Search under way for missing toddler in neighborhood near Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Police fanned out across a neighborhood just outside Savannah to search for a toddler whose mother called 911 saying her son was missing when she woke up Wednesday morning.

The mother of 20-month-old Quinton Simon told officers the boy had been in his playpen before she discovered he was missing, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said.

Hours later the toddler, described as wearing a Sesame Street T-shirt and black pants, still had not been found. Police closed several streets as officers and neighborhood volunteers searched for the child with help from a tracking dog and a helicopter normally used for mosquito control.

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“We’re very concerned about Quinton,” Hadley told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “We’re hoping we can find him safe and bring him home to his parents.”

The police chief said officers had contacted the boy’s biological father and did not believe he was involved. Officers also performed a cursory search of the child’s home but didn’t find him hiding inside, he added.

Police were obtaining a warrant to conduct a more thorough search, though Hadley said investigators had no evidence of foul play.

“All things are still possible,” Hadley said. “We don’t have any concrete belief in any one theory or any one thing.”

No Amber Alert was issued for the missing boy, Hadley said, because that would require police to first determine the child had been abducted.

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