Evidence in the disappearance of Lonzie Barton led the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to the Philips Highway and Interstate 295 area Sunday morning to search bodies of water and woods.
“I am not out here accidentally,” Chief Tom Hackney said when asked if suspect William Ruben Ebron told investigators something that brought them to the area. “It isn’t happenstance that I’m standing in front of a lake and that I have divers in the water.”
Police also will be searching a mobile park home, he said. Police took Ebron to several areas around town Saturday.
Hackney said investigators are starting to get results from physical and technological evidence submitted since police were contacted early Friday morning. That includes cell phone records, as well business, Department of Transportation and red-light cameras.
That evidence is helping piece together what happened from the time Lonzie’s mother last saw the boy at 8 p.m. Thursday before going to work to 2:20 a.m. Friday when Ebron reported the 21-month-old was in his car when it was stolen. Ebron is the boyfriend of Lonzie’s mother.
Hackney said Saturday investigators believe Ebron was not being truthful about what happened to the boy. He echoed that on Sunday, saying, “Honestly, he’s lying to us. He’s trying to manipulate investigators.”
Hackney asked that anybody who may know Ebron to “appeal to his good nature, appeal to his heart” to tell investigators what happened to Lonzie.
Since the boy was reporting missing Friday, the public has been asking the Sheriff’s Office for ways to help. Hackney offered one on the day many people attend church.
“If you’re so inclined … pray for the answers, pray for a successful resolution,” he said.
Hackney said as time goes on, the chances of finding the boy alive slip away.
“That breaks my heart … and it breaks (the 150-plus officers and detectives’) hearts, as well,” he said.
Hackney said Lonzie's mother deserves to know what happened to her son.
“And Lonzie deserves justice for what may have happened to him,” he said.
*** Story from Saturday: Jacksonville police no longer believe William Ebron Jr.'s report that 21-month-old Lonzie Barton went missing after a carjacking. "Honestly, I don't know what happened to Lonzie," Chief Tom Hackney said Saturday morning. "I can't say at this point in time whether Lonzie is alive or dead." If Lonzie was abducted, Hackney said, "I feel Ebron is the suspect." He said Ebron, who is in jail on two charges of child neglect, has ranged between being cooperative to going into self-preservation mode when talking to police since the toddler was reported missing early Friday morning. "My hopes, prayers and thoughts are that we will be able to find Lonzie alive," the chief said. Ebron told police he left Lonzie and his 5-year-old sister in an orange Honda Civic outside his apartment about 2:15 a.m. Friday when he went inside to residence off Old Kings Road to do cocaine. He said they were then going to go pick up the children's mother at work. Ebron is the mother's boyfriend. Ebron told police the 5-year-old girl came into the apartment and said she was scared. Ebron said when he looked out the window, he saw his car being driven away. The car was recovered shortly afterward with the keys inside, but Lonzie hasn't been found. Hackney said none of Ebron's story adds up "because I don't have Lonzie back." "He's the key to this," Hackney said of Ebron. "He knows where Lonzie is. ... By him not telling me where that is or not telling detectives where that is, he's lying." Hackney said the boy's mother and father have been cooperative and he does not believe they were involved in Lonzie's disappearance. He said Lonzie's 5-year-old sister has been cooperative, too. "But she's 5 years old," he said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (904) 630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.