Missing Quinton Simon: Chatham County investigators search landfill
Georgia police officials said Tuesday they had reason to believe Quinton Simon's body was discarded in a "specific dumpster" and transported to a local landfill by "regular means."
Quinton Simon's mom and grandmother were spotted at a popular Georgia bar Tuesday night downing top-shelf tequila shots and flirting with staff amid a search for the missing toddler authorities believe is dead, according to reports.
Leilani Simon, the 20-month-old's mother and the main suspect in his Oct. 5 disappearance, was drinking with her mom, Billie Joe Howell, at Sting Ray's on Tybee Island outside Savannah, the New York Post reported.
"They were having a great time, like they didn’t have a care in the world," a server told the newspaper. "They were drinking Patrón shots in the deck area, being loud and laughing. It’s almost like they were trying to draw attention to themselves."
A manager at Sting Ray's declined to comment to Fox News Digital.
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Staffers told WSAV that the mom-and-daughter duo stayed for hours and ran up a $300 tab as a small group of protesters gathered outside their home.
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Leilani Simon, mother of Quinton Simon, posing for an undated photo. (Chatham County Police Department/Facebook)
Simon, 22, and her mom began boozing at the bar shortly after federal agents wrapped up the first day of their search of a local landfill they believe contains Quinton's remains.
"People were getting upset. They just wanted them out of here," a worker said. "It was really strange."
More than a dozen agents descended on the sprawling mound of refuse beginning at sunrise Thursday, marking the third day of the search.
Sting Ray's on Tybee Island outside Savannah, Georgia, where missing toddler Quinton Simon's mother and grandmother were spotted downing tequila shots and flirting with staff Tuesday. (Google Maps)
Police said at a press conference earlier this week that they believe the boy's body was discarded in a "specific dumpster," which was transported to the landfill.
FBI Savannah Senior Supervisory Special Agent Will Clark told reporters Tuesday that the focus on the landfill wasn't random.
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"We did not want to end up at this point, but the evidence has taken us here," Clark said. "We have evidence, specific evidence, that leads us to this large property."
The Savannah, Georgia, home where toddler Quinton Simon was last seen Oct. 5. He lived there with his mother, Leilani Simon, the prime suspect in his disappearance and death. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Quinton was last seen Oct. 5 inside the family's Buckhalter Road home in Savannah, where he lived with his brother, his mom, his mom's boyfriend and his maternal grandparents, authorities said.
Simon called police at 9:40 a.m. and reported her son missing.
A pair of baby photos of toddler Quinton Simon. Georgia officials believe the child is dead and his mother, Leilani Simon, is the main suspect. (Chatham Police Department)
The mom told a police dispatcher she awoke to find her door open and her son gone and believed someone had entered the room and taken him, according to WCJL, citing audio of the call.
The Chatham County Police Department, the lead agency in the investigation, has identified Quinton’s mother as "the prime suspect in his disappearance and death."
Simon and her mother were staying at the Sandcastle Inn on Tybee Island as of Wednesday morning, according to WSAV.
Leilani Simon, the mother of missing Georgia toddler Quinton Simon, spotted leaving her house for the first time. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
The outlet obtained a video clip shot more than 10 days ago showing Howell in an intense argument with Quinton's babysitter over the planning of a memorial for the boy. At the time, police had not yet announced that they believed the child was dead, according to the report.
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Police urge anyone with information related to the case to call 912-667-3134.
Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
