Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - WHERE IS BABY QUINTON? Tot goes missing from Pack-N-Play

Episode Date: October 17, 2022

It's been 12 days since toddler Quinton Simon has been seen. Now the Chatham County Police Department says they believe the 20-month-old is likely dead.  According to the boy's mother, Leilani Simon, her boyfriend last saw the tot at about 6 a.m. on October 5 as he left for work. Later, when she woke up, Simon couldn't find Quinton. A 911 call was made shortly after 9:30 a.m. Simon told the dispatcher she found the door open and Quinton was gone. An extensive search was launched, including search warrants executed at the family home. Leilani Simon is considered the primary suspect, although no formal charges have been filed and no arrests have been made.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: John W. Dill, Esquire - Personal Injury Lawyer (Winter Park, FL), Author: "The Method: Proven Techniques for Winning Jury Trials", www.JohnWDill.com, Twitter/IG @JohnWDillESQ, Represents Michelle Parker's family, Zenaida Gonzalez vs. Casey Anthony  Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA, AngelaArnoldMD.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, Voted "My Buckhead's Best Psychiatric Practice of 2022" Karen L. Smith - Forensic Expert, Lecturer at the University of Florida, Host of Shattered Souls Podcast, @KarensForensic, barebonesforensic.com  Brett Buffington - Lead Investigative Reporter, WSAV NEWS 3, A NewsNation Affiliate, WSAV.com, Twitter: @BrettWSAV See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a 20-month-old beautiful baby boy disappear? How does that happen? Just let that soak in for a moment, because I can tell you right now where my twins are. Exactly. I think I know where my husband is, but I definitely know where my twins are. So how does a 20-month-old baby boy vanish? Now, granted, there was that one time at Bab babies are us where I was looking for organic

sunscreen and was literally on the floor of this tall shelf looking I turned around and there was Lucy and no John David I screamed bloody murder I got Lucy under my arm like a football, like a quarterback, started running, screaming, locked the doors. John David is missing. My son is gone. I can still remember hearing my feet. I was wearing Crocs running along the babies or us linoleum floor. And then I, people started looking. Everybody ran to the door so he couldn't get out or nobody would take him out. It was all like a dream. And then from behind one of the aisles, my son playing hide and go seek snuck out. Oh, dear Lord. But that lasted, that whole episode lasted a couple of minutes.

How does your son disappear and you don't know where he is or where he could possibly be? That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Quentin Simon. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. How did the whole thing start? Listen. Mother had called 911 advising that when she woke up in the morning, her 20-month-old baby boy, Quentin Smalls, was missing from his pack and play. Quentin was last seen wearing a light blue Sesame Street t-shirt and black shorts or black bottoms. So we got here as quickly as we can trying to assess the situation, trying to determine the nature of why Quinton was missing. Currently we're interviewing all parties involved to the extent that we can. They've all been cooperative so far. And we're in the business of interviewing them, securing a search warrant for the residents so we can do a more invasive search. Officers did do a cursory search of the residents to see if the

child may have been hiding or something of that nature. We did not locate the child in any of those spaces that we thought perhaps that a child could hide. But we would require a search warrant to do a more invasive search, and we're in the process of doing that. Okay, I just learned a lot. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now about Quentin Simon, just 20 months old, missing. But first, I want to go to Brett Buffington, the lead investigative reporter,

WSAV News 3 and News Nation affiliate. Brett, thank you for being with us. First of all, do you have children, number one? Oh, my goodness. No, I don't. Have you ever seen a pack and play? I have. Yeah, and not to nieces and nephews. Okay, so the thing about a pack and play, everybody on the panel, jump in if you've seen one. Quentin is just 20 months old. Could you tell me, Brett Buffington, how tall he is? Not very, judging by the pictures that we've been able to take and get from the family, the pictures that the police have given us. But, you know, the pack and play is big. But Quentin's grandfather said he didn't even know how to open a door. Wow, that is interesting.

Because let me go straight out to Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist, joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. You can find her at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, the twins at our first home, the door to the laundry room, which led out to the outdoors, was beside a set of stairs going upstairs to some other bedrooms. And the twins, before they were safely, I can say three, but I think around age two, as soon as they could walk, were like little monkeys. They would go up. And of of course I had a baby gate on like the third step. They immediately learned to go up to the third step and reach over and unsecure the high latch I had on the door going to the laundry room. I watched them both do it.

It wasn't just one or the other. They both could do it just like that. They knew how to reach up and unlock a tall latch that was about over five feet, five and a half feet tall and get out. So I then raised the latch up so they couldn't reach it from the from those side steps they're smart so i mean and very early on john david could do it quicker than lucy did found a way to get out of a crib i forgot how he did it but he would get out of his crib very easily go walking around oh kids are brilliant and and nancy they watch everything that we. It's very likely that your children learned how to do that by watching what you were doing and you weren't even aware of Winter Park, author of The Method, Proven Techniques for Winning Jury Trosses at johnwdeal.com. Also with me, Karen L. Smith, forensic expert, lecturer, University of Florida, host of a hit series, the podcast Shattered Souls. And you can find her at Karen's Forensic. Guys jump in but

I'm thinking back on a pack and play which we rarely used. We tried but we were with them all the time so we didn't really need to put them in anything for them not to get out. But I think it may be fairly easy to get out of a pack and play, but isn't that why they're built that way? Karen Smith, John Dill, Dr. Angie Jumpin, so the child can't get out? Yeah, I don't believe they can. I think that's the idea that they can't climb out of it themselves, especially at that age. Also, Nancy, I remember a pack and play as having some pretty soft sides to it. There's nothing really for a child to get their grip to be able to climb out of something like that.

To latch onto it. Let me go back to Brett Buffington, guys, joining me from WSAV News Nation affiliate. So tell me, what was the scenario when 20-month-old Quentin apparently got out of a pack and play? What time was he reported missing? Okay, so the 911 call, according to the Chatham Police Department, came in at 9.42 in the morning. Interestingly, they did tell us that he was last seen at 6 a.m. when the boyfriend who lives in the house went to work.

So there was a big gap, and the police came out, of course. Hold on, hold on, hold on on hold on brett buffington you got me drinking from the fire hydrant too much too fast okay okay the 911 call was at 9 42 a.m correct right and quentin 20 months old was seen at 6 a.m correct correct and the day of the week uh was it a friday a saturday a sunday jack can you look it up for me real quickly? It was a Wednesday. Wednesday morning. Okay, a work day. Now, so they see the baby at 6 a.m. Who sees the baby? Daniel Youngkin? That's right.

He was on his way to work. So he was going to work. Where did he work? I'm not really sure. We haven't been able to find out very much about him. And I'll tell you, we haven't seen him. He hasn't been that we've been able to see there in the neighborhood since this happened. All right.

He probably thinks everybody's going to blame him. So he's up going to work at 6 a.m. I like that. An early riser. And he sees Quentin in the pack and play? That's what we've learned from the family and the police department. Why was he in a pack and play overnight? I can't answer parenting questions.

Is that common? Karen? Angie? John? No. Pack and play, the idea of it is that you put it in the room so you can be watching them in the room. It really shouldn't be an overnight type of situation. But I guess it can happen. I've never

seen anybody sleep overnight in a pack and play. Although, when I would travel with the twins on one occasion, thank God in heaven, I only did it once. Go ahead and judge me. I didn't know what I was doing. I was at my parents' house and I put them in their baby seats, their car seats, and I bundled up blankets and let them put that. And then I pull the latch down so they couldn't fall out so I could look at them all night. I later learned that's a perfect way for positional asphyxia where the baby's kind of sitting up and it lets its head down and can't breathe. Okay,

thank goodness I only did that one time, but things happen. So the baby, they say, fell asleep in the pack and play spot at 6 a.m. Now, Brett Buffington, do I understand the mom is getting up at 9.42 a.m.? Well, that's interesting because we know before that there was text message conversations between Daniel and the babysitter. The babysitter told us who lives down the street that she wasn't needed that day. And we know that there was another text message from the grandparents to the babysitters before 942 asking had she seen Quentin. So we know that there was commotion looking for this 20 month old little boy. But we know that there's a gap there that hasn't been explained that hasn't been explained by the family you're saying that they woke up and they started

looking for the baby and then they call 911 is that what you're saying Brett? That's right Crime Stories with Nancy Grace crime stories with nancy grace guys you heard brett buffington tell us the nobody's seen hiding her hair the boyfriend since quentin went missing there's a lot of ways to look at that one flight is an indication of guilt or two he thought everybody be pointing the finger of him so he became scarce but where's the bio dad you always want to look for the bio dad take a listen to police chief jeff hadley chatham we we've located the the biological father he works uh very much very north of here we don't believe uh he has anything to do with uh it being a custody thing or anything like that at this point.

We have not determined whether or not it is an abduction or kidnapping. Therefore, we did not issue an Amber Alert. That is a requirement of an Amber Alert is to law enforcement has to be have that belief that an abduction has taken place. Okay, so no Amber Alert and the bio dad has been cleared. What more do we know? Take a listen to our friends at WSAV. Chatham County Police Department told us that Quinton was last seen around 6 this morning and was reported missing around 9. A massive search with law enforcement and neighbors took place in the hours that followed.

At nightfall, they launched a helicopter with thermal imaging to continue the search for 20-month-old Quinton Simon. We've also learned a dive team arrived near the scene tonight. Our crews witnessed investigators going through the garbage at the property on Buckhalter Road near Girard Avenue. We told you earlier that the FBI had asked for a search warrant to look inside the home, and since then, we've seen agents actively searching the home and taking pictures. Okay, I'm just letting all of that sink in.

A lot is jumping out at me. But let me circle back to what we know about the search for 20-month-old Quentin Simon. Take a listen to more from our friends at WSAV. This is very much still a very active search here this afternoon, this evening now, as we've gone into over seven hours of this search looking for little Quentin. I can tell you here in this neighborhood, people are very concerned tonight. And neighbors here tell me that they've seen this little boy out before, and they've seen him wandering on this street before. The search for this little boy, Quentin Simmons, has been expansive. In the air with a helicopter and a drone. On the ground with search

dogs, horses, and deputies going door to door. You're hearing Brett Buffington joining us right now from WSAV, a News Nation affiliate. You know, a lot is jumping out at me. My first question to you, Brett, is tell me about, did I hear a dive team arrived? And we later found out, Nancy, when they got that search warrant for the house, which the FBI's evidence recovery team there at the scene that night, they got a search warrant also for the swimming pool, which I thought was interesting because they wanted to be very specific. Okay, hold on, hold on. So that's why the dive team was there for the pool? On the first night.

And they told us that the pool was green and cloudy. Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense, Brett Buffington, that the pool was green and cloudy. But John W. Deal high profile lawyer joining me out of Winter Park Florida and author obviously you don't need a search warrant for anything to do with the curtilage that's a legal term of art I wish I hadn't said that curtilage means the yard the backyard the front yard if there's a shed if there's a shed, if there's a, you know, playhouse, if there's a pool.

But I guess they wanted to cross their T's and dot their I's, right? Yeah, I think so. I think they, you know, probably are looking at this, that it's going to be an issue, and they want to make sure that they've done everything correctly in case there is some discovery that won't be challenged later. Well, I can tell you something else, John Deal. I'm not sure how it all went down, but I learned this from Mark Klass, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped from the home. Not just from the home, not just from her room, but during a spend the night party.

She had little friends over in the room. Polly was 12 at the time. She was abducted by a real, I mean, the devil, the devil on earth. Right. And she was sex assaulted and murdered. And he, this is before he was a victim's rights advocate, basically said, here I am. Take my blood. Take my fingerprints.

Search my place. Search my car. Search my office. You can listen to, search my car, search my office. You can listen to all my phone calls, whatever you want to get past me to find my daughter. Exactly. Hurry, hurry, hurry. So here I find it curious that they're getting a search warrant. Now, maybe they did it out of an abundance of caution, even though they already had, as we call in the law, permission to search.

But see, they not only got a search warrant, but they got a search warrant for the pool. That doesn't strike you as odd, John W. Deal? It does strike me as odd. And it's also it's not just a precaution. Hey, let's just look and see if there's something in the pool. Clearly, they were thinking about it and possibly were thinking they were going to run into some resistance, which is absolutely not like in Mr. Class's situation.

Hey, find my child. I'll take myself out of the equation by giving you all the information you need. So it is curious for sure. And there could have been any number of things in that pool. With me is Karen L. Smith, not only the host of Shattered Souls podcast,

which is huge yet, but she's a forensic expert. There's a lot of things that could be found in that pool with me is karen l smith not only the host of shattered souls podcast which is huge yet but she's a forensic expert there's a lot of things that could be found in that pool not just quentin himself absolutely nancy what you just said it hit me as a red flag to getting a search warrant for a pool oh h-a-double-l-n-o girl uh-uh i'd be going get in going, get in the pool, get in the pool, get in the pool myself. Trying to find out what if my son was. I don't even want to say if a baby was at the bottom of the pool, wouldn't everybody be jumping in? Absolutely. One hundred percent. So, yeah, that that struck me a little odd as well, as well as the search warrant.

You're right. I mean, Mark Klass hit it on the head. Check my house, check my office, check my phone. Just find my child. And when you have a search warrant for a home, that kind of spins this whole thing on its head to me as a forensic person. But on the other hand, Karen, maybe they had permission and they just said, look, just go get a warrant. Maybe they ordered the warrant before they got. I mean, you can get a warrant over the phone but who knows how that played out well the neighborhood in a ruckus in an uproar listen the search for quentin is news neighbors have found shocking it's a kid that's probably scared casey bowers not the only one with that feeling that they had to do something

michelle miller and her, they're both mothers. I mean, I would be devastated and would have wanted everybody to help me as well. If it was my child, I'd want everybody and anybody that's willing to help come out and look. It's why they showed up on this four-wheeler. So far, there's been no sign of Quentin. The Chatham County Police Chief admits this search is emotional. Adding his investigators will find out what happened. I'm curious. Tell me about it, Brett Buffington.

Joining me, SAV and News Nation affiliate. Tell me about the neighborhood joining in to search. Oh, yeah. It was just like you would expect for a missing child. Everyone wanted to help. The the neighbors the babysitter uh anybody who was in that area they wanted to go out in the woods and i'll tell you that the police were very quickly to tell everyone stay on the street stay on the street you know i'm curious i heard earlier you said that um people observed quentin coming in and out of the house. Like they saw him on the street by himself.

Did I get that right? Right. Well, the family has a, uh, put us out, uh, in a normal size yard.

And this is not as the street that's not heavily traveled. I mean, people go up and down the street. It is two lanes, but it's like a quick cut through to get from one road to the other. And yeah, there was a neighbor right down the street who told us that day he went missing. She was crying. She was in tears because she knew she figured something would happen. But she had reported to the police and a bunch of neighbors in this neighborhood called D-Fax.

And they said, yeah, we've seen these kids out in that yard next to the road, and we're so worried. Dr. Angela Arnold is called free-range children. Free-range. I disagree with it. I think it's a horrible idea. But I've seen the worst of the worst. I've seen children, it doesn't matter where you live, what part of town. It can be school. It can be a playground. It can be a front yard yard like with Samantha Runyon. Her grandma was looking out the kitchen window and saw she was playing with other little children. The perp takes Samantha, three-year-old Samantha. She was dead in a couple of hours.

It can be Elizabeth Smart taken out of her home and others. Isabel Solis. It goes on and on and on. Haley Cummings. My point is crime can touch anyone no matter where you are, but I am totally against the free range children concept where, hey, they'll be fine. They're like chickens. Just let them wander around the yard.

No, no. And Nancy, meanwhile, they have a pool in their backyard that you can't see the bottom of it because nobody's taking care of it. So how would you, at the very least, how do you know that the little free-range child didn't fall in the pool? At just 20 months old, not even two years old yet. We have also heard that neighbors were alarmed and actually called authorities when they would see Quentin, 20 months old, wandering the neighborhood. Now, that makes me think that it is possible, Brett Buffington, that he did get out and start wandering around. Guys, take a listen again to our friends at WSAV.

But we're learning that Quentin Simmons, at just 20 months old, has wandered off before. He was running back and forth in front of the house, and I was afraid he was going to get hit. That neighbor didn't want to show her face on camera. She cried, telling us the story. Today, police officer came up and asked if she could look in my backyard her home is just one of the many places police have searched so let me understand brett buffington the police were actually going door to door oh yeah and i want to tell you that that just that clip you just used it was so chaotic there we didn't even have the right name for the kid yet we called him sim. The police called

him Simmons. They called him Smith. And then we originally, we found out in the end that it's Quentin Simon. But yes, of course, the police, they had the Savannah Police Department send out horses. They have mosquito control, but a helicopter happened. Then the police helicopter came later. They had a drone. And yet officers were knocking on doors trying to find this little boy. That search radius, about a mile by a mile and a half when police first started searching on that Wednesday. And Brett Buffington, everybody joining me, WSAV News 3 News Nation affiliate. We've got almost a four-hour window that we can absolutely confirm where he could have gone between 6 a.m. when boyfriend left and 9.42 a.m when boyfriend left and 9 42 a.m when the 911 call

was made although we believe the family was up looking for him before they call 911 which i understand i was screaming my head off and that baby's rough before i would think of calling 911 i was hoping i would find him there i wanted to bring up that the babysitter who lives literally three houses down just on the other side of the street on the corner she came over and asked do you want out looking for this little boy before the cops were called and they told her no that's what she the babysitter. So they wanted to find the baby on their own before police were called so that sounds like at least a good hour. So then let's back it up 6 a.m. to 8.42 a.m. Because the babysitter had to hear about it and then come over there and have the conversation.

Everybody looking for 20-month-old Quentin Simon. Could you tell me something, Brett Buffington, who lives in the home? So the house is owned by the grandparents, Thomas and Billy Joe Howell. In there, we also understand that one of their sons stays there. Lelaney, Simon, Quentin's mom, her boyfriend, and Lelaney has three kids. We know Grandma has custody of two of those. So yeah, it's a full house. So, all right, you've got the grandmother and the grandfather.

They own the home. You've got Quentin's mother, Leilani. You've got her boyfriend, Daniel Yonkin, who got up and went to work. And you have other children. So a lot of people in the home, and nobody knows what happened to Quentin. Although I know this, they've got enough money to have a pool in the backyard. Guys, take a listen to this. Inside it this morning when Quentin went missing. My stepdaughter, her boyfriend,

three kids, and her brother. The theory that Quentin simply wandered off, he says, is puzzling. I've never seen him open a door. And the oldest ones opened the door and came out but he's never opened the door so I mean that's what's that's what's crazy about everything. He says his stepdaughter claims that Quentin's father came and picked the little boy up something that police have ruled out and Thomas himself admits doesn't add up. Quentin's mom and others in the house this morning, we've learned, are at Chatham County Police Headquarters being questioned. The fact that they're all at the headquarters being questioned does not concern me,

but the fact that a story doesn't seem accurate given by the bio mom, that does concern me. You know, very often, John W. Deal, everybody would be questioned right there at the home. But they took him to HQ. Interesting, right? Yes, absolutely. I think they certainly were thinking that they had to get everybody's stories with an eye towards foul play. Maybe get it, obviously get them separated so they could compare all the different stories and see what added up to the actual facts.

So it's pretty clear for everybody that went on the scene. Something's not right. so they could compare all the different stories and see what added up to the actual facts. So it's pretty clear for everybody that went on the scene, something's not right. Yeah, something's not right. But you typically, I mean, let's look back at JonBenet Ramsey, how that was bungled. Everybody in that home should have been separated, whether you suspect foul play or not. Absolutely. To get their story so you won't be influenced by what your mother or your father or your brother said. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I remember that when you don't really remember that, but you're being influenced. Yeah. And listen to the story and then fill in their story if they had something to do with it. Yeah, that's absolutely what can happen with a group interview like that. Exactly. You were hearing Brett Buffington. You know, Brett joined me, SAV, a News Nation affiliate. Brett, nobody could say other than the boyfriend who got up and left at 6 a.m. No one saw Quentin other than him until everybody realized he was missing. That's the

story that the family told me. And that's the story that the family told me and that's the story that the police told everyone and yet there's this gap from 6 a.m to 9 42 a.m and no one knows what this baby is at least that was their story. Because doesn't anybody have to get up and go to work other than the boyfriend? We were talking about the search warrant just a little earlier grandma was in Illinois grandpa was in South Carolina. They owned the house. They were there working to provide for this family. And so they didn't, grandpa didn't get there until that evening. And grandma, not until late that night, they weren't home. They work out of state, but they live there? That's correct. I'm not sure what their jobs are. Grandpa works in some kind of

service job. He has a work truck that he was driving. I'm not sure what the grandmother does, but they weren't there. And I think that's one of the reasons the police filed the search warrant so fast is the people who own the home. Yeah, and of course, as we all know, all you legal eagles, if anybody says, yes, you can come search, it doesn't have to be the homeowner or the name on the lease.

But that said, that's making it more clear why authorities thought they had to get a search warrant. Now, hold on just a moment. Take a listen to our friends at WSAV. This is my baby, not yours. This video is absolutely jarring. Hit me. Hit me. Don't do that!

It shows the desperation of the people who love Quentin Simon. You're awful to say you're going to put a memorial? My baby's not dead! Quentin's grandmother in Quentin's babysitter's house. I texted you and I told you I was going to kill you! I was going to kill you! The intense moments recorded by Dana McCarter's daughter. Dana says Quentin's grandmother barged through her back door mad over the thought of a memorial for the missing toddler.

My baby's not dead. Okay, what was that? I know that the last voice was the grandmother's yelling, my baby's not dead. So this sounds to me like a Cindy Anthony situation where the grandmother looks at Quentin as her baby. Right? Absolutely. Because, Brett, a million times my mother has said, has referred to my children as her babies. And I'm fine with that.

The more love they can get, the better. So what is all the screaming going on about you know what if we're having this case technically grandmother did have legal custody of Quentin that was her child that said she told me that in her interviews with us she's talked to me a lot of the phone lots in text but when I talked to her with the camera she didn't say that this is my child. She really had a connection to. Who is she arguing with?

Who wanted to have a memorial? The other lady who loves Quentin so much, and we know that, is the babysitter, Dana McCarta, Diana McCarta. And she was sitting in her house. This was Saturday a week ago when Grandma barged in the back door. Of course, they're very upset they're very emotional and when you you get media fatigue the cops are there there's tv reporters in front of your house so obviously they had been emotionally drained and you could case if you listen to that entire clip you can hear the emotion and they care but she barged in the babysitter's house and they just had a screaming match at each other

well i gotta tell you again, that reminds me. John Deal, this is your neck of the woods. The Kelly Anthony case, because I've got to tell you, I've met George and Cindy Anthony. And I know a lot of people don't think this, but they're perfectly nice people. And they have been devastated without question by Kelly's death. And they've been videoed over and over. And this has been played a million times

where they're yelling at the news media. They were so heartbroken and angry and didn't understand what had happened. And the news media was camped literally at the edge of their lawn. And their front yard's not that big. You can't even go out the door without the media yelling at you. And at one point, George and or Cindy were out there yelling at the media to go away.

And that's how they were portrayed. I completely understand it. And I get this grandma going crazy on the babysitter. You don't know what's happening, and you're at the end of your rope and you just explode. Right. Exactly. I mean, it's it's eerily similar to that situation that obviously Cindy Anthony was the one who was leading the charge for the search. George was obviously devastated. Then we had that their daughter, the mother of Kaylee, was acting obviously erratically. So I can imagine the pressure.

We can imagine the pressure they were under. And just like hearing that grandmother, I could hear it. Intense pressure. Okay, with this potpourri of emotions and facts that don't fit together, I get what's coming down. Take a listen to our friends at WJCL. For the first time today, Chatham County Police Chief said there is a possible criminal element to this case, but still, five days in, Quinton is missing. We have a signal, keep your feet. You're hearing

Chatham County Police dispatchers on Wednesday morning when Quinton Simmons went missing from his Buckhalter Road home in Savannah. Fast forward five days to Monday. Everybody is being interviewed. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I'm just thinking through what you told me earlier, Brett Buffington. Now they think there's a criminal element to Quentin's disappearance. If the grandma has legal custody, the grandma is out of town, and the grandpa is out of town, I guess that's why they have the babysitter so often that the grandmother has arranged.

Who was watching Quentin the morning he disappeared? His mom. How long had the grandma been gone? Was she gone overnight? Oh, for sure. I don't know exactly how long she told us that she got the news and she got back to Georgia as fast as she could, but I mean, obviously overnight. Baby goes missing on mommy's watch. That's correct. Another thing about mommy, Brett buffington hey the rest of the panel please don't sit back and sip your latte jump in brett buffington uh another thing is it the mother leilani simon this is quentin's bio mom didn't she say did she the one that said the bio dad came and took quentin and her her parents, her stepdad, Mr. Thomas, and her mom both told me

that there was absolutely no way that happened, that the bio dad hadn't been involved in this kid's life since he was born. So that's not just a mix-up where she thought, oh, this was the day he was going to come pick up Quentin. Oh, no. No, no, no. Okay, I don't like that at all. It was incredible police work.

They had this 942 in the morning on Wednesday at 2.30. They announced they'd cleared the dad. Nothing to do with him. Okay, guys, it's turned into a criminal investigation, or it's heading that way. Take a listen to Diana McCarta. This is the babysitter. A lot of people are saying, well, you're the babysitter. lot of people are saying well you're the babysitter you should have did more look i did what i thought was best defects was aware of the situation people can say no they

wasn't or they would have took them look i don't know all the circumstances but i know defects was But I know DFAX was aware, and I know that I did contact the grandmother a lot via text or calling because she had custody. DFAX was aware of this. I think that she's trying to take the heat off of them. Diana talking with us today telling me she's called Georgia's Department of Family and Children's Services about Quentin and his siblings before. DFAX told you there was a case. Yes, absolutely. Diana isn't the only neighbor here to tell us they were concerned about the children in this home. I was afraid she was going to get hit.

Afraid that the baby would be hit by an oncoming car. Was that the problem, Brett Buffington? Neighbors were afraid the children were out in the yard and on the street too much? We know the neighbors, the babysitter, they had all reached out to DSAX, according to what the babysitter told me. And there was an open DSAX investigation, according to what Diana said. And yet we know that the calls from the neighbors were because they saw the children out in the yard unsupervised okay so it was an issue of non-supervision that's why defects kept getting getting called you know what diana told me yes she said there was just so many people in that little neighborhood they're worried that one of them was going to get in the street and something bad would happen.

And I guess once again, Dr. Angie Arnold defects did nothing. Right. Well, one of the comments that I want to make, first of all, Nancy, is, you know, it's very difficult for people to call defects. Nobody wants to call defects. I call them all the time. I don't know what you're talking about. Do you really yeah well i think it's hard for neighbors to do something like that so but but that would mean to me if the neighbors are doing it this was happening a lot actually

i correct let me correct myself i've called 9-1-1 many times if i see for instance parents on the side of the interstate you know when you on you're on off-ramp trying to get money and they got their babies there, or people wandering in parking lots trying to get money, or children wandering alone in a parking lot. Yeah, I don't have any problem with it. I understand that, but really and truly, Nancy, psychologically, it's a little bit more difficult for the people that live around you to actually call defects. So what that means is this was a really bad ongoing problem. These children were not being supervised. And we can play around with that term of, you know, what was that term that you used about just wild children being able to... Free range. Free range.

Like free range chickens. That's certainly putting perfume on a pig. I get you. I hear what you're saying, that neighbors don't want to rat each other out. But apparently these neighbors were more concerned about Quentin and what they know. Guys, I want you to take a listen to our cut. Jackie, please play Police Chief Jeff Hadley in our cut 23. Our investigation over the last eight days has led us to the heartbreaking conclusion that 20-month-old Quentin Simon is deceased. We have named his mother,

Lalani Simon, as the primary suspect in Quentin's disappearance and death. We have not made an arrest or filed any charges at this time. And more on our cut 2728. I cannot get into any specifics relative to evidence. say is the evidence that we have so far based on multiple search warrants and interviews has led us to the conclusion that Quentin is deceased. The investigation doesn't end, you know, right there. We will continue to investigate this until its final conclusion. Brett Buffington, lead investigative reporter, WSAV News Nation affiliate. Why are all arrows pointing toward the mom? Police came out and flat out said suspect number one.

But why? They didn't get into any of the details. We pressured them. I asked the police chief at that press conference, you're telling us that you think you have a dead child now. You have nobody. You have all these people who are so concerned about this little boy. Tell them why

you no longer think they're gonna he's gonna come home and he said i can't i'm not going to talk about the evidence we have but there's something that let us believe the queen is dead also nancy when a young child is murdered the most frequent perpetrator of is the victim's parent or step-parent. That is written in stone. Right now, tensions are running high in the search for Quentin Simon. We know that the bio mom, the mother, Leilani Simon, is now considered suspect number one. And police are telling us without reason they believe

this baby is dead. We pray that is not true and wait for justice to unfold. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. If you have information, please dial 912-667-3134. Repeat, 912-667-3134. Repeat, 912-667-3134. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.