Man who reported Lonzie Barton missing has violent criminal history, documents show
Story updates with more information about investigators at a Laundromat and what the mother's employer had to say.
An Amber Alert has been issued following the early morning disappearance of a 21-month-old boy from a Jacksonville apartment complex, police said.
They are searching for Lonzie Barton, who may have been taken, let loose or wandered off during a car theft Friday.
Police said the toddler was last seen wearing only a diaper and could not be found after his mother's boyfriend's car was taken at Ravenwood Apartments in the 8000 block of South Old Kings Road in the Baymeadows area about 2:20 a.m. Friday. The boyfriend was preparing to pick up the mother from her job at Wacko?s Gentleman?s Club and had the boy and his 5-year-old sister in the car when he went back into the apartment to get something.
The boy's 5-year-old sister then told the boyfriend that she was scared, and he went outside to find the car and toddler gone, police said. Chief Tom Hackney said he wasn't sure how long William Ebron, 32, was upstairs but didn't think it was too long.
He said police arrived in two minutes and located the 1995 orange Honda Civic in about 15 minutes abandoned with the keys still inside a short distance away in the 8100 block of Cesperdes Avenue.
Police announced shortly after 6 a.m. that an Amber Alert had been issued in conjunction with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Hackney said at a 6:45 a.m. news conference the Amber Alert marks the first in Florida this year. Investigators are going over the recovered Honda Civic, including looking for and processing DNA evidence. It was on a wrecker at 6:50 a.m. and towed later.
A police helicopter also is in the air to aid in the search and a dive team arrived. There's several retention ponds and woods in the vicinity.
Hackney said there was a child safety-seat in the car but investigators aren't sure if Lonzie had been strapped in. He said several scenarios are being considered, but abduction is the primary focus.
It's also possible the toddler could have left the car before it was taken, the person could have let the child out somewhere or some information could be false.
But Hackney said Ebron and the mother, 25-year-old Lonna Lauramore, are cooperating. The biological father in Baker County has been contacted and not considered to be involved, Hackney said at a noon briefing. Lauramore last saw Lonzie about 8 p.m. Thursday.
Hackney did not name the biological father, but court records show Lauramore was married to Christopher Arin Barton in Macclenny in 2009.
The child's grandmother, who lives off a dirt road along the St. Marys River in Macclenny, said she had been up all night and was "exhausted" and did not wish to comment. Other family in Baker County could not be reached.
At last report there was no description of a possible suspect.
Hackney asked area businesses that have surveillance cameras to take a look at their video for any possible clues that might assist police. Police are operating out of a command center at the San Jose Athletic Association on Powers Avenue. At least 50 police cruisers and vehicles are in Athletic Association parking lot. Officers set up this portable shelter, possibly preparing for the long haul as the search for the child continues with local, state and federal resources.
At least two K9 teams have been searching ditches on either side of the apartment complex as well as streets in the adjacent San Jose Manor neighborhood for clues but notwithstanding any apparent success. Police and bloodhounds are scouring the area sifting through trash cans, stooping over on sidewalks. The canvassing area appears to have widened with police checking trash bins well past the area where the car was found.
A group of police officers also are looking into basement windows and talking with neighbors on Ferrarra Street, off South Old Kings Road. About 11 a.m. there also was a massive police presence on a North Sierra Madre Drive, which is also close to the apartment complex where the child was abducted and near where the car was abandoned.
Officers seemed to clear the streets by 11:40 a.m., just ahead of the noon media briefing.
About 1:30 p.m. officers began working inside the Powers Avenue Laundromat, where a store clerk at a nearby convenience store said crime scene investigators had been in morning and also had checked behind the store. At the noon news briefing, Hackney did say the boyfriend had said he had earlier done laundry and got gas, so investigators were trying to retrace his steps.
A homicide sergeant leaving the Laundromat said police are checking surveillance cameras and garbage containers in the event clues might be there. He would not say if the laundry was where Ebron was Thursday night though it is a short drive from the scene.
By 3 p.m. an officer was seen carrying a computer from the strip center where the laundry is located and police temporarily cordoned off a corner of the lot next to it where there appears to be a commercial garbage bin behind a fence. A small item also was removed from a trash bin.
At Wacko's, Lauramore was there Thursday night, a man at the business on Emerson Avenue said Friday. He was not at work at the time but had been told nothing unusual occurred. The bar closes at 2 a.m. and women who work there are escorted to their cars by about 2:30 a.m. He said Lauramore has worked there about three months on an infrequent basis. Dancers work as independent contractors so only work when they want.
Terri Bond, a grandmother of five who lives in the area, said she was concerned about who may have taken the boy. She said she saw an alert on her phone about 6 a.m. that the boy was missing. She said she also gets alerts about sex offenders in the area.
"I'd say there are at least 10 within a two-mile radius of where we are standing," she said near the Ravenwood entrance.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 11 sex offenders or predators live within a mile of Ravenwood. Eight live within a mile of where the car was located on Cesperdes Avenue. Some of those overlap with the 11 near Ravenwood since the locations are so close.
At the complex, police were monitoring drivers as they came and went, apparently making note of license tags before waving the vehicles through.
The area where the child reportedly was kidnapped was less than 1 1/2 miles from a sheriff?s substation.
"It's really scary," said Richard Mooney as he clutched an arm of his young daughter, Savanah. "We are kind of keeping a close eye on her."
Mooney also was keeping his eyes out for any sign of Lonzie.
The Ravenwood resident said police showed him a photo of Lonzie Friday morning and asked if he saw anything. Mooney hadn't.
Still, he felt he needed to do something so he said he's been searching in Dumpsters and in the bushes, "doing anything I can."
Hackney said time is of the essence as they continue to seek leads and encourage the public?s assistance.
Nancy Wani and Cornelius Duot, who arrived in Jacksonville as Sudanese refugees in 1995, spent the morning and early afternoon handing out Amber Alert fliers in the area. Both said they had experienced civil was in their home country and wanted to help.
"This is our community," Wani said.
Here's the alert:
Missing:
Lonzie Barton
Male, born: 10-17-2013
Blue eyes, blonde hair
Approximate weight is 20 pounds
Last seen only wearing a diaper.
Anyone who has any information in regards to Lonzie is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at (904) 630-0500 or email us at JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous and receive a possible reward up to $3,000 contact Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.
dana.treen@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4091
http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2...iminal-history
Updated Fri, Jul 24, 2015 @ 4:18 pm
Court documents revealed a history of violence and abuse allegations by the man who reported the early Friday morning abduction of 21-month-old Lonzie Barton.
He was convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery related to a 2011 case.
Two weeks ago, an ex-girlfriend's family filed a third domestic violence injunction against William Ruben Ebron Jr.
Ebron reported early Friday to police that his car was stolen with Lonzie in it. Police have not named Ebron a suspect. The car has been found, but Lonzie was still missing Friday afternoon.
The most recent injunction against Ebron is dated July 10, and it was filed by his ex-girlfriend's sister. His ex-girlfriend also has filed two injunctions against him. After one injunction, the court required he seek mental-health counseling.
This injunction says that his ex-girlfriend is staying with a family member to seek shelter from him. He has stalked them, the report alleges. He cracked the ribs of one of his ex-girlfriend's family members, the injunction said, and he has threatened the life of his ex-girlfriend's 12-year-old niece. He also raped his ex-girlfriend, the injunction alleged.
He also "is now bragging that he is untouchable to the police and the court system," the injunction said. He "claims he knows the system and he can get away with anything that he does to me, my children and my sister and her children.
A judge approved the injunction, banning him from contacting his ex-girlfriend's family.
He also left "eight indirect threatening voicemails," the injunction said.
http://jacksonville.com/breaking-new...rted-car-theft
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