Missing Georgia toddler's grandmother posts strange Facebook message as search for boy nears 1 week

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The grandmother of Georgia toddler Quinton Simon, who has been missing for nearly a week, thanked her supporters in a Facebook post on Tuesday, when she wrote that "finally" she could "feel the calming peaceful sunshine hitting my face."

Billie Jo Howell, who with her husband has legal guardianship of missing 20-month-old Quinton Simon and his brother, took to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon to share a message that she said she had posted "years ago" and that "stands true today." 

"Seems there’s always a storm before the calm in my life. Boy let me tell you it felt like a tornado was spinning everything at once," she wrote, alongside interspersed emojis. "Finally I feel the calming peaceful sunshine hitting my face."

She added: "Those of you who stood with me and helped me through man y’all are amazing. I love y’all. You all know the parts you’ve played in my life. No matter what we been through I love you."

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Howell did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment regarding the search for her grandson on Tuesday, which marked six days since the toddler was last seen. Howell’s daughter, Quinton’s mother, also did not respond to a request. 

The grandmother and her husband, Thomas Howell, previously told local news station WJCL they are the legal guardians for Quinton and his 3-year-old brother. Billie Jo said at the time that her daughter "hasn’t always done the right thing." 

"Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn't," Billie Jo reportedly said. "I don't know what to think right now. I don't know what to believe, because I don't think anybody ever believes this is going to happen to them."

She added: "I don't know if I can trust her or I don't. I just know I'm hurting and I want this baby home. He's my baby."

Earlier this week, a police official would not comment whether Quinton’s family was cooperating or if they have retained an attorney. He did not say whether police had asked them to refrain from speaking to the public.

Quinton has been missing since Wednesday, when his mother called police around 9:40 a.m. and said her son was not inside their Buckhalter Road home in Savannah, police officials have said. The toddler was allegedly last seen around 6 a.m. Wednesday, when he was wearing a Sesame Street shirt and black bottoms. He was reported missing 3 hours and 40 minutes later, police have said. The FBI has since joined the case to work alongside police personnel in their urgent search. 

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Details of a dispatch call obtained by WJCL shed light on the moments the mother notified police that she couldn’t find her son.  

"Complainant advised her 1-year-old son is missing," the dispatcher could be heard saying, according to the report. "She woke up, her door was open. Advised he's unable to open a door. Thinks someone came in and took him."

Quinton reportedly lived at the home with his brother; his maternal grandparents, including Howell; his mother and her boyfriend. 

Just Tuesday, the Chatham County Police Department announced investigators had "seized evidence" that they believed would help to "move this case forward." A spokesperson for the police department would not say whether police had recovered any evidence of Quinton's belongings during their search.

On Monday, Chief Jeffrey M. Hadley said more than 40 FBI agents were assisting police department with the case, which has consisted of several interviews, searches and canvasses of a number of geographical areas.

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Hadley added that police were investigating whether there was any criminality related to the toddler’s disappearance. 

"We’re looking at it from multiple fronts, one of it being a criminal investigation, as well as a missing child at this point," he told reporters. "We don’t have anything confirmed, so we can’t say anything absolutely. But it is fair to say … that we are looking at the criminal investigation aspect of this."

No criminal charges have been filed in this investigation so far. Police are asking anyone with information regarding Quinton Simon's whereabouts to call 912-667-3134.