After four days combing through the garbage of a sprawling Georgia landfill in search of the body of 20-month-old Quinton Simon, investigators take a break for the weekend.
Chatham County Police announced on Twitter Friday that they will be on standby for two days after the landfill shift ends later this afternoon to keep the search team healthy.
“This is a tough part of our investigation that can only be carried out by a team of specially trained law enforcement agents. We are exposed to numerous real health and safety risks.”
Quinton Simon’s mom snaps shots and flirts with bar staff while searching for infant’s body
The team is made up of Chatham County police officers and FBI agents who specialize in finding evidence in landfills. They began their shifts at sunrise, methodically raking vast piles of garbage at the Chatham County Waste Management Landfill.
Simon went missing on October 5, and a week later police announced they believed the child was dead and named the mother, Leilani Simon, 22, as the “prime suspect.”
Leilani Simon and her mother, Billie Joe Howell, were spotted drinking tequila at Sting Ray’s Bar on Tybee Island outside Savannah on Tuesday night.
Staffers reportedly said the pair won a $300 tab and flirted with the waiter.
The toddler disappeared from her parents’ home in Savannah to live with her brother, maternal grandparents, mother, and boyfriend.
Authorities believe Quinton’s body was dumped in “a specific dumpster at a specific location” and must have been emptied in the section of the landfill that investigators are searching.
Missing Georgia toddler Quinton Simon: Police link baby to ‘specific dump’, part of landfill
After Quinton’s disappearance, Child Protection Services placed Leilani Simon’s two other children in foster care, according to documents obtained by The Sun.
Court records describe her as a “chronic, unrehabilitated substance abuser of cocaine and cannabis.” Leilani Simon’s mother told police he often stole from her to buy her drugs.
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A troubled young mother is on probation for stealing two packs of cigarettes, a bag of popcorn and a drink from a North Carolina truck stop where she was working at the time.