Missing toddler Quinton Simon has been found after a harrowing month-long search in a Georgia landfill.
On October 5, Leilani Simon, 22, reported her 20-month-old son Quinton missing. A week later, Chatham County police announced that they thought Quinton was dead, and they identified the boy’s mother as the main suspect, but didn’t have a body to prove it. Police have evidence and clues about what happened to the boy.
After the discovery of what police say appear to be the child’s remains at a landfill, authorities in Savannah, Georgia, have charged Quinton’s mother, Leilani Simon, with murder.
According to Chatham County police, Leilani Simon has been charged with malicious murder, covering up another person’s death, false reporting, and making false claims. The police said they do not expect further arrests and that Simon is the only suspect. They have investigated other family members who were not present at the time of the child’s disappearance.
On October 18, the police stated they had evidence that Quinton had been abandoned in a dumpster, and the nearby landfill was being searched for the child’s remains.
Police claim searchers sifted through more than a million pounds of rubbish over 30 days. According to the police, searchers discovered the remains at the dump on Friday, November 18. The chances of finding Quinton were slim, but it had to be done. Searchers were aware of the difficult and dangerous working conditions. According to statistics, only 5% of landfill searches are successful.
The Chatham County Police Department tweeted that they are deeply saddened by the find but are glad that they are one step closer to justice for young Quinton. The search was aided by law enforcement and government entities, according to Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley.
Leilani Simon was taken into custody and is being detained without bond at the Chatham County Detention Facility. She has pleaded not guilty and previously accused Quinton’s father, Henry Moss, of a crime, but he was cleared and had an alibi. Quinton’s father, who is 24 years old, said he hadn’t spoken to Leilani in months, however, cautioned investigators that she wasn’t a good mother. He told the Daily Mail that she shouldn’t be out in society; she was a horrible person and would either go to prison or hell.