I don't think I have seen anywhere but here and just in the last couple of hours that it was a family friend. But the witness on the bike lives just off of Central Ave about 3 miles from EF/RF and about 1.9 miles from the abduction site. His workplace appears to be about 6.6 miles from his house and the most direct bike route would take him along Central Avenue right through the crime scene.I don’t think the “friend” aspect is verified info, at least I can’t remember reading it. I think the assumption is being made because the finder of items returned the items directly to the family. My opinion only.
I am going to guess he found the phone randomly on his ride to work. But anything is possible, they lived in teh same neighborhood.