Quinton Simon case: Police pause landfill search for Georgia toddler's remains
Little Quinton disappeared Oct. 5, and police have named his mom, Leilani Simon, as the 'prime suspect'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After four days of combing through trash in a sprawling Georgia landfill in search of 20-month-old Quinton Simon's remains, investigators will take a weekend break.
"To help maintain the health of the search team, they will be standing down for two days after their landfill shift ends late this afternoon," the Chatham County Police Department announced Friday on Twitter.
"This is a grueling part of our investigation that can only be performed by a team of specially-trained law enforcement searchers. It is also dangerous & searchers are exposed to numerous — and very real — health and safety hazards every minute that they are working."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}QUINTON SIMON'S MOM DOWNS SHOTS, FLIRTS WITH BAR STAFF AMID SEARCH FOR TODDLER'S REMAINS
A pair of baby photos of toddler Quinton Simon. Georgia officials believe the child is dead and his mother, Leilani SImon, is the main suspect. (Chatham County Police Department)
The team is composed of Chatham County Police officers and FBI agents who specialize in locating evidence in landfills. They have started their shifts at sunrise and methodically raked through expansive mounds of refuse at the Waste Management Landfill in Chatham County.
Simon disappeared Oct. 5, and, one week later, police announced that they believed the child is dead and named his mother, Leilani Simon, 22, as a "prime suspect."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Leilani Simon, mother of Quinton Simon, posing for an undated photo. (Chatham County Police Department/Facebook)
Leilani Simon and her mother, Billie Jo Howell, were spotted downing tequila shots Tuesday night at Sting Ray's bar on Tybee Island outside Savannah.
Staffers said the pair racked up a $300 tab and flirted with their waiter, according to reports.
The toddler vanished from the family home in Savannah, where he lived with his brother, his maternal grandparents, his mom and her boyfriend.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities believe Quinton's remains were dropped in a "specific dumpster at a specific location" that would have been emptied in the section of the landfill investigators are searching.
MISSING GEORGIA TODDLER QUINTON SIMON: POLICE LINK BABY TO ‘SPECIFIC DUMPSTER,’ PORTION OF LANDFILL
After Quinton's disappearance, Child Protective Services placed Leilani Simon's other two children in foster care, according to documents obtained by The Sun.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A booking photo from Leilani Simon's 2021 larceny arrest in Dunn, N.C. (Harnett County Sheriff's Office)
Court records describe her as a "chronic, unrehabilitated substance abuser of cocaine and cannabis." Leilani Simon's mother told police that she frequently stole from her to buy drugs.
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The troubled young mom is on probation for swiping two packs of cigarettes, a bag of popcorn and a drink from the North Carolina truck stop where she was working at the time, WSAV reported.