Police are still searching for the body of a toddler who went missing two weeks ago, and they are now focusing on a landfill in Georgia.
The Chatham County Police Department and the FBI held a joint press conference on Tuesday, October 18, to give updates on the search for 20-month-old Quinton Simon.
Jeff Hadley, the Chatham County police chief, said they would begin searching for Quinton’s body in the Chatham County waste management landfill after thoroughly investigating and gathering evidence that pointed the police to the area.
Quinton Simon was reported missing by his mother on October 5. After a week, authorities released a statement saying they believed the child was dead and considered his mother, Leilani Simon, 22, the prime suspect.
The police have not yet made any arrests. In the grim press conference on Tuesday, police announced that they believed Simon’s body had been thrown into a dumpster, which had later been picked up and transported to the landfill. They, however, didn’t mention the evidence that led to their assumption.
Chief Hadley said that even though the task would be emotionally, physically, and mentally challenging for all officers involved in the search, they were determined to bring justice to young Quinton.
The FBI is offering its support to the Chatham County Police Department with the investigation, and since the search started, law enforcement has spent more than 15 hours a day looking for the missing toddler.
Chatham County police released an earlier statement saying it was still interviewing persons of interest in the case and had executed several warrants.
Earlier in the investigation, the police had carried out search warrants in a pond near Quinton’s house on Buckhalter Road in Savannah. They also searched the backyard swimming pool and inside the house. On October 10, the police drained the backyard swimming pool and announced that they had discovered evidence to push the case forward on October 11. The police then announced that they thought he was in the landfill on October 18.
When the investigation began, the police said they did not think there was foul play and hoped to find Simon alive and well. It was not until October 12 that Chatham County police announced they believed the toddler was dead and had informed his family.
They also mentioned that his mother had become the prime suspect in the case. According to court records, Quinton’s maternal grandmother had custody of him and his older brother, who is three years old. They all lived in the same house with his mother, Leilani Simon, and her boyfriend.
During the Tuesday press briefing, Will Clarke, an FBI agent, said they were going into the landfill search process with heavy hearts. Although they did not want it to get to this point, the evidence had led them there. He added that they did not anticipate the process to be quick or easy and were unsure of the outcome.
Chief Hadley said they could not share the evidence that led them to the landfill. He said they were not ready to charge anyone yet and would take their time to conduct a thorough investigation before arresting anyone.