Quinton Simon Update: Police Search Landfill for Missing Toddler's Remains

Police in Savannah, Georgia, announced on Tuesday that they were searching a landfill for the remains of Quinton Simon, a 20-month-old toddler who went missing earlier this month.

"We believe that he was placed in a specific dumpster at a specific location and it was brought here by regular means of disposal," Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said during a press conference. "I have every belief that we will find his remains here at the landfill.

"We know that this is going to be a physically, mentally and emotionally grueling task for our investigators and team."

The update on the investigation comes a few days after Chatham County police said the child was likely dead and identified the boy's mother, Leilani Simon, as the main suspect.

"As you know, our investigation over the last eight days has led us to the heartbreaking conclusion that 20-month-old Quinton Simon is deceased. We have named his mother, Leilani Simon, as the primary suspect in Quinton's disappearance and death. We have not made an arrest or filed any charges in this case," Hadley said Friday.

In a statement sent to Newsweek on Tuesday, the Chatham County Police Department said that officers, with the assistance of the FBI, "made the decision to search the landfill after evidence in the case led them to the conclusion that they could find Quinton's remains at that location. Both agencies spent the last several days mobilizing the manpower and equipment needed for the search, which began this morning.

"This operation will include a team of searchers daily from the Chatham County Police Department and FBI, along with dozens of support personnel. The FBI's Evidence Response Team is leading the landfill search, which will be a precise and extensive recovery mission for Quinton's remains and other potential evidence."

Before police said the child was likely dead, Michelle Jeanis, an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Department at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, told Newsweek last week about the search and said that law enforcement agencies must collect as much evidence as possible early on in a missing persons investigation.

"Some [law enforcement] agencies do what I'd call a really good job, which is collecting as much physical evidence as fast as possible, securing potential crime scenes as fast as possible, collecting that digital evidence as fast as possible, because that can be lost quickly as well," Jeanis said.

Update 10/18/22, 3:13 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.