A Georgia toddler reported missing more than a week ago is likely not alive, police said this week in a grim update, adding that all eyes are now on his mom. "We are saddened to report that CCPD and the FBI have notified Quinton Simon's family that we believe he is deceased," the Chatham County Police Department tweeted late Wednesday, per NBC News. "We have named his mother, Leilani Simon, as the prime suspect in his disappearance and death." The department notes, however, that no one has yet been arrested, and no charges have been filed.
The 20-month-old vanished from a home near Savannah on the morning of Oct. 5. Police say Simon's boyfriend last saw Quinton around 6am that day, and that she reported her son missing about four hours later, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The residence that Simon and her boyfriend live in, which is owned by the toddler's grandparents, was searched on Monday, per the Savannah Morning News. The paper adds "there had been trouble in the home," while WJCL reports that documents show Quinton and his 3-year-old brother were in the custody of maternal grandmother Billie Jo Howell and her husband.
Early last month, Howell had filed a notice to try to evict Simon and her boyfriend, identified as Daniel Youngkin, from the home. "They have damaged my property and at this point no one is living in peace," Howell noted in the document, adding she wanted the two out "as soon as possible." Why police think Quinton is dead, or how they think he died, hasn't yet been revealed. On Tuesday, authorities did mention, however, that they'd recently come into possession of new evidence, without elaborating. Anyone with information on the case can call 912-667-3134 to speak to a Chatham County detective. (More missing toddler stories.)
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