The mother of a missing toddler from Georgia, now the main suspect in the case, told authorities that the child’s biological father had allegedly kidnapped the child in the middle of the night.
Leilani Simon, Quinton’s mother, told the police that her ex-boyfriend, the boy’s father, had taken the 20-month-old toddler from her home in Savannah in the middle of the night, making the police track down the father and question him about the child’s whereabouts.
Henry Moss, 24, said that Leilani tried to pin the kid’s disappearance on him and that he had been mowing the lawn for his boss when the police showed up. When the police questioned him about the little boy and the last time he was in Savannah, they also informed him that Leilani had reported that he had taken the baby.
The police tracked Moss, also known as Bubba, down to his home in Girard, Georgia, a rural town located about 85 miles from Savannah. Moss told them that he had not been in Savannah for over a month and that the last time he was there, he went on a job assignment to install an air conditioner on Tybee Island, near Savannah.
Moss told the police he had been home at the time of the boy’s disappearance and had gone to work the following morning. He provided police with an alibi related to his whereabouts.
He told the police that he believed Leilani would hurt the child and that he did not know what was happening, because he had not heard from Leilani or seen the toddler for over six months.
Moss shared his and Leilani’s turbulent history with a reporter. Moss and Leilani, who both have children with other partners, met in 2019 at a swimming hole. Their whirlwind romance led to Leilani’s pregnancy in 2020, and she gave birth to Quinton. She kept the pregnancy secret from Bubba and told him about it months later. Leilani gave birth to baby Quinton in January 2021 at a hospital in Alabama.
Their relationship deteriorated when Leilani accused Moss of stealing several times. The first time, she was arrested for stealing at a trailer home in Waynesboro near where she and her mother lived. During her questioning, Leilani blamed Moss for the crime, saying he was the one that had convinced her to break into the home. She blamed Moss for a second time when she was caught stealing from another trailer. Moss was arrested for the crime in 2021.
Moss, who had lived with her for a short period, said Leilani was addicted to cocaine and marijuana and would become violent when she had no access to the drugs. He accused Leilani of sleeping with other men so she could get money for drugs.
At the time of the toddler’s disappearance, Leilani was living with her two children, her boyfriend, Danny Youngkin, her mother, Billie Jo, and her mother’s husband, Thomas Howell. Leilani’s mother, Billie Jo, had been given custody of Leilani’s children, but on the night of October 5, when Quinton disappeared, Billie Jo had traveled out of town.
The FBI has been searching a landfill where they believe the toddler’s body was dumped three weeks ago.