Quinton Simon - update: Mother of missing Georgia toddler under fire as search enters fourth week

Diana McCarta told WSAV last week that she babysits Quinton and his sibling.

She said in an interview on 11 October that she had previously reported the family to Georgia’s department of families and children services (DFCS) with concerns, but this was unconfirmed.

The department told The Independent: “DHS/DFCS is bound by both state and federal law to protect the privacy of the people we serve.”

“As such, we are unable to comment on the specifics of any reported abuse or neglect cases nor confirm or deny the existence of any abuse or neglect records.”

It continued: “We take seriously every report that might be made to the Department and work with law enforcement when appropriate to ensure the safety of Georgia’s children.”

Investigators paused their search for Quinton Simon at a Chatham County landfill over the weekend and are set to resume on Monday.

The pause - which came after four days of combing through the trash - was meant to “maintain the health of the search team”, police said in a statement.

“This is a grueling part of our investigation that can only be performed by a team of specially-trained law enforcement searchers,” the statement read. “It is also dangerous & searchers are exposed to numerous — and very real — health and safety hazards every minute that they are working.”

The search team is comprised of both Chatham County officers and FBI agents specialising in locating evidence in landfills.

The mother of Quinton Simon, a 20-month-old boy from Georgia who has been missing for nearly three weeks, says she’s “not hiding,” even as police consider her the prime suspect in the child’s disappearance.

“I’m here. I’ve been here every day since this. I’m not running and I’m not hiding,” Leilani Simon told WTOC. “And if something does come up that I am at fault, I will take myself to that police station.”

Local police in Chatham County and the FBI are actively searching a nearby landfill, where they believe they will find the child’s remains.

More details to come in our breaking news story.

The search for Quinton Simon at a Chatham County landfill has entered its sixth day, with the toddler having been missing for nearly three weeks.

Investigators from the Chatham County Police Department and the FBI began combing the landfill last Tuesday after announcing they had evidence to suggest the boy’s body was taken there after having been placed in a dumpster sometime after he vanished on 5 October.

They did not disclose the nature of that evidence.

The search was put on pause over the weekend to protect the mental and physical wellbeing of the search teams, authorities said.

“This is a grueling part of our investigation that can only be performed by a team of specially-trained law enforcement searchers,” an official statement announcing the pause read. “It is also dangerous & searchers are exposed to numerous — and very real — health and safety hazards every minute that they are working.”

In her first interview since Quinton’s disappearance, his mother Leilani Simon complained that she’s been the target of constant public harrassment.

“It makes it hard to even process what’s going around us,” she told WTOC. “We get to the point where we have to barricade our own home in order to even feel safe in our backyard because we can’t even process what is happening everywhere else, or even have the time to do so.

“I can’t even walk out and appreciate my own son’s memorial or put down gifts that I got for him. I can’t even go out there and do that without harassment and negligence and everything. It’s just devastating to see that this is how the outside world reacts.”

Four demonstrators were arrested over the weekend over the weekend for blocking her driveway.

People have also left signs calling her a “Baby Killer” on the boy’s memorial.

The family says they’ve also installed security cameras, flood lights, and moved Quinton’s memorial in response to the unwanted public attention around the disappearance.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more:

Leilani Simon’s complaints of harassment came after she found herself under heightened scrutiny when she was spotted drinking at a bar in Tybee Island while authorities concluded their first day of the landfill search on 18 October.

Local news station WSAV first reported that Ms Simon, now the prime suspect in the investigation, and her mother Billie Jo Howell were seen drinking at Sting Ray’s.

When contacted by The Independent, a staff member said: “They were here, they drank, they left.”

During a press conference the same day, Chatham County Sheriff Jeff Prentice said that Ms Simon was believed to be in Chatham County and that she was not a flight risk. He added that authorities wouldn’t be releasing more information about the evidence they had encountered, noting they had “one shot” at arresting Ms Simon.

The Independent’s Andrea Blanco has more:

Leilani Simon says she’s “not hiding,” even as police consider her the prime suspect in the child’s disappearance.

“I’m here. I’ve been here every day since this. I’m not running and I’m not hiding,” Leilani Simon told WTOC. “And if something does come up that I am at fault, I will take myself to that police station.”

Local police in Chatham County and the FBI are actively searching a nearby landfill, where they believe they will find the child’s remains.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the story:

Police said they were “saddened” to report on 12 October that they believed the 20-month-old was dead.

“The CCPD and the FBI have notified Quinton Simon’s family that we believe he is deceased,” a statement shared on Facebook said.

His mother, Leilani Simon, has been named a prime suspect.

Officials held the first press conference on the case on 13 October, where they reiterated the belief that Quinton is deceased.

“To the Chatham County community, our heart breaks along with yours trying to comprehend what we believe happened here. The FBI along with our law enforcement agencies have followed every lead, every tip and every piece of evidence to get to this point and we will continue to do so,” FBI Supervisor Senior Resident Agent Will Clarke said.

Officials did not disclose the nature of evidence suggesting Quinton is dead, or why Ms Simon is the main suspect.

On 18 October, the FBI and Chatham County authorities said Quinton is thought to be buried in a landfill.

Here is everything we know about the case:

In a video obtained by WSAV, Billie Howell and Diana McCarta are reportedly seen engaging in a verbal dispute over the disappearance of Quinton.

The grandmother accused the babysitter of organising a memorial for Quinton in the video and exclaimed: “You’re awful to say you’re going to put up a memorial...My baby’s not dead.”

Ms McCarta responded by denying the memorial idea and calling Ms Howell a “liar”. Most of the comments made in the video are inaudible, however.

The babysitter claimed to the news station that she had previously alerted Georgia’s Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) about Quinton, and that the department had an open case.

Ms Simon says she’s “not hiding,” even as police consider her the prime suspect in the child’s disappearance.

“I’m here. I’ve been here every day since this. I’m not running and I’m not hiding,” Leilani Simon told WTOC.

“And if something does come up that I am at fault, I will take myself to that police station.”

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the story: