Relative of missing 11-year-old boy arrested after body found

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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 and Kurt Streeter

July 11, 2013 6:35 AM PT

A relative of an 11-year-old autistic boy missing since the weekend in Riverside County was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing the boy.

The 16-year-old relative, who authorities refused to identify by name or relationship with the boy, was being held in the case of Terry Dewayne Smith, a highly functioning autistic child last seen Saturday night.

“This was a domestic issue within the residence,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Capt. John Hill said of the matter.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, a slight body believed to be Terry’s was found in a shallow, dirt-covered grave, officials said. Investigators said the buried body was near a tree not far from the beige-and-brown home where Terry lived with his mother.

The last person who reportedly saw the 11-year-old was his 16-year-old stepbrother, who told police he told Terry to go home when he found his little brother following him as he walked to a local market. Terry’s stepbrother was reportedly tasked with taking care of him that night while his mother spent the evening out.

Terry’s mother returned about 1 a.m. Sunday and told police she thought she saw her son in bed when she checked on him before going to sleep, said sheriff’s Deputy Alberto Martinez. She reported him missing the next morning.

The sandy-blond-haired boy was said to have last been seen wearing blue basketball shorts and was described by his mother as a “high-functioning” autistic. Starting Sunday, search crews fanned across the Menifee area, aided by bloodhounds, helicopters and horseback riders.

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 the boy’s fourth-grade teachers.

News that a body had been found was a crushing blow to the tight-knit community near Lake Elsinore and the approximately 1,000 searchers who had been looking for Terry since his disappearance was announced Sunday.

“He was a very good kid, very nice and sweet, never did anything wrong,” said a sorrowful Dallal Harb, the owner of the Menifee Market, a convenience store near the Smiths’ property. Harb, 31, said Terry attended the same school as her two sons and that she would sometimes pick him up after school and bring him to her store for a snack before sending him home.

“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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