On 5/29/1987 the Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from a Park Ranger, who stated that two inmates from the Copeland Road Prison were working in the area between the 16 and 17 mile marker on Alligator Alley, when one of the men discovered what appeared to be the torso of a human body. The torso was approximately six feet east, of the south eastern edge of a rip rap abutment of a bridge.
The only identifying characteristic on the body was a grim reaper tattoo on the upper right shoulder blade.
All available information on the unidentified body was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and the Florida Crime Information Center (FCIC). In 2003 our agency was notified of a possible match between our record and a missing person entry (NCIC/FCIC) from Pinellas County Florida. Collier detectives obtained DNA from the missing person’s mother and sister in Ohio. The DNA from the mother and sister were sent to a lab and compared against the unidentified homicide victim, it was a match. The victim was identified as Barry Lynn Boyd.
Barry was last known to be alive on 05/22/1987 when he spoke with his wife by phone. He told her he would be home soon, and she never heard from him again.
(Source: Collier County Sheriff's Office)
