Neighbors say they heard repeated explosions coming from the rural Alabama home of a former military father for more than a year before his four-year-old son was found dead in nearby woods, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Jameson Kyle Boley, 40, was arrested on December 31 after investigators discovered multiple homemade explosive devices scattered across his wooded property near Highway 195, outside Jasper. Authorities said the devices were powerful enough to “level an entire house.”
Boley was charged with unlawful manufacture of a destructive device, along with two counts of chemical endangerment of a child after methamphetamine was allegedly found inside the home while his two young sons were visiting for the holidays.
The arrest came amid a frantic search for Boley’s four-year-old son, Johnathan “John John” Boley, who disappeared from the property just before noon on New Year’s Eve. Two days later, on January 2, the search ended in tragedy when Johnathan’s body was found roughly two miles away, partially submerged in a creek. The family dog, Buck, was discovered alive beside him.
A preliminary autopsy revealed no signs of trauma or assault and listed hypothermia as the likely cause of death. Officials have not disclosed when the child died.
Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said the charges against Boley are “totally separate” from his son’s disappearance and death. However, he acknowledged that the discovery of the explosives complicated search efforts and raised serious concerns about the safety of the children while they were inside the home.
Volunteer searches were temporarily halted until the FBI’s bomb and explosives unit cleared the area and carried out controlled detonations. In total, at least eight explosive devices were recovered from the property.
Investigators have not said what Boley intended to do with the explosives. But neighbors say disturbing activity at the property had been ongoing for months.
Stacy Dunn, who lives across the highway from Boley’s home, told the Daily Mail she and other neighbors heard loud blasts coming from the area for at least a year.
“They happened every week, at all hours of the day and night,” she said. “It was disturbing. There was no mistaking what it was.”
The explosions were particularly upsetting for Dunn’s former roommate, a military veteran who suffers from PTSD.
“He couldn’t even handle fireworks on the Fourth of July or New Year’s,” she said. “The constant explosions really bothered him.”
While neighbors often discussed the blasts, Dunn said they were never able to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from due to the heavily wooded terrain. Some residents reported the noise to police, but law enforcement was reportedly unable to identify the source at the time.
Dunn said she was unaware of any drug allegations involving Boley before his arrest, though she admitted she wasn’t surprised by the charges, noting meth addiction is common in the area.
Despite allegedly manufacturing explosives and having drugs inside the home, Boley brought his two young sons to the property for the holidays. Sheriff Smith told AL.com that Boley admitted he knew the materials were dangerous but said he was “at a point where he didn’t care anymore.”
Public records show Boley’s ex-wife, Angel Boley, 31, had custody of their sons, Johnathan and his six-year-old brother, James. The family previously lived together on the Jasper property before separating in 2021. Angel and the boys moved to Palmetto, Florida, last May.
Under the custody agreement, Boley was allowed just five days of visitation per year. It was during that visit that Johnathan disappeared.
According to the sheriff, Johnathan’s older brother told investigators he saw the child crossing a fence and following Buck into the woods around 11:30 a.m. on December 31. Boley reported his son missing about an hour later.
Dunn said she learned of the disappearance when a family member went door to door asking neighbors if they had seen the boy. She and her daughter immediately searched their pasture and barn but found no trace of him.
She recalled the family member making a chilling remark during the initial panic. “She said she knew [Boley] wasn’t a very good person, but that he wasn’t a baby killer,” Dunn said.
Soon, police flooded the area, and community members joined the search along the highway and deep into the woods. The rough terrain raised fears that the child could have fallen into a ditch or pond.
“It looks flat, but it’s not,” Dunn said. “There’s brush, debris, ditches—it’s dangerous ground.”
Volunteer searcher Jimmy McLain wrote on Facebook that the area’s thick canopy, kudzu, and uneven spoil piles made the search extremely difficult, even for thermal-equipped helicopters. After Johnathan’s body was found, McLain said he felt the volunteers had “failed that precious baby.”
Another neighbor declined to speak in detail. “It’s a bad thing about the baby,” he said. “It’s a bad case.”
As the community mourns, neighbors are rallying around Johnathan’s grieving mother and family as they prepare for his funeral on Saturday. When reached by the Daily Mail, Johnathan’s grandfather, Michael, described the loss as “very tragic” and said the family is struggling.
Boley is currently being held in Blount County Jail on a $300,000 cash bond. Court records cite him as a “danger to the community—explosives around children.” It remains unclear whether he will be permitted to attend his son’s funeral.
Boley is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on January 20.
