The Georgia police have issued a nationwide search for 1-year-old Quinton Simon after he was reported missing by his mother.
The babysitter of the toddler who has been missing since last week, Diana McCarta said that she was supposed to watch Quinton and his brother the day he went missing, but she received a text message that changed everything.
Speaking to WSAV, Diana McCarta said:
“I got a text this morning saying they would not be here — would not be babysitting them at 5:29 [a.m.]. Which was kind of odd because I have them even when his mother doesn’t work.”
Police said the toddler was last seen about 6 a.m. and was reported missing to police after 9 a.m. the next day.
McCarta said she got another 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 try to help them look, they didn’t want that. So, I’ve been just waiting around like everyone else, ” she said.
“My heart is broken, I’m not his mother, I’m not his family, but I love him very much and I just don’t know what could happen.”
The babysitter said she had been watching Quinton and his sibling, Zane, for about six months before the disappearance.
“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.
“The police did a really good job of looking and where does a 1-year-old go? They’ve covered a lot of ground.”
Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators have found no evidence that foul play was involved in the boy’s disappearance.
The department and the FBI have deployed K-9 teams, drones, helicopters, officers on horseback and heat-detecting technology in the search for Quinton.
