Missing Boy's Father Arrested on Explosives Charge

Authorities in northern Alabama are searching for a 4-year-old boy who vanished from a rural area on New Year's Eve. Johnathan Everett Boley was last seen around 11:30am Wednesday near Highway 195 in a wooded section of Jasper, about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham, state officials said. Sheriff Nick Smith said authorities were told that the boy, described as white with blond hair and blue eyes, was with the family dog when he disappeared, NBC News reports. Johnathan was last seen wearing a yellow Mickey Mouse shirt, black pants, and Paw Patrol shoes. Smith said the father told police the boy is 5 years old, but family members told WTVM that Johnathan is 4.

The search, involving helicopters with thermal imaging, drones, tracking dogs, and hundreds of volunteers, continued into the early hours of Thursday and picked back up later that morning. So far, Smith said, they've found no sign of the child or the dog and no heat signatures in the woods. He said the boy's 6-year-old brother told authorities he had last seen him near the woods line. More than 500 acres were covered Thursday by 126 first responders and 161 volunteers, the sheriff said.

• The search was halted after potential explosive devices were found on the property, WTVM reports. Authorities said devices in a wooded patch were later determined to be non-explosive, but the father, a military veteran, was arrested after explosive materials were found inside his home, reports WBRC.

• Smith said the father, 40-year-old Jameson Kyle Boley, has been charged with unlawful manufacturing of a destructive device or bacteriological or biological weapon, reports AL.com.
• The sheriff said the charge was unrelated to the search for Johnathan, NBC reports. "Neighbors have identified that there's been a lot of explosions in the neighborhood," Smith said. "Prior to us being here, the morning before we got out here, there was a report at about four in the morning of a loud explosion." He said the FBI's bomb squad is making the residence "safe and secure so we can continue the search of the house."
• Johnathan's parents are separated. His mother, who moved to Florida last year and has five court-ordered visitation days granted to the father annually, traveled to Alabama on Wednesday night and is cooperating with investigators, Smith said.