A friend of Boyce expressed that it was unlikely that her uncle had anything to do with the murder, stating that it was not likely for him to have harmed any of his relative's children. However, the same man was suspected by police to have played a part in the murder of her father years earlier. Other leads include a Florida man convicted of abducting children who had been present in Steubenville when Barbara Barnes was abducted, although some members of the police department are skeptical, supporting the theory that she may have been murdered by someone native to the area.[1][2]