A convicted rapist has been charged with felony murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of a St. Clair County woman.

The skeletal remains of Moody resident Kyla Elaine Bobo, 30, were discovered in November 2023, authorities said Monday, March 4.

Maxwell St. John, 35, of Pell City, who is serving an 11-year sentence for rape in Bullock County Correctional Facility, was arrested in February in Bobo’s murder, said St. Clair County Sheriff Billy J. Murray said in a press release.

Bobo’s family reported her missing in February 2022. Skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near Pell City, said Murray.

The St. Clair County Criminal Investigation Unit, the St. Clair County Drug Enforcement Unit, and Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics collected the remains.

The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences conducted DNA testing on the remains, which were identified in February as belonging to Bobo.

“I would like to give a special thanks to the St. Clair County Drug Enforcement Unit for their hard work and tireless efforts to bring this case to where we are today,” said Murray. “I would like to say thank you to the family of Kyla, who assisted law enforcement in remarkable ways to bring this case to a successful conclusion. Our prayers go out to Kyla’s family in this most difficult time.”