Montrose Search and Rescue Helped Out in Search for Riverside County Autistic Boy

Written by Maggie Avants and Dan Abendschein

Montrose Search and Rescue assisted in the search for a missing autistic boy in Riverside County that tragically ended this week with human remains believed to be the boy's found by rescuers.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department rescue group, which the department noted included the Montrose team, was among those thanked  by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for the assistance in the search early this week.

Sheriff's officials have not confirmed that human remains found early Wednesday are those of a Menifee resident Terry "JuJu" Smith, 11, who was reported missing Sunday,  but investigators have called off search efforts and an arrest in the case has been made.

A large crowd numbering more than 1,000 turned out Wednesday evening for a candlelight prayer vigil held in memory of the 11-year-old.

The event followed the news Riverside County sheriff's officials had announced earlier Wednesday, that a 16-year-old family member of Terry's had been arrested on suspicion of murder. 

Around 12:55 a.m. Wednesday, a citizen volunteer had spotted the remains on the approximately one-acre property in the semi-rural area of the 33000 block of Helen Lane, where Terry lived with his mother, her partner, his sister and his 16-year-old half-brother, according to sheriff's officials.

Officers with the Menifee Police Department responded and found partially-exposed human remains in a shallow grave.

Members of the household were taken in for questioning, and as a result of those investigations, the 16-year-old family member was arrested, according to sheriff's Sgt. Lisa McConnell.

The search lasted several days and included officers and volunteers from the following agencies:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• California Office of Emergency Services - Chief Dennis Beene
• Riverside County Fire-Office of Emergency Services
• Cal Fire-Riverside County Fire Department
• Riverside County District Attorney's Office
• San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
• Orange County Sheriff's Department
• San Diego County Sheriff's Department
• Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
• Anaheim Police Department Irvine Police Department
• Garden Grove Police Department
• Long Beach Police Department, Search and Rescue
• Sierra Madre Search and Rescue
• Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit
• Desert Sheriff's Search and Rescue
• Riverside County Disaster Corps
• Riverside County Sheriff's Posse
• Citizen Emergency Response Teams from Menifee, Moreno Valley, Canyon Lake, Wildomar, Riverside, Temecula, and the Pass Area
• Riverside Amateur Civil Emergency Services (R.A.C.E.S.)
• Lake Elsinore, Perris, and Menifee Explorers
• City of Menifee

For more on the case, please read the below coverage at Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch:

• Community Mourns Menifee Boy's Killing While Awaiting Coroner's Confirmation
• Search Ends For Missing Menifee Boy, But Community's United Effort Not In Vain
• Teen Suspected Of Killing His Little Brother