A caregiver for a missing Florida boy has been lying to investigators about the child's disappearance, authorities said Saturday.
William Ebron initially told investigators that he had left 21-month-old Lonzie Barton of Jacksonville in a car early Friday outside the apartment where they lived with the boy's mother, and the car was stolen with the boy still in it when he went back inside.
The car Ebron reported stolen was found with its keys inside shortly after a 911 call alerted authorities to Lonzie's disappearance. Detectives and K-9 units continued searching the area for the boy Saturday.
Ebron has stopped cooperating with investigators, who now believe he lied about Lonzie's disappearance, Tom Hackney, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office chief of detectives, told reporters Saturday.
"Without a doubt, the report that he gave, that his car was taken by some unknown suspect and left by some unknown suspect is a lie and is not true,'' Hackney said.
Ebron also was inside the apartment doing cocaine at the time he said Lonzie was abducted, Hackney said.
"He's where our attention is going to be focused,'' Hackney said.
An Amber Alert was issued for Lonzie, who weighs about 20 pounds and has blue eyes and blond hair.
"We're still going to work this as a child abduction because, honestly, I don't know what happened to Lonzie,'' Hackney said. "I can't say at this point and time whether Lonzie is alive or dead.''
Ebron, 32, was arrested late Friday and charged with two counts of child neglect. His first court appearance was scheduled Saturday afternoon. Duval County jail records didn't show whether he had an attorney.
Lonzie's mother and father, who lives in nearby Baker County, are cooperating with police and investigators don't believe either had anything to do with Lonzie's disappearance, Hackney said.