A convicted rapist has been charged with murder and abuse of corpse in the death of an Alabama woman who disappeared in St. Clair County two years ago and whose skeletal remains were discovered in November, authorities said Monday.

Maxwell St. John, 35, of Pell City, who is serving an 11-year sentence for rape in Bullock County Correctional Facility, was arrested last month in the murder of 30-year-old Moody resident Kyla Elaine Bobo, said St. Clair County Sheriff Billy J. Murray.

Bobo’s family reported her missing in February 2022.

In November, skeletal remains were found in a wooded area of St. Clair County 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.

St. John was arrested on one count of felony murder and one count of abuse of a corpse, Murray said.

St. John was extradited from Bullock Correctional Facility to the St. Clair County jail, where he is being held without bond.

The FBI, Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Pell City Police Department, Ashville Police Department, RAT-SAR K9, and their team contributed to the investigation.

“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,” Murray said. “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.”