New details in Quinton Simon disappearance as cops say they don’t know where toddler’s parents are on 5th day of search
POLICE are unclear about the whereabouts of a missing 20-month-old toddler's parents - as the search for the boy stretches into its sixth day.
Little Quinton Simon went missing on Wednesday when he disappeared from his home in Savannah, Georgia.
On Monday, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said more than 40 FBI agents are assisting with the aggressive search for Quinton, “Everybody is being looked at, everybody is being interviewed.”
As the search stretched into its sixth day, Chief Hadley said investigators don't know where the toddler's parents are.
"I don't know where they are currently," Hardley told a group of reporters on Monday.
"I do believe they've been staying at the residence, but physically, right now, as I'm talking to you, I don't know where they are."
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Investigators were back at the home on Monday, where Quinton was last seen.
According to WSAV, the sound of a pump running could be heard coming from the home's backyard.
STRANGE TEXT
Diana McCarta - who babysat little Quinton and his brother, Zane, for the past six months - revealed that she got a strange text from the boy's mother, Lelani, the day the toddler went missing.
“I’ve been keeping Quinton and Zane for six months. I kept them yesterday, and they went home last night [October 4],” McCarta told WSAV.
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“I got a text this morning [October 5] saying they would not be here, would not be babysitting them at 5:29 [am], which was kind of odd because I have them even when she doesn’t work."
Quinton was last seen at around 6am on Wednesday, McCarta says other family members have asked her where Quinton might be.
“And then I get a text at 9am saying have I seen Quinton,” McCarta recalled to the outlet.
“I immediately go to their house. I try to help them look, but they didn’t want that. So, I’ve been just waiting around like everyone else.
“My heart is broken. I’m not his mother. I’m not his family. But I love him very much, and I just don’t know what could happen,” McCarta said.
FAMILY DILEMMA
Court documents shown to WJCL show the family was at loggerheads before Quinton's disappearance.
Records show Billie Jo Howell, Quinton's grandmother, wanted to remove Lelani, and her boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, from her home.
The papers claim that the pair have “damaged” Billie Jo’s property and that Lelani allegedly had a history of stealing from the family.
"She hasn't always done the right thing," Billie Jo said of her daughter.
"Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn't. 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.
"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."
Billie Jo admitted that she’s been left “hurting” following Quinton's disappearance and stressed that she just wants him to come home.
Quinton’s grandfather said the child’s mother has lied to the family before: "I don’t know. That’s just bad to say, but she just likes to lie,” he told WSAV.
Over the weekend, police said that finding the toddler was their “highest priority”.
Cops do not believe that foul play was involved in 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,” Chief Hadley said on Monday.
“We don’t have anything confirmed so can’t say anything absolutely, but it is fair to say that our efforts in the cooperation with the FBI and them providing an abundance of resources to us that we are looking at the criminal aspect of it.”
There is no evidence to suggest the toddler didn't walk off on his own, cops said. Mother Leilani Simon was named the prime suspect in his disappearance and death.
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The search has involved police, drones, helicopters, horses and tracking dogs, according to the local police department.
They've searched his home, a pond, drainage popes, dumpsters and nearby woods.