Missing toddler Quinton Simon‘s (pictured above, center) grandmother Billie Jo Howell (pictured above, right) knew something was up from the moment he disappeared — and she was determined to get justice for him.
As we’re sure you’ve been following, the toddler’s mom, Leilani Simon (pictured above, left), has been officially arrested and charged with his murder. At the same time, it was announced that a massive search for the 20-month-old child’s remains in a Georgia landfill was paused for the week due to Thanksgiving — officials and volunteers have been combing through tons of garbage for several weeks now. But in a stroke of luck for the family’s grievance, according to Chatham County Police Chief Jeffrey Hadley in a press conference, remains were found on Friday in the landfill and they are believed to belong to the Quinton. The remains have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for confirmation.
Related: Accomplice Says Mother Killed ‘Demonic’ Son & They Dumped Him In A Suitcase
It’s so, so terribly sad, but at least now the family is on the way to getting closure. And for Billie, her gut was telling her the tragic story from the very beginning — so she took a huge step in the case and turned in her daughter herself!
If you’ll recall, in an interview with WSAV from last month, the grandmother of the boy was already beginning to feel suspicious about Leilani’s mixed-up stories:
“Leilani’s story doesn’t add up. I been talking with the baby’s father, with Quentin’s father, all day yesterday. He’s already been questioned, they’ve already went to his job and went to his home, and Quentin’s not there, which, I didn’t think he would be anyway. Why Leilani would even come up with a story like that, I don’t even know.”
Yeah, a shocking twist! But the shock doesn’t stop there — before the 22-year-old became a prime suspect in her son’s murder, Howell apparently told the FBI her daughter was checking herself out of a treatment center she had previously checked herself into according to a source for WTOC-TV:
“Her mother had to make one of the hardest decisions of her life, and call the FBI agents and let them know that she was signing herself out, and that she could not come back here, and that she was going to be a flight risk, because she could not come back here because she was going to be back on the streets doing God knows what with God knows who.”
Whoa.
What an awful decision for a parent to have to make. And only a month later Simon would be arrested and charged with murder… Just chilling…
Billie previously said she believed Leilani and her boyfriend were high and left the young boy in the bathtub where he drowned, which led to him being disposed of in the garbage according to DailyMail.com.
Our hearts are with this family as they await answers as to what exactly happened. May they find closure and Quinton the justice he deserves.
[Image via Chatham County Police Department/WTOC/YouTube]