Volunteers, Authorities Searching Through the Night for Missing Menifee Boy

As darkness fell, several hundred volunteers set out on foot, horseback and ATVs Monday night in search of an 11-year-old autistic Menifee boy who reportedly went missing from his home Saturday night.

Flashlights, reflective vests and glow sticks were disseminated among the crowd that met at Menifee Market off Scott Road, not far from the Helen Lane family home where the boy, Terry Dewayne Smith was last seen.

Terry is described as blond and blue-eyed, is 4 feet 8 and weighs 76 pounds; he was last seen wearing blue basketball shorts, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“He goes by Ju Ju, Junior and Terry,” volunteer Colin Rose advised the citizens who were anxious to help.

Wildomar resident Kaylee Gaddis was among those who would search on horseback. Sitting atop her horse, Elka, Gaddis explained that she is part of a local horse rescue that also helped search during a morning shift Monday.

“I did grow up with siblings who have disabilities so I know what autism is and I would want people to do the same if it were someone in my family who went missing,” Gaddis said.

She was among the several hundred people who continued to show up in droves in support of the search effort being organized by Murrieta-based Lilly’s House, a care network for families of special needs children, and Faithful Servants Outreach.

“This community has been coming out of the woodworks to help us out,” said Rose, whose wife, Cassidy Rose, is the regional director of Lilly’s House Temecula Valley.

This has included donations from several area businesses of food, water, batteries, flashlights and glow sticks, Rose said.

At 9 p.m., a line of volunteers began a descent to the hill above Helen Lane.

“They are going to push up the mountain where his house is, lighting glow sticks and dropping water just in case he is out there and needs water,” Rose said. “That way if he comes across the bottles he will have some water.

“There are going to be volunteers 24-7 until we find him,” Rose said.

The volunteer search effort is in addition to the Riverside County Sheriff Department’s, which was also continuing through the night.

The search area had grown to encompass 16 square miles as of Monday night, with volunteers and law enforcement following up on possible sightings as far away as Los Alamos Hills Sports Park in Murrieta.

“We have received numerous calls of possible sightings,” said sheriff’s Deputy Albert Martinez at about 9:45 p.m. Monday. “We have checked them all with negative results.”

Authorities were first notified Sunday morning of the boy’s disappearance.

“Officers from Menifee Police Department along with Riverside Sheriff's helicopter, a bloodhound, and volunteers searched the area but were unable to locate Terry,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Lisa McConnell.

The search was expected to continue Tuesday, with a volunteer meeting scheduled for 7 a.m. at Menifee Market, on Scott Road just east of Murrieta Road.

Anyone with information on Terry was asked to call the Menifee Investigations Unit at 951-210-1000 or Riverside County sheriff's dispatch at 951-776-1099.

Read more about the search for Terry here, as well as on Facebook.