This is a developing story.
Update: 10:30 a.m., Oct. 12
Chatham County Police Department posted to Twitter this morning: "Today marks one week since Quinton Simon was reported missing. We will be at his home where he was last seen with a team of search dogs and investigators. We will spend today gathering and analyzing evidence. We expect to schedule a media briefing tomorrow."
Update: 10:30 a.m., Oct. 11
Chatham County Police Department posted to its Twitter account that investigators have "seized evidence that we believe will help move this case forward & we're now working to analyze the evidence to see where it leads us. We continue to pursue all avenues to bring Quinton home, following all leads and evidence."
CCPD state that there will be no further public comment today.
Posted: Oct. 10
The search for 20-month-old Quinton Simon is no longer only a missing child investigation.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
"We don't have anything confirmed, so we can't say anything absolutely," Chatham County Police Department Chief Jeff Hadley said Monday afternoon. "But it is fair to say that our efforts and the cooperation with the FBI providing an abundance of a resources to us, that we are looking at the criminal investigation aspect of it, as well."
Hadley said "everybody" is being looked at and being interviewed, though he later noted that Simon's biological father is not being investigated.
"We want to make sure we get it right, we want to make sure we do this as professionally and as expertly as we can, so if we have to prosecute anyone in this case, that we've done it right, and we don't lose evidence," said Hadley.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
To that end, 40 FBI investigators are assisting with the investigation. On Monday, multiple investigators re-searched the Buckhalter Road home owned by Simon's grandparents, Billie Jo and Thomas Howell, where Simon was reported missing by his mother Leilani Simon around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday morning. Multiple FBI agents were observed taping dark plastic to the windows.
"We're trying to re-double our efforts and scrub the area to make sure that we didn't miss anything," said Hadley.
Trouble in the home
According to court documents, there had been trouble in the home.
Billie Jo Howell, Simon's grandmother, had obtained custody of the toddler and his older sibling.
In early September, Billie Jo Howell filed a dispossessory notice with the Chatham County Magistrate Court to evict Leilani and her boyfriend Daniel Youngkin from the home on Buckhalter Road.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
In April, the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Child Support Services sued to require Leilani Simon to remit monthly child support payments for her two sons. She failed to appear in Superior Court on Sept. 21, and Judge Lisa Colbert signed the Default Order for Paternity and Child Support stipulating that Leilani Simon pay $150 a month (an amount adjusted for low-income persons). The subsequent Child Support Worksheet specifies these payments continue until "one of the named children marries, dies, or emancipates." Those payments are slated to begin Nov. 1.
While CCPD continues the investigation, Hadley said they are working on obtaining and executing additional search warrants. On Friday, a search warrant was issued for the pool behind the house.
"I anticipate us working at least throughout the week," said Hadley. "At some point, we may have to sit down and re-evaluate where we're at if we've exhausted everything we can do. But we're a long ways from there."
Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Quinton Simon Update: Search dogs brought to home as Chatham County investigators analyze evidence
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