Body found of Alabama boy, 4, who went missing with his dog on New Year’s Eve

Johnathan Everett Boley was found after a two-day search in a rural area outside of Birmingham

Johnathan Everett Boley was found dead, police said (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)

Police have found the body of a four-year-old Alabama boy who went missing with his dog on New Year’s Eve.

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 Friday afternoon about two miles from his home, following a two-day search, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said at a press conference. Johnathan’s dog, a black Labrador retriever named Buck, was found alive near his body. The community is “devastated by this 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. “Johnathan was an adventurous boy, and he loved the outdoors,” he later added.

Smith provided few other details and declined to take questions.

Johnathan Everett Boley, 4, disappeared with his dog on New Year’s Eve (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)

The Walker County Sheriff’s Office first received a call about the child’s disappearance around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Smith said at a Thursday press conference.

Investigators were told Johnathan was playing outside with his six-year-old brother and his dog before he vanished, Smith told WBRC 6 News Thursday. The brother told his father Johnathan and the dog had gone past the fence line, Smith added.

When police arrived at the scene, they searched the home to make sure the missing boy wasn’t hiding, then deployed drones to continue the search by air, Smith told reporters Thursday. Police used helicopters, thermal detection and K-9 units to search for the child.

Investigators found “evidence of explosive devices on the property during the search,” and “at least eight other potential explosive devices” across the street, Smith said at the time. Investigators then determined the eight devices were not explosives, Smith said later Thursday. The house was also cleared, he said.

“The FBI has been processing the house, trying to get the explosive devices contained and out of the residence,” Smith said.

Smith said Thursday that Johnathan’s father was charged, but 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 specific charges at the Thursday press conference. WVTM 13 reports the father, Jameson Kyle Boley, 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.

“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. They just didn't know where they came from. Can't say that that's in any kind of connection to the missing child,” Smith said Thursday.

The boy’s parents are separated, and his mother moved to Florida about a year ago, Smith told reporters. His father had “five days of custody a year,” he noted.

“The family, including the dad, has helped, trying to do everything they can to help provide information,” Smith said Friday.

The Independent has contacted the Walker County Sheriff’s Office for more information.