Authorities discover body of 4-year-old Alabama boy missing since New Year’s Eve

The body of Johnathan Everett Boley, a 4-year-old boy who went missing in Alabama on New Year’s Eve, has been found, authorities announced at a news conference Friday afternoon.

“We located Johnathan and Johnathan is deceased,” Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith told reporters.

He was found about 2 miles from his home, Smith added.

The boy’s father, Jameson Kyle Boley, was arrested on another explosives-related charge and was charged with two counts of chemical endangerment of a child, according to court records.

The child was last seen at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday near Highway 195 in a wooded, rural area of ​​Jasper, Alabama, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Jasper is a small town located about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham.

He was last seen wearing a yellow Mickey Mouse shirt, black pants and Paw Patrol shoes.

The Walker County Sheriff’s Office received a call about the missing child Wednesday around 12:30 p.m., Smith told reporters Thursday.

Smith said authorities reported Johnathan was with his 6-year-old brother and their dog at the time of his disappearance. Johnathan’s brother “identified the last place he saw John John” and their dog, Smith told reporters Friday.

When Johnathan’s body was found Friday, his dog was with him and still alive.

Charge linked to explosives

Johnathan’s father was also charged with illegally manufacturing a destructive device or bacteriological weapon, according to court records.

Smith told reporters that explosive devices were found on the child’s father’s property during the search and that law enforcement had to “take care of” the devices before they could execute a thorough search warrant.

The father was arrested on an explosives-related charge, Smith said. He said the charge had “nothing to do” with the search for Johnathan.

Smith described the father, whom he did not name, as former military personnel.

It is unclear why the explosives were in the house.

“Neighbors say they’ve been hearing explosions for weeks. They weren’t sure where it was coming from. The morning before the explosion, [missing person] The report came in, one of the neighbors reported that he heard an explosion around 4 a.m. that morning, but just didn’t know where it was coming from. I can’t say it has any connection to the missing child,” Smith said.

Johnathan’s parents are separated and the child’s mother moved to Florida last year. As part of the custody agreement, the father had five visitation days a year, Smith said.

The mother traveled to Alabama Wednesday evening and is cooperating with authorities, according to the sheriff. The father was questioned by the FBI on Wednesday, he said.