Quinton Simon's mom and grandmom seen 'having a great time' and downing tequila as cops search for boy

'They were drinking Patron shots in the deck area, being loud and laughing. It was really strange,' said a bar employee

PUBLISHED OCT 20, 2022

Quinton Simon's mother Leilani Simon and grandmother Billy Jo Howell allegedly partied at a beachfront bar in Tybee Island (Leilani Simon/ Facebook, WSAV screengrab, Inset: Chatham County Police Department/Facebook)

CHATHAM COUNTY, GEORGIA: Missing Georgia toddler Quinton Simon's mother Leilani Simon and grandmother Billy Jo Howell allegedly partied at a beachfront bar in Tybee Island as the authorities were engaged in a search of a landfill for the boy's body.

“They were having a great time, like they didn’t have a care in the world,” the New York Post quoted a bar employee as saying. “They were drinking Patron shots in the deck area, being loud and laughing. It’s almost like they were trying to draw attention to themselves.” The server said a colleague eventually recognized the duo from news reports. “People were getting upset,” the worker said. “They just wanted them out of here. But they stayed for a long time, for hours. It was really strange.”

'Breaks my heart': Devastated community forms memorial at Quinton Simon's home amid reports of his death

Another person, a local, by the name of 'Michael' wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night, October 18, "Spotted the mom and grandma of missing 20-month-old #QuintonSimon on #TybeeIsland at Stingrays restaurant about 7pm."

Spotted the mom and grandma of missing 20 month old #QuintonSimon on #TybeeIsland at Stingrays restaurant about 7pm highly. From what I was told they are either staying at the Dunes Inn & Suites or Sandcastle Inn @WJCLNews @ChathamCountyPD @WTOC11 @WSAV
— Michael (@PogueLife22) October 19, 2022

According to The US Sun, Leilani and Howell were approached by reporters and YouTube victim advocates who tracked them leading to a series of confrontations. Police in Tybee Island, Georgia, told the outlet that "two verbal arguments" outside a hotel near the bar on Wednesday, October 19. Howell, told officers that people were "harassing" her. But no action was taken, Tybee Island police said.

As per The Sun, two well-known true crime YouTubers, Andra "Bullhorn Betty" and Jimmy "Dolly," posted a video where a man confronts Leilani and her mother Howell and had a heated argument with them, as authorities searched for the one year old's body at a landfill.

Law enforcement at the Georgia landfill site look for Quinton (Chatham County Police Department)

Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said at a press conference that there is evidence which points the one-year-old is buried at the landfill. The Chatham County Police said in a statement, "This operation will include a team of searchers daily from the Chatham County Police Department and FBI, along with dozens of support personnel," adding, "The FBI’s Evidence Response Team is leading the landfill search, which will be a precise and extensive recovery mission for Quinton’s remains and other potential evidence."

On October 5, Quinton, 20 months old, vanished from his Chatham County home where he lived with his grandmother, mother and her boyfriend. No arrests have been made, as Chief Hadley said that they are not ready to charge anyone "yet."

Hadley said, "We still have work to do. We still have an investigation to do, and we're not going to do anything pre-emptively that would harm future prosecution. I believe in our investigators. I believe in the expertise we've brought to bear here. We're tracking in the right direction."

Meanwhile, authorities said they don't believe the mother is a flight risk but she is likely to be kept under surveillance, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told The US Sun.