept. 28, a Superior Court docket decide ordered Leilani Simon to pay $150 monthly in baby assist.

Quinton’s mom reported him lacking per week later.

“We’re not able to cost anybody but,” Hadley stated 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 will hurt a future prosecution.”