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WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (BFMG) — The father of a missing 5-year-old boy in Walker County has been taken into custody after explosive materials were found in his home during a search, authorities said.
Ground searches are set to resume Thursday in Walker County for a missing 5-year-old boy who disappeared Wednesday morning near the Manchester community north of Jasper.
Johnathan Everett Boley was reported missing Dec. 31 after he was last seen around 11:30 a.m. in the 7000 block of Highway 195, according to the Walker County Sheriff’s Office. He was wearing a yellow Mickey Mouse shirt, black pants and Paw Patrol shoes when he went missing.
Sheriff Nick Smith told WBRC deputies received the call about the missing child at about 12:28 p.m. Wednesday. When they arrived on scene at 1:02 p.m. they began searching nearby woods with thermal imaging drones and aerial support. Search crews worked late into the night until around 3:00 a.m., but no heat signatures were detected in the area.
“The indications were that Johnathan and his 6-year-old brother were outside playing around the fence line, with their dog whose name is Bubb,” Smith said. “The brother said that the dog and his brother went under the fence line.”
During Wednesday’s search, deputies temporarily suspended efforts near the boy’s father’s home after discovering explosives inside the residence Sheriff Smith said in a Thursday morning press conference.
The FBI is assisting to ensure the scene is safe before authorities execute a search warrant. Police says they have also found explosive materials from past detonations in the woods, which is making the search more difficult for safety reasons according to CBS 42.
Volunteers gathered at Cornerstone Assembly of God north of Manchester to assist in the search, Smith said. Search teams were being organized Thursday morning to continue ground efforts.
“Looks like we’ve got a couple hundred people here that we’re going to be able to utilize today to do a significant ground search,” Smith said. “I encourage people that live in this vicinity to make sure they’re searching their vehicles, garages or carports—anything that a child could be hiding under that we might not have gotten to yet.”
Smith shared a photo Wednesday night of the dog believed to have been with Johnathan when he disappeared, noting that finding the animal could help locate the child.
Authorities are asking residents along Highway 195 to review any outdoor camera footage from Wednesday and contact the Sheriff’s Office if anything unusual appears.
The Jasper Police Department is assisting in the search, which includes multiple local and state agencies.
Anyone with information on Johnathan Boley’s whereabouts is urged to call the Walker County Sheriff’s Office at 205-384-7218 or dial 911.
