JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's been two weeks since 21-month-old Lonzie Barton was reported missing from his Southside apartment complex.
The case of the toddler's disappearance and the all-out search that became a murder investigation has gained national attention and hours of airtime locally.
Police have said that despite not having a body, they are building a murder case against William Ruben Ebron Jr., the boyfriend of Lonzie's mother.
Ebron was watching Lonzie (pictured) when he disappeared, and he first claimed the toddler was abducted when his car was stolen with Lonzie inside. Earlier this week, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief Tom Hackney countered the story Ebron 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 Ebron on child neglect charges but believe he murdered Lonzie.
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"I can tell you, they are going to find that body sooner or later," said attorney Randy Reep.
Reep, who is not associated with the case, said he thinks Lonzie's body will be found because Ebron is not a mastermind criminal.
He said that became apparent after JSO released the surveillance video. Reep said even though the case gained so much attention, he thinks if Ebron is charged with murder, attorneys will be able to seat an impartial jury in Jacksonville.
But he said Ebron's attorneys will likely want it tried somewhere else anyway.
"It is often in the defendant's interest to get the case moved," Reep said. "You've got to understand, we live in a conservative city, and this has some interracial -- not racist-based, but interracial-based components to it, so if I'm the attorney in this case, I want it in a much larger metropolitan setting, like Orlando (or) Miami, where that component won't be a focal point at all."
Reep said Ebron could face additional charges like tampering with evidence, filing a false police report or perjury, but the charge carrying the most weight would be first-degree murder.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said he expects that after releasing the video, police will remain quiet in the coming days. He said the daily news conferences JSO held were necessary to get information to the public, but now police are holding what they have close to their chest.
"Far less than 10 percent of what they have was actually released to the public. It seems like it was a lot. Two or three press conferences a day gives the appearance that a lot of info was put out, but it really wasn't," Smith said. "It's sort of like a filmmaker preparing to make a film. They lay everything out before they sit down and edit. Police are the same way in the trial."