The Lonzie Barton Amber Alert disappearance is actively being investigated, but, after two weeks and two long-gone corpses, the baby is himself still missing.
The blue-eyed boy was “abducted” from a vehicle late in July 2015, according to the prime and only suspect in his vanishing, Ruben Ebron.
Ebron was the live-in boyfriend of Lonzie’s mother and is now believed to have murdered the child and hidden the body someplace. As a result, the 32-year-old repeat violent-offender is currently in police custody, where he’ll no doubt remain until the missing boy is either found safe or his body is located.
Curiously and perhaps coincidentally, Lonzie Barton now officially joins his blood relative Haleigh Cummings as Florida’s only other unsolved Amber Alert case.
The 5-year-old girl likewise disappeared from the state under suspicious circumstances and, six years later, is also presumed dead.
Lead detective Tom Hackney vowed yesterday to continue leaning on the man accused of killing and concealing Baby Lonzie, as well as the suspect’s relatives and friends, because “I want the child's body,” he said. “I want the child's body to be taken back to his family to be put to rest properly.”
No other family member, including the missing boy’s biological parents, is under suspicion, Hackney added, noting that the latter have both been forthright and fully “cooperating.”
A modest reward of $13,200 for any info which will lead to the toddler, dead or alive, is being offered by Crime Stoppers this week. However, the Amber Alert for Lonzie Barton has been canceled since police no longer believe he was kidnapped.
Over 300 law enforcement personnel exhaustively combed land and water, and chased down nearly 400 credible tips, in a so far futile but determined effort to find the child, last seen on July 23rd.
“This is no magic act,” chief investigator Hackney reiterated at Monday’s press conference. “This child didn't just -- poof -- disappear.”
Anyone who has knowledge of Lonzie's present whereabouts is urged to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500. Anonymous tips may also be forwarded to Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
