Body matching missing Menifee boy found; 16-year-old relative arrested

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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 Paloma Esquivel, Richard Winton and Emily Foxhall

July 10, 2013 4:25 PM PT

The partially exposed remains of a child’s body matching the description of Terry Dewayne Smith, a missing 11-year-old autistic boy, were found in a shallow grave near his family’s home in Menifee, authorities said.

A 16-year-old family member has been arrested on suspicion of murder, said Capt. John Hill of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities refused to identify the suspect or the family relationship.

Terry had been missing since Saturday night or Sunday morning and hundreds of volunteers had been searching the area.

He was last seen by his older brother, who was watching him while his mother spent the night out.

Terry’s older brother told authorities that between 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday, he walked to a nearby market, Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Alberto Martinez said. 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 the youth, Martinez said.

The body was found buried about 75 feet from the home in clothing that matched the description of what Terry was last seen wearing, sources said.

Menifee Mayor Scott Mann said the body was found about 12:55 a.m. on Wednesday.

The search area around the home had expanded to 55 square miles by Sunday afternoon, but became “rapidly smaller” as the days went by, Mann said.

Volunteers gathered in a prayer circle Wednesday as rumors spread that the hunt for Terry had taken a dramatic turn and that investigators were focusing on a search for remains.

“We will find a way to remember him in our hearts,” said Jenny Smith, who was one of his fourth-grade teachers.

Dallal Harb, the owner of the Menifee Market where the volunteer search has been coordinated, said she is close to the boy’s family and used to take him home from school.

“I just don’t want to believe it,” she said. “I see what’s going on. But I just don’t want to believe it.”

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Twitter: @palomaesquivel

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com