No trauma or assault-type injuries in death of Walker County 4-year-old An autopsy performed Monday morning on four-year-old Johnathan Boley ruled out trauma or assault-type injuries, but a cause of death has not yet been determined, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said.
Johnathan was first reported missing on Wednesday, December 31. Sheriff Smith said deputies received the call at 12:28 p.m., after Johnathan’s six-year-old brother reportedly saw him crawl under a backyard fence following the family dog, Buck, around 11:30 a.m. By 1:02 p.m., Smith said deputies and RPS had cleared the father’s residence ensuring the child was not in the home and called for air support and state K9’s to assist in the search efforts.
Nearly 48 hours later, at 12:55 p.m. on Friday, January 2, volunteer searchers found Johnathan and Buck about two miles from the father’s property. Buck was alive, but Johnathan was found deceased and partially submerged in a body of water. One of the volunteers told Smith they first saw the dog, which “kind of led them back to where John John was.”
Smith described the area where Johnathan was found. “I guess the best way to describe it is kind of a creek, but it pooled up, there was an area that was pooled up. Not sure whenever he was in it at what level it was in because obviously Friday, we experienced rain, but Saturday when we measured it it was about 4 foot deep,” he said.
Smith said the search was complicated by dangerous materials discovered in the father’s home, including explosive devices. “The lifestyle that was taking place in the home with explosive devices and things of that nature obviously created challenges, challenges that we obviously weren’t ready to see, so it was much more than just blazing through the woods looking for a child, it presented challenges,” Smith said.
“They weren’t fireworks, let’s just put it that way. You know, I’m not an expert when it comes to bombs and explosives, but the people who are experts said there was enough to level an entire house,” he added. “I think at one point he told one of the investigators that he knew what he was handling was dangerous, but he didn’t he was at the point he didn’t care anymore.”
Johnathan’s father, Jameson “Kyle” Boley, faces charges including unlawful manufacture of a destructive device and chemical endangerment of a child. Smith said after Johnathan was found, Boley was transferred from the Walker County Jail to Blount County because of the high-profile nature of the case.
