Search suspended for missing Menifee boy, mayor says

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Community members hold candles after a vigil for 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith, whose body was believed to have been found after an extensive search. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Community members gather after a candlelight vigil in front of the Menifee Market for 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends, volunteers and community residents attend a candlelight vigil for Terry Dewayne Smith, 11, in front of the Menifee Market on Wednesday. Remains found Wednesday were believed to be those of the missing boy. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Search volunteers Ember Bridwell, left, with daughter Jaden Morrell, 9; Crystal Monk with daughter Sarah, 10; and Donny Moffitt with girlfriend Victoria Hammond attend a candlelight vigil for 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith in front of the Menifee Market on Wednesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A Riverside County sheriff’s investigator bags evidence at the Menifee home of 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Search volunteers Kathy Jablecki, right, her daughter, Stacy Jablecki, left, and Tyler True (not seen) hug one another outside the Menifee home of Terry Dewayne Smith, the 11-year-old autistic boy missing since last weekend. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside County sheriff’s investigators walk up the driveway of the Menifee home of 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith searching for evidence into his disappearance. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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The Menifee home of Terry Dewayne Smith, an 11-year-old autistic boy missing since last weekend. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside County sheriff’s investigators look for signs of 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith at his Menifee home. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Becca Smith, the mother of Terry Dewayne Smith, is surrounded by friends and neighbors during a prayer session at the volunteer center in Menifee. Terry Dewayne Smith, an 11-year-old autistic boy remains missing, despite the efforts of more than 100 volunteers and emergency workers who combed the hills of Menifee looking for the child. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers gather before the start of a prayer session for Terry Dewayne Smith. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Ashley Cathers hands out fliers on Scott Road in Menifee as the search continues for Terry Dewayne Smith. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Fliers are passed out in the search for Terry Dewayne Smith. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers pray for the safety of the lost boy as the search continues for Terry Dewayne Smith. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Bill Gillette signs in as scores of volunteers lined up Tuesday morning to join the search for 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith, who was last seen Saturday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers wait in line to sign up for the search Tuesday morning. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Tony Richuisa, left, Ciera West, Christina West and Brooke West search for Terry Dewayne Smith in Menifee. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Debi Velivis holds a sign at the intersection of Bundy Canyon Road and Murrieta Road with information about missing 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Debi Velivis holds a sign by the side of the road asking passersby to help find Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Molly Jenks searches on horseback for missing 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers ventured out under blazing sun to look for missing 11-year-old Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A group of volunteers searches an area near Terry Dewayne Smith’s Menifee home. The effort to find the missing boy has included search dogs, helicopters and dozens of volunteers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers search rural areas of Menifee on Tuesday for Terry Dewayne Smith. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

By Emily Foxhall

July 10, 2013 10:52 AM PT

Law enforcement teams on Wednesday temporarily ceased looking for a missing 11-year-old Menifee boy who had been the subject of a widespread search, Mayor Scott Mann said.

The search area around the home of the boy, Terry Dewayne Smith, was 55 square miles Sunday afternoon but became “rapidly smaller” early Wednesday morning, Mann said.

Investigators were searching a residence on the 33000 block of Helen Lane for human remains, Mann said.

PHOTOS: Search for missing autistic boy intensifies in Menifee

Neither Mann nor the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department could confirm specifically what drew investigators to the location.

They also would not say whether remains had been found or whether the house being searched was that of the missing boy’s family.

Volunteer search teams were still continuing to look in canyon areas, Mann said.

Until the suspension, the search was entering its fourth full day Wednesday. Terry is autistic and high-functioning, his family told KTLA-TV. Authorities said they were concerned that the boy has gone days without his prescribed medication.

Terry went missing sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning while his older brother was watching him and his mother spent the night out.

Sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., Terry’s older brother walked to a nearby market, Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Alberto Martinez said the brother told investigators. During the walk, the brother said he turned back and saw Terry following him and told him to go home.

That was the last time anyone saw Terry, Martinez said.

Terry’s mother told investigators she believed she saw him in bed when she got home about 1 a.m. Sunday but noticed he was gone when she checked on him again at 10:30 a.m., Martinez said.

More than 1,000 residents from Menifee and surrounding communities joined in the search, which has spanned about 81 square miles, officials said.

The search for Terry is on “standby” pending the outcome of Wednesday’s investigation inside the home, Martinez said.

Terry has blond hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing blue basketball shorts. He is 4-foot-8 and weighs 76 pounds.

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Twitter: @emfoxhall

emily.foxhall@latimes.com