Search for Lonzie Barton expands to Jacksonville's Northside

In the sixth day of searching for 21-month-old Lonzie Barton, efforts are expanding to Jacksonville’s Northside.

JSO says “very, very, very good” intelligence has guided the change, although they will continue searching the Southside as well. They’re looking for Lonzie’s body as well as any surveillance footage you have of the suspect William Ruben Ebron’s car from Thursday at 7PM to Friday at 2:20AM when the boy disappeared.

Right now, the search grid is large- between I-95 and the ocean, from the Trout River up to Nassau County. JSO Chief Tom Hackney says they’re working to reduce the size, but will continue to search everywhere if needed. The search will also include I-95 or other routes between where Ebron was believed to be on the Southside up through the Northside.

“I will leave no stone unturned, and some of those stones have yet to be unturned on the Southside, there’s a whole bunch more stones to turn on the Northside, and we’re going that way,” Hackney says.

JSO says the suspect’s car- a 1995 Honda Civic with a black hood- has some distinctive features, including the left license tag light is out and there are blue round LED lights next to the front headlights. They have recovered the car, but they’re working to track the car’s full whereabouts.

GALLERY: Ruben Ebron's car

Between Crime Stoppers and a private donor, $4,000 is being offered for information leading to the recovery of Lonzie’s body. Generally, rewards are tied to an arrest, but JSO says this case they are giving the incentive just to find the boy. Police believe there’s a chance Ebron told someone what he did, and they’re pleading with that person to come forward.

“I just need to find Lonzie’s body. This community needs to find Lonzie’s body,” Hackney says.

The search has already spanned 2500 acres and 40 bodies of water, according to Hackney. There has also been evidence uncovered in Ebron’s car, but Hackney declined to elaborate on what.  Law enforcement from across the region, state, and even country have come to join the search and Hackney thanks the community as well for providing donations and other support.

The FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit has also been brought in “to crack” the story Ebron has put together, according to Hackney. He says they continue to believe Ebron knows where Lonzie is, but is not cooperating. Hackney says the Amber Alert will remain in effect until they have complete certainty in the closure of this case.

“As long as it takes us to do and as long as I have intelligible information that leads us somewhere, we’ll be there searching,” Hackney says.

If you have any information on this case, you can contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. You can also submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-866-845-TIPS.