(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Police in Savannah, Georgia, believe missing toddler Quinton Simon was left in a dumpster and authorities have now started scouring the local landfill for his body.
Police last week said they believe 20-month-old Quinton is dead and authorities named his mother, Leilani Simon, as the primary suspect. The little boy has been missing since Oct. 5.
No charges have been filed, Chatham County police chief Jeff Hadley said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that Leilani Simon remains the only suspect.
“We’re not ready to charge anyone yet. We still have work to do,” he said.
Hadley said Tuesday that police have started an “extensive search of the waste management landfill” in Chatham County. He said authorities believe Quinton “was placed in a specific dumpster,” which was eventually brought to the landfill.
The FBI’s Will Clarke said, “We are not just randomly searching this landfill,” stressing that evidence led police to the large property.
The landfill is the only focus of the current search, Hadley said.
Clarke added that authorities are not scouring the entire landfill.
He said, “We’ve brought in experts in landfill searches to guide us to the specific area where we’ll be searching.”
FBI agents from Atlanta and Quantico, Virginia, are on the scene to help conduct the “systematic search,” Clarke said.
Hadley called it “a physically, mentally and emotionally grueling task,” but he added, “I have every belief that we will find his remains here at the landfill.”
Quinton was last seen at his Savannah home around 6 a.m. on Oct. 5 by his mother’s boyfriend, the chief said. After Quinton’s mother woke up, she reported him missing around 9:40 a.m., he said.
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