Looking at photos of Lonzie Barton, his striking blue eyes and innocent smile instantly stand out.

Like any toddler not yet two years old, he was playful, trusting and utterly dependent on the adults meant to protect him. 

But what happened to the youngster is almost unthinkable. 

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office launched a manhunt for Lonzie in the early hours of July 24, 2015. The search started after his mother's boyfriend, William Ruben Ebron, 42, called 911, claiming his car had been stolen with the toddler still inside. 

The story became a nationwide sensation as images of the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy spread across television screens and front pages alike.

Ground and aerial crews, K-9 units and dive teams went looking for the youngster in the woods and waterways. Volunteer groups even started popping up to help out.

For months, Ebron stood by his account - until surveillance footage revealed the supposed car theft had been staged.

When confronted with the evidence, he offered a new and equally disturbing account: Lonzie had drowned in a bathtub while he and the boy's mother, Lonna Lauramore Barton, 35, were having sex before she went to work. Barton's lawyer at the time has since told the Daily Mail that she never corroborated that story, and instead maintained that her child was alive when when she left for her shift as a dancer.

Lonzie Barton (pictured) was known as the 'blue-eyed little boy' when he died under mysterious circumstances in the summer of 2015

Lonna Lauramore Barton, Lonzie's mother, was never charged in her son's death because there was never adequate evidence to prove her involvement. She pleaded guilty to child neglect and to lying to police 

In January 2016 - roughly six months after Lonzie disappeared - the toddler's decomposed remains were discovered concealed beneath debris and a tire off a highway in rural Jacksonville, Florida. The body was so decomposed that officials were never able to determine an official cause of death.

Investigators eventually concluded that Lonzie died while in Ebron's care. Barton and Ebron were both arrested on charges related to the little boy's death. 

Members of Lonzie's surviving family told the Daily Mail they have never believed either explanation - and are convinced the truth is far darker.

Now, as Barton is released on parole after serving just a fraction of her sentence, they spoke to the Daily Mail and called for her to be locked up for life.

According to Lonzie's father, Ransom Barefoot, the medical examiner told him his son had suffered serious injuries inconsistent with an accident.

'The medical examiner's report said that he had blunt force trauma to the skull and broken ribs, so where does that come from?' Barefoot said.

He also rejected claims that the toddler drowned.