Investigators confirmed through DNA analysis that bones found in a dumpsite on November 18 in Savannah, Georgia, belong to missing boy Quinton Smith, the FBI Atlanta field office said Monday.
The 20-month-old boy was originally reported missing on the morning of October 5 by his mother, 22-year-old Leilani Simon, who has since been arrested and charged with felony homicide, concealing the death of another person and other charges.
Little Quinton Simon disappeared in Savannah, Georgia on October 5 and his mother, Leilani Simon, was arrested in his death.
(Facebook/Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
The boy’s remains were found on November 18 after a 30-day search at the Superior Sanitary Landfill, a process authorities called “more grueling than anyone could have imagined.”
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During that search, investigators went through 1.2 million pounds of trash under “strenuous and dangerous” working conditions.
Leilani Simon, 22, is charged with felony manslaughter in the death of her 20-month-old son.
(Chatham County Police Department)
Quinton Simon’s mother, Leilani Simon is photographed leaving her home on Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Leilani Simon was identified as the prime suspect early in the investigation and was arrested on November 21.
Her son was last seen in the early morning hours of October 5 at a home in Savannah, where he lived with his mother, his mother’s boyfriend, his maternal grandparents, and his siblings.
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Leilani Simon told a police dispatcher later that morning that she woke up to find her son missing and believed someone had entered the room and taken him away, according to local news outlet WCJL.
A couple of baby photos of boy Quinton Simon, whose remains were found in a Georgia landfill on November 18.
(Chatham Police Department)
Law enforcement officers from the FBI, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and other agencies assisted in the investigation and search for the young boy.
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The Chatham County District Attorney is prosecuting Simon on murder and other charges.
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
