Criminal investigation ongoing while the search for a missing Georgia toddler continues

Police in Georgia say that there is now a criminal investigation going on while they look for a child who has been missing for more than a week.

Quinton Simon was last seen at his house in Savannah on Wednesday. This started a large search operation that now includes more than 40 FBI and ground personnel, including members of the child-abduction and rapid-deployment squad.

“We do believe with the continued assistance of the FBI, we’ll have a resolution in this case,” Chatham County Police Chief Jeffrey Hadley said at a news conference on Monday.

“We understand that people far beyond Chatham County have become emotionally invested in this incident and the search for Quinton, and they want answers. We’re committed to finding those answers, and we are committed to finding Quinton.”

On Tuesday, the police said that they had found evidence that “we think will assist in taking this investigation ahead.” However, they did not disclose any additional information about the discovery.

Hadley added that detectives are now looking into whether or not anything sinister happened, despite the fact that officials originally assumed there was no foul play involved in the incident.

“We’re looking at it from multiple fronts—one of them being a criminal investigation, as well as a missing child case,” he said.

“Everybody is being looked at,” he added. “Everybody is being interviewed.”

Early on Thursday morning, Quinton’s mother, Leilani, made the decision to report him as missing. She informed the police that the last time she saw him was while he was in a playpen inside the house that she, her parents, and her boyfriend all share.