I bet you that is it. Dimes you always find out the hard to find information.
To be fair, dimes seemed to be merely speculating that this 'could' have happened.
As far as the relatives nearby, there was a story that I posted on here from the KC Star about Lightfoot's family ties to the Kansas City area. Here it is: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/campus-corner/article35599914.html
"Lightfoot was born in Kansas City, spent five years in the area, and still has family in the metro..."