Police have found the body of a four-year-old Alabama boy who went missing with his dog on New Year’s Eve.
Four-year-old Johnathan Everett Boley, who went by the nickname John John, was last seen Wednesday around 11:30 a.m. in Jasper, Alabama, a small town about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
His body was found on Friday afternoon, following a two-day search, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said. Investigators also found Johnathan’s dog alive. The community is “devastated by the news,” Smith said.
“It’s with great sadness that I’m here to announce that we have located Johnathan, and Johnathan is deceased,” Smith said at a Friday afternoon press conference.
“Johnathan was an adventurous boy, and he loved the outdoors,” he added.
Smith provided few details and declined to take questions after announcing his body was found.
The Walker County Sheriff’s Office first received a call about his disappearance around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Smith said at a Thursday press conference. Police found “evidence of explosive devices on the property during the search,” as well as “eight other potential explosive devices” across the street from the home, Smith said.
Investigators later determined the devices across the street were not explosives, Smith said Thursday evening.
Johnathan’s father was charged, but Smith said Thursday it had “nothing to do with the connection of the missing child, it’s something totally separate.”
Smith did not identify the father or the charges at the Thursday press conference. WVTM 13 reports the father is Jameson Kyle Boley, and that he was charged with two counts of chemical endangerment of a child, and one count of unlawful manufacture of a destructive device or bacteriological weapon.
Neighbors told investigators they have been hearing explosions for “weeks,” according to Smith.
“Neighbors have said they’ve been hearing explosions for weeks now. They didn’t really know where it was coming from. The morning before the report came in, one of the neighbors reported that they heard an explosion about 4 a.m. that morning,” he said.
Investigators were told Johnathan was playing outside with his six-year-old brother and his dog before he vanished, Smith said.
The brother told his father Johnathan and the dog went past the fence line, and he hasn’t been seen since, Smith told WBRC 6 News Thursday.
When police arrived at the scene, they searched the house to ensure the missing boy wasn’t hiding, then deployed drones to continue the search by air, Smith told reporters. Police used helicopters, thermal detection and K-9 units to search for the child.
The parents are separated, and his mother moved to Florida a year ago, Smith told reporters. His father had “five days of custody a year,” he explained.
“The family, including the dad, has helped trying to do everything they can to help provide information,” Smith said Friday.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
