JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's been nearly two weeks since 21-month-old Lonzie Barton disappeared from his family's apartment on the Southside. Police still haven't found a trace of the boy.
His mother's boyfriend, who was watching him at the time, first claimed the toddler was abducted when his car was stolen with Lonzie inside. Monday evening, Chief Tom Hackney countered the story Ruben Ebron (pictured below) gave by releasing home surveillance video showing Ebron ditching his car in the exact spot where it was found less than a mile away from the apartment complex. Detectives are now holding him on child neglect charges but believe he murdered Lonzie.
The reward for information leading to Lonzie's recovery is now $13,200, thanks to private donors.
That's in addition to up to $4,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. So a tipster with the right information could get a grand total of $17,200.
People in the community continue stepping up to try to find the little boy.
First Coast Crime Stoppers Executive Director Wyllie Hodges said his organization's anonymous hotline has received 298 tips about Lonzie's disappearance so far. He said that's much higher than most cases.
"You name it and we have heard it," Hodges said. "We have heard from people who have had a dream to people whose tips sound really legit. Some tips that we've gotten are just off the wall. But the majority of the tips are worthy of us at least looking."
Those tips are passed along to police, but so far investigators haven't had the big break they need. But they're still trying.
ONLINE: Complete coverage of Lonzie investigation | Photo timeline of Lonzie case
First Coast Crime Stoppers has been Northeast Florida's tip line for more than a decade, and now it's one of Jacksonville detectives' biggest chances of solving the case.
Crime Stoppers has been involved in a lot of high-profile cases, but Lonzie's case is unique because it's the first time the organization has offered a reward for the recovery of a victim's body. Usually a reward is only offered for information leading to an arrest.
The group hopes the reward helps police solve the case.
"That is a lot of money, and I plead to those that are out there, if you have information on this case, if you are sitting there waiting to say, well, if I wait it is going to go higher -- it may, it may not -- but you may not be the only one that knows," Hodges said. "I'm only going to pay one person."
Hodges, who's Jacksonville's former undersheriff, has a history of success. He said the local Crime Stoppers hotline gets about 4,000 tips every year, and the tips help solve about 1,000 cases annually, including leading to 106 murder arrests over the past decade.
"Sometimes, evil prevails over right, but I just feel like if anybody out there knows it, we are going to get this tip," Hodges said. "And it is going to come very soon -- I hope."
News4Jax spoke Wednesday night with the leader of a community search party that's working on its own as police have scaled back.
"He looks like my little nephew," Bryan Tucker said. "It upset me, so we'll do as much as we can."
The group has been passing out fliers during the day and searching areas around Jacksonville in the evenings. They walked along the side of the road, checking every nook and cranny along the way.
"JSO has been doing everything they can," Tucker said. "They've got a lot of other cases."
Their search also led them to the woods along Busch Drive on the northside near Oceanway. It didn't matter that it looked like it was about to rain. Their only thought was on 21-month old Lonzie.
As the days push forward, Tucker and his group plan to keep searching as long as possible. In their eyes, the most important thing is keeping Lonzie's face and story out there.
Tucker told News4Jax he'd like to expand his search group. Anyone interested in joining can look him up on Facebook.
The number for Crime Stoppers is 1-866-845-TIPS. You don't have to give your name to get paid. It's completely anonymous.
To submit a tip, check the status of a tip or donate to Crime Stoppers, go to www.fccrimestoppers.com.