For over a year, neighbors reported hearing explosions from the Alabama residence of a former military father, long before the tragic discovery of his son’s body in the woods, as uncovered by the Daily Mail.

On December 31, Jameson Kyle Boley, aged 40, was taken into custody following the discovery of homemade explosives on his forested property near Highway 195, on the outskirts of Jasper.

Boley faces charges for the unlawful creation of a destructive device, alongside two counts of child chemical endangerment after methamphetamine was allegedly found in the house during his two young sons’ holiday visit.

This alarming revelation coincided with an urgent search for his four-year-old son, Johnathan Boley, affectionately called John John, who vanished from the premises just before noon on New Year’s Eve.

The search concluded in heartbreak two days later, on January 2, when Johnathan’s body was discovered about two miles away, partially submerged in a creek. Remarkably, the family dog, Buck, was found alive nearby.

A preliminary autopsy revealed no signs of trauma or assault, suggesting hypothermia as the probable cause of death. Authorities have not disclosed the exact time of the child’s passing.

Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said the charges against Boley are “totally separate” from his son’s disappearance and death.

However, Smith acknowledged that the discovery of the explosive devices complicated the search efforts and has raised questions about the safety of the children while inside the home.

Johnathan Boley, 4, with his mom Angel and older brother James. Johnathan went missing on New Year’s Eve from his dads home in Jasper, Alabama

The search for the missing boy ended in tragedy on January 2 when his body was discovered partly in a creek-like body of water

Jameson Kyle Boley, 40, was charged with unlawful manufacture of a destructive device or bacteriological or biological weapon, as well as two counts of chemical endangerment of a child after explosives and methamphetamine were found on his property

Investigators had been forced to suspend the volunteer search efforts until the area was cleared by the FBI’s bomb and explosives unit and controlled detonations were carried out.

In total, at least eight explosive devices were found in the woods around the house with the amount found enough to ‘level an entire house,’ the sheriff said.

It is not clear what Boley, who previously served in the military, was planning to do with the explosives.

But, neighbors had noticed disturbing incidents at the property for some time.

Stacy Dunn, who lives across the highway from Boley’s property, told the Daily Mail she and several others had witnessed loud blasts coming from the vicinity of his home for at least a year.

The explosions took place every week and at all times of the day and night, she said.

‘It was disturbing. It was loud. We’ve been hearing them for at least a year, if not longer, almost every day – at least a couple of times a week,’ she said.

‘And all different times of the night. You never knew when they were going to go off.’

She added: ‘It was loud. There was no mistaking what it was.’

It was especially disturbing to her former roommate who, like Boley, was a veteran.

Police have said the discovery of the homemade explosives ‘hindered’ the search for the little boy

‘I have friends that have PTSD from being in Iraq and Kuwait and it always bothered them. My roommate at the time said he would wish he would stop blowing his stuff up because he couldn’t even be around fireworks on the 4th of July or New Year’s, because he was in Iraq and had PTSD. It was very disturbing for him,’ she said.

Dunn said the blasts were something of a talking point among her neighbors but, until now, they had been unable to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from.

‘It’s a really wooded area and there’s a couple of houses over there so we could tell it was over in that area but we weren’t sure exactly where,’ she said.

Dunn said that some of her neighbors had reported the incidents to police but that, as far as she knew, law enforcement had also been unable to determine the source.

The Daily Mail has contacted Walker County Sheriff’s Office for comment and further information.

While the neighbors witnessed the explosions, Dunn said she was not aware of any allegations involving drugs at Boley’s home.

However, she said she was ‘not really surprised’ to learn of the drug charges because methamphetamine addiction is common in the area.

At least eight explosive devices (including the one pictured above) were found on the property. Neighbors had heard blasts coming from the area for a year 

The devices were safely detonated before volunteer searchers were able to continue looking for the missing boy

Despite allegedly manufacturing and placing dangerous explosives around his property – and having meth inside – Boley brought his two young sons to the home for the holidays.

The sheriff told AL.com that Boley told investigators he knew that ‘what he was handling was dangerous’ but ‘he was just at a point where he didn’t care anymore.’

Public records show that Boley’s ex-wife Angel Boley, 31, had custody of their two sons, Johnathan and his six-year-old brother James.

The family-of-four used to live together at the rural property in Jasper before the couple separated in 2021. Angel and the boys moved to Palmetto, Florida, last May.

The sheriff said Boley had visitation with the two boys just five days each year as part of a custody agreement.

It was during this five-day period that Johnathan went missing.

His six-year-old brother said he saw Johnathan crossing the fence line and following Buck into the woods behind the home at around 11.30am on December 31, the sheriff said. It was around an hour later when Boley reported his son missing.

Dunn said she learned about the little boy’s disappearance when one of his family members came knocking on all the neighbors’ doors asking if anyone had seen him.

Johnathan – known as John John – lived with his mother and brother in Florida but was visiting his dad for the holidays

Aerial image of Boley’s property where enough explosives to level a house were found during the search 

Buck the family dog was found with John John when his body was found by volunteer searchers

She and her daughter instantly checked their pasture and barn for any sign of Johnathan – but found nothing.

During that initial panic, she remembers the family member making a chilling comment.

‘She said that she knew [Boley] wasn’t a very good person, but that he was not a baby killer,’ she recalled.

Before long, she said multiple police officers were ‘everywhere.’ The community also quickly rallied around joining in the search up and down the highway and in the woods.

Knowing the dense, rough terrain well, Dunn said there were fears that the four-year-old could have fallen into a ditch or pond.

‘I used to ride horses over there and it looks like flat ground, but when you step on it you realize it’s not. There’s brush and debris and ditches… it’s a difficult area so I was afraid of that,’ she said.

Jimmy Mclain, who joined the volunteers, said in a post on Facebook that he instantly knew the difficulties the searchers would face with ‘the old spoil piles and kudzu, undergrowth and thick canopy, not terrain a thermal equipped chopper can penetrate very well.’

‘I immediately contacted my thermal hunting buddies and we put together a plan, from the start we encountered one impassable obstacle after another,’ he said.

After Johnathan’s body was found, Mclain said he felt like they had ‘failed that precious baby.’

Another neighbor didn’t want to talk about the heartbreaking situation. ‘It’s a bad thing about the baby,’ he said. ‘But it’s a bad case and I ain’t talking about it.’

A preliminary autopsy has ruled out trauma or assault-type injuries and suggests hypothermia was the probable cause of death 

John John’s funeral will take place on Saturday. His grandfather Michael told the Daily Mail ‘it’s just very tragic’

Now, the community is continuing to wrap its arms around Jonathan’s devastated mother and other family members as they prepare for the little boy’s funeral on Saturday.

When reached by the Daily Mail, Johnathan’s grandfather Michael – Angel’s father – said: ‘It’s just very tragic.’

The family is ‘having a hard time’ and plans to release a statement soon, he said.

It is not clear if Boley will be granted release to attend his son’s funeral. 

After Johnathan’s body was found, he was moved to Blount County Jail where he is being held on $300,000 cash bond.

The bond hearing order cited that he is a ‘danger to community – explosives around children.’

Boley is due in court for his preliminary hearing on January 20.