'Possible human remains' found at missing Menifee boy's home

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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 and Paloma Esquivel

July 10, 2013 11:32 AM PT

Authorities have found “possible human remains” at the Menifee home of a missing 11-year-old boy, said Sgt. Lisa McConnell, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators, however, said they are still trying to determine if the remains are human, McConnell said.

The grim discovery came Wednesday as investigators served a search warrant to comb the house of Terry Dewayne Smith, the autistic boy who has been missing since Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Law enforcement teams on Wednesday temporarily ceased their search for the youth, Menifee Mayor Scott Mann said.

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 mid-morning Wednesday as rumors spread that the hunt for Terry had taken a dramatic turn and that investigators now were focused on searching 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, 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.”

Bill Gillette, a Menifee volunteer who helped to coordinate the search, said volunteers were still out in the field.

“They’re still searching until we get official word,” he 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 the youth, Martinez said.

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Twitter: @emfoxhall

emily.foxhall@latimes.com

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com