The babysitter of the 20-month-old Georgia boy missing since last week said in a latest interview that she was purported to watch the toddler and his brother the day he vanished — but received a cryptic message that left her alarmed.
“I got a text this morning saying they might not be here — wouldn’t be babysitting them at 5:29 [a.m.]. Which was sort of odd because I actually have them even when she doesn’t work,” Diana McCarta told WSAV, referring to 22-year-old Leilani, whose son Quinton Simon went missing in Savannah on Oct. 5.
Police said the boy was last seen about 6 a.m. and was reported missing to police after 9 a.m. the subsequent day, in line with WJCL.
McCarta said she got one other text message at around 9 a.m. the day of the boy’s disappearance, “saying have I seen Quinton?”
“I immediately go to their house. I attempt to help them look, they didn’t want that. So, I’ve been just waiting around like everyone else,” she told WSAV.
The babysitter said she had been watching Quinton and his sibling, Zane, for about six months before the disappearance.
“My heart is broken,” she told the outlet. “I’m not his mother, I’m not his family, but I like him very much and I just don’t know what could occur.”
She added: “The police did a very good job of looking and where does a 1-year-old go? They’ve covered numerous ground.”
The mystery surrounding the boy’s disappearance has been “horrible,” McCarta told WJCL.
“I keep seeing — picturing his face. I can’t sleep at night because I see his face smiling at me the last time I seen him,” she told the local ABC affiliate.
Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators have found no evidence that foul play was involved within the boy’s disappearance.
“We’re going to carry out hope that he’s still alive, that we are able to find him and convey him home protected to his parents,” he said.
The department and the FBI have deployed K-9 teams, drones, helicopters, officers on horseback and heat-detecting technology within the seek for Quinton.
The boy lives in the home together with his mom, his 3-year-old brother, his mother’s boyfriend and his maternal grandparents, local ABC affiliate WJCL reported.
His grandparents, Billie Jo and Thomas Howell, have legal custody of Quinton and his older brother, in line with the station.
“She hasn’t all the time done the correct thing,” Billie Jo Howell said of her daughter in an interview with the station. “Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn’t … I don’t know if I can trust her — I don’t.”
Court records obtained by WJCL show that Billie Jo Howell attempted to evict the kid’s mother and her boyfriend from her home in early September.
Cops have responded to the house twice within the last two years, in line with the Chatham County Police Department. The department didn’t provide details on those calls, but said neither was for previous reports of a missing child.
Police said last week there was no evidence that Quinton was abducted and that his case doesn’t look like a custody dispute.
The babysitter of the 20-month-old Georgia boy missing since last week said in a latest interview that she was purported to watch the toddler and his brother the day he vanished — but received a cryptic message that left her alarmed.
“I got a text this morning saying they might not be here — wouldn’t be babysitting them at 5:29 [a.m.]. Which was sort of odd because I actually have them even when she doesn’t work,” Diana McCarta told WSAV, referring to 22-year-old Leilani, whose son Quinton Simon went missing in Savannah on Oct. 5.
Police said the boy was last seen about 6 a.m. and was reported missing to police after 9 a.m. the subsequent day, in line with WJCL.
McCarta said she got one other text message at around 9 a.m. the day of the boy’s disappearance, “saying have I seen Quinton?”
“I immediately go to their house. I attempt to help them look, they didn’t want that. So, I’ve been just waiting around like everyone else,” she told WSAV.
The babysitter said she had been watching Quinton and his sibling, Zane, for about six months before the disappearance.
“My heart is broken,” she told the outlet. “I’m not his mother, I’m not his family, but I like him very much and I just don’t know what could occur.”
She added: “The police did a very good job of looking and where does a 1-year-old go? They’ve covered numerous ground.”
The mystery surrounding the boy’s disappearance has been “horrible,” McCarta told WJCL.
“I keep seeing — picturing his face. I can’t sleep at night because I see his face smiling at me the last time I seen him,” she told the local ABC affiliate.
Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators have found no evidence that foul play was involved within the boy’s disappearance.
“We’re going to carry out hope that he’s still alive, that we are able to find him and convey him home protected to his parents,” he said.
The department and the FBI have deployed K-9 teams, drones, helicopters, officers on horseback and heat-detecting technology within the seek for Quinton.
The boy lives in the home together with his mom, his 3-year-old brother, his mother’s boyfriend and his maternal grandparents, local ABC affiliate WJCL reported.
His grandparents, Billie Jo and Thomas Howell, have legal custody of Quinton and his older brother, in line with the station.
“She hasn’t all the time done the correct thing,” Billie Jo Howell said of her daughter in an interview with the station. “Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn’t … I don’t know if I can trust her — I don’t.”
Court records obtained by WJCL show that Billie Jo Howell attempted to evict the kid’s mother and her boyfriend from her home in early September.
Cops have responded to the house twice within the last two years, in line with the Chatham County Police Department. The department didn’t provide details on those calls, but said neither was for previous reports of a missing child.
Police said last week there was no evidence that Quinton was abducted and that his case doesn’t look like a custody dispute.
