Mother Charged With Murder After Police Find Body Of Missing Georgia 2-Year-Old In Landfill

UPDATE: 12/06/22

On Nov. 28, 2022, the Atlanta FBI announced that a set of human remains they found in a landfill were positively identified as missing 20-month-old Quinton Simon.

Quinton's mother, Leilani Simon, 22, is now charged with murder, concealing death of another, false report of a crime and false statements or writings.

A preliminary hearing for Leilani Simon has been scheduled for Jan. 11, 2023.

ORIGINAL: 11/07/22

Police Continue To Search For Missing Georgia 2-Year-Old

Police are continuing their extensive search for 20-month-old Quinton Simon whose mother reported him missing from their Georgia home at 6 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2022. Leilani Simon, the toddler’s mother, said he disappeared from his playpen. However, she has been named the primary suspect, according to NBC News.

As the investigation progressed, the initial efforts to rescue the toddler turned into a search to recover his body. The FBI and Chatham County Police Department searchers are working together to look for Quinton’s remains in a landfill.

“After thousands of hours of investigating and gathering evidence, everything still points to Quinton being recovered in the landfill and his mother, Leilani Simon, as the primary suspect in his death and disappearance,” explained the Chatham County Police Department in a tweet.

“We have spent two weeks digging through thousands of tons of garbage. We knew going into this landfill search, the odds of recovering Quinton’s remains were low. Most landfill searches do not end in a recovery due to many factors including volume of trash to search and compression of the debris, however we stay focused,” they stated.

The CCPD haven’t explained why they think the child’s body is in a landfill because they want to be careful about what they reveal to protect the case. For now, although Leilani Simon remains a prime suspect, no charges have been filed against her.

At the time of Quinton’s disappearance, his grandmother, Billie Howell, had custody of him, but she was out of town that day, reported WTOC. She told the network, “We want something great to come out of this, but mostly, we want him not to be found in that landfill. We want him to be found.”